Chott el Djerid

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Chott el Djerid near the road from Tozeur to Kebili
Chott el Djerid near the road from Tozeur to Kebili

Chott el Djerid (Arabic: شط الجريد‎) is a large endorheic salt lake in southern Tunisia, at 33.7° N 8.4344444° E.

It is the largest salt pan of the Sahara with a surface area of over 7.000 km² (some sources state 5.000 km²). Due to the extreme climate with annual rainfall of only 100 mm and temperatures reaching 50° C, water evaporates from the lake. In summer Chott el Djerid is almost entirely dried up, and numerous fata morgana's occur.

South of Chott el Djerid, the Grand Erg Oriental desert begins. The towns of Kebili and Douz are also located south of the lake.

The lake can be crossed by foot and even by car, but this is very dangerous since the salt crust isn't always too firm.

Chott el Djerid was used as a filming location for the Star Wars series, among others.

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