At the southern end of the sea, the Arab Potash Company has built vast evaporation ponds covering over 10,000 hectares to extract potash from the mineral-rich waters. The project has allowed Jordan to become one of the world s leading potash exporters. The main resort area is located on the northern shores of the Dead Sea at Sweimeh, about 45 kilometers southwest of Amman. In Sweimeh, the Government Rest House provides showers and changing facilities, a restaurant, and a choice stretch of beach. The only accommodations currently available are at the Dead Sea Spa Hotel, a few kilometers past Sweimeh.
Private bungalows are also available.
Work is progressing toward the completion of additional resort hotels along the Dead Sea. In addition to being an attraction for leisure and medicinal tourism, the Dead Sea was the location for a number of significant biblical events. Of particular importance is the wide plain along Jordan s southeast Dead Sea coast known today as the Southern Ghor . This wide plain is also where Abraham and Lot divided their herds and people, going their separate ways after the journey from Egypt. Lot's wife stone, the Dead Sea.