page_title: Lake Assal (Djibouti)
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Lake Assal (Djibouti) / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Djibouti. Image taken by Charles Fred on flickr. The creator has granted GFDL licensing and permission for use in the wikimedia project.
context_page_description: Lake Assal is a crater lake in central-western Djibouti. It is located at the western end of Gulf of Tadjoura in the Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region, at the top of the Great Rift Valley, some 120 km west of Djibouti city. Lake Assal is a saline lake that lies 155 m below sea level in the Afar Triangle, making it the lowest point on land in Africa and the third-lowest point on Earth after the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. No outflow occurs from the lake, and due to high evaporation, the salinity level of its waters is 10 times that of the sea, making it the third most saline body of water in the world behind Don Juan Pond and Gaet'ale Pond. Lake Assal is the world's largest salt reserve, which is exploited under four concessions awarded in 2002 at the southeast end of the lake; the major share of production is held by Société d’Exploitation du Lac and Société d’Exploitation du Salt Investment S.A de Djibouti.
  The lake is a protected zone under Djibouti's National Environmental Action Plan of 2000. However, the law does not define the boundary limits of the lake.
context_section_description: Lake Assal is located in the middle of Djibouti, in a closed depression at the northern end of the Great Rift Valley. Situated in the Danakil Desert, it is bounded by hills on the western region. The lake lies at an elevation of 155 m (509 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point of Africa. The lake is characterized by two parts. The dry part of the lake, resulting from evaporation of the lake waters, is a white plain dry lake bed on the west/northwest side, which is a large expanse of salt. The second part is the highly saline water body. The watershed area of the lake is 900 km² (350 sq mi).
  Lake Assal, in an oval shape (length 19 km (12 mi) and width 6.5 km (4.0 mi)), consists of two distinct parts; one is "crystallised salt surface" zone of 68 km² (26 sq mi) and the other is the high saline brine area of 54 km² (21 sq mi). The crystallised salt zone extends to a depth of more than 60 m (200 ft) whose estimated resource is about 300 million tonnes. The lake measures 10 by 7 km (6.2 by 4.3 mi) and has an area of liquid brine 54 km² (21 sq mi). The maximum depth is 40 m (130 ft), whereas the mean depth is 7.4 m (24 ft), which makes for a water volume of 400 million cubic metres (320,000 acre⋅ft)
  Salt extraction by the Afar nomad tribes of camel drivers and Issas from Lake Assal's salt bank established the ancient caravan routes. These linked the lake with the mountains of Ethiopia for barter trading such items as sorghum, coal, and other commodities. Salt was also bartered with South Abyssinia for items like coffee, ivory, musk, and also (historically) slaves. It was a source of wealth for the local tribes. In the recent two decades, industrial mining has been revived with development of roads linking with the Ghoubbet El Kharab bay by the Gulf of Tadjoura. The present road to Lake Assal is paved. The lake is 120 km from Djibouti city.
  It is also reported that the lake water level is receding as discerned from a 50-ft mark on the banks of the lake from the present water level.
caption: Lake Assal's caravan route
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