Salt Lakes of the WorldThe most famous salt lake in the world is the Dead Sea, in the Middle East. Water is lost into the air because of the heat of the sun, and the salt stays in the lake. It is also very low-lying, at around 395 meters below sea level. However, it is not the saltiest lake in the world. The Great Salt Lake in the USA, with 270 parts of salt per thousand, is even saltier.The water of the Dead Sea contains about 250 parts of salt to every thousand parts of water, or 25% by weight. It is so salty that it is difficult to swim or dive, as your body floats on the surface. What has made this lake so salty? The minerals are partly supplied by hundreds of natural springs which flow into the Dead Sea, and partly by the River Jordan. It is called the Dead Sea because very few things can live in such salty water. There is little rain here, merely 60 mm in a year on average. The minerals stay in the lake, because there is no river flowing out of the lake.