The Dead Sea is the extremely salty lake between Jordan and Israel.
Despite its name, the Dead Sea is a landlocked salt lake rather than a true sea. It occupies the deepest exposed depression on Earth, with its surface hundreds of meters below sea level. The Jordan River is its main inflow, but the lake has no outlet; water leaves primarily through evaporation, concentrating dissolved minerals.
Its salinity is roughly ten times that of ordinary seawater, although the exact figure varies by location and depth. The high density of the water makes floating easy, but the environment is too saline for fish and most aquatic plants. Specialized microorganisms can survive in some parts of the lake.
The Dead Sea has been shrinking because water is diverted from the Jordan River and other inflows, while evaporation remains intense. Sinkholes have appeared along exposed shorelines. The lake’s mineral-rich mud and water have also supported tourism and commercial industries for decades, making conservation a major regional concern.