Qattara Depression
The government has considered the Western Desert a frontier region and has divided it into two governorates at about the twenty-eighth parallel: Matruh to the north and New Valley (Al Wadi al Jadid) to the south. There are seven important depressions in the Western Desert, and all are considered oases except the largest, Qattara, the water of which is salty. The Qattara Depression, which includes the country's lowest point, encompasses , which is similar to the size of Lake Ontario. It is largely below sea level and is below sea level at the lowest. Badlands, salt marshes and salt lakes cover the sparsely inhabited Qattara Depression.