About This Location
The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. It is the lowest elevation on land on Earth's surface, at about 430.5 meters below sea level. It is 304 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.
With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2% (in 2011), it is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea's main, northern basin is 50 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide at its widest point.
The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean Basin for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts, and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers.