Djibouti is the African country containing Lake Assal, whose surface lies about 155 metres below sea level, the lowest point in Africa.
Lake Assal is a highly saline crater lake in central Djibouti, west of the Gulf of Tadjoura. It occupies a depression in the Danakil Desert and is fed mainly by groundwater and evaporation, leaving salt concentrations far above those of ordinary seawater.
Djibouti lies in the Afar Triangle, a tectonically active region where major rifts meet. The country’s low-lying volcanic landscapes are therefore linked to the same geological forces that shape the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Lake Assal is often compared with the Dead Sea, but the Dead Sea is in Asia and lies outside Africa.