Lake Assal - Djibouti

Lake Asal (Lake Assal) is a crater lake in central Djibouti, located at the southern border of Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region. It lies 153 m (502 ft) below sea level in the Afar Depression and is the lowest point in Africa. It measures 10 by 7 km and has an area of 54 km². The mean depth is 7.4 meters, which makes for a water volume of 400 million m³. The catchment area measures 900 km². It is surrounded by a salt pan (extending west and mainly northwest). The salt is mined and transported by caravan to Ethiopia.

Lake Asal is the most saline body of water on earth, with 34.8 percent more salt than the Dead Sea (at a depth of 20 meters, as much as 39.8 percent has been measured). The sources of the lake are subsurface springs, which are fed by the Gulf of Tadjoura (Golfe de Tadjoura), the eastern extension of the Gulf of Aden, specifically the nearly closed-off bay Ghoubet Kharab, about 10 km southeast of the lake.

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