Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, newly independent Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan made strides throughout the 1990s and early 2000s to formalize their international borders. Since each State prioritized the delimitation and demarcation of their land boundaries, an agreement concerning the definition of their maritime boundary was not reached until 2014. The seabed boundary it produced extends for 57 nautical miles in a southwesterly direction into the central Caspian Sea where it then terminates prior to entering maritime space claimed by Azerbaijan.

In 2018, the five littoral countries of the Caspian, which include Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, signed a multi-state agreement that created a new legal regime for the management and use of the Caspian. Under the provisions of the new Agreement, each State could claim a fifteen nautical mile territorial sea and a ten nautical mile fishery zone. The remaining waters of the Caspian would remain open to navigation by all littoral countries, while the rights to the seabed would be defined by agreements between them.

In 2021, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan signed an additional agreement further clarifying the boundaries of their fishing zones and territorial seas.