The Qattara Depression is a vast depression in Egypt’s Western Desert that lies below sea level.
It covers roughly 19,605 square kilometres and reaches about 133 metres below sea level, making it the lowest point in Egypt. Its floor includes salt marshes, salt pans, and sabkha landscapes rather than a permanent freshwater lake.
The depression formed through a combination of wind erosion and the action of salt weathering. Its steep escarpments and difficult terrain helped limit settlement and travel across this part of the Sahara.
During the Second World War, the depression’s soft salt marshes and steep edges influenced military planning in the Western Desert campaign. It is sometimes confused with Egypt’s better-known oases, but Qattara is primarily a large closed depression, not a traditional oasis town.