The Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east.

Its surface and shores are 422 meters (1,385 ft) below sea level which make it the lowest elevation on the Earth’s surface on dry land.

The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, meaning that it’s the deepest hyper-saline lake in the world.

It is also one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity.

Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hyperfine lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond) have a higher salinity.

The Dead Sea is 8.6 times more salty than the ocean.

This salinity makes for a harsh environment wherein few things can survive, and hence its name.

The Dead Sea is 67 kilometers (42 mi) long and 18 kilometers (11 mi) wide at its widest point.

It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

Biblically, it was a place of refuge for both King David and Herod the Great.

It’s not easy to capture pictures of the Dead Sea because it’s colors blend in with the sky, but I’m pretty happy with this picture.