The Dead Sea is the lowest exposed land surface on Earth, bordering Jordan and Israel.
Its surface and shores are more than 400 metres below sea level, although the exact elevation changes as the water level falls. The lake lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and receives water mainly from the Jordan River and seasonal streams.
The Dead Sea is famous for its exceptionally high salinity, roughly nine times that of ordinary seawater. This makes it difficult for most organisms to survive and increases human buoyancy, allowing swimmers to float easily.
The name does not mean the lake contains no life at all: certain microorganisms can tolerate its extreme conditions. The Dead Sea has been shrinking because of water diversion, mineral extraction, and evaporation. It is a lake rather than a sea in the oceanographic sense, despite its traditional name.