Dead Sea
A salt lake located in the Jordan Valley, on the border line separating Palestine and Jordan, and the Dead Sea is famous for being the lowest spot on the surface of the earth, as its shore is located at a depth of 400 meters below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, and it is also famous for its high salinity of up to 34.2%, meaning that it is It surpasses the seas in salinity by ten times, as life is nonexistent in it except for some bacteria and fungi, and the reason for its high salinity is due to the high temperature in the area in which it is located, so the evaporation rates of water rise there, in addition to the fact that the Dead Sea is the final outlet of the water that reaches it, so do not leave it.
Its length is 70 km, its width is 17 km at its maximum, and its minimum is 2 km. It is prone to drought, as the percentage of its water has decreased in recent decades by more than 35%, due to the depletion of its sources, especially the waters of the Jordan River that used to flow into it, and the depletion of the sea from Before the companies established on its banks in the production of potash, bromine, and manganese, it was planned to overcome this crisis through the Bahrain Canal, which is a channel that connects the Red Sea with the Dead Sea. and the western.
Location
The Dead Sea is located between the State of Palestine and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It is bordered to the east by the Madaba Mountains and Karak Governorate, to the west by the West Bank and the Hebron Mountains, to the north by the mouth of the Jordan River and to the south by Wadi Araba. Its deepest point is located in the mouth of the Zarqa River, Hammamet Ma’in, at a depth of 399 meters. The Dead Sea consists of two basins: the northern main basin, and the shallow southern basin, which is a salt marsh eight meters deep.
Read also:Where is the Dead Sea located?the climate
The climate is desert par excellence, with scorching sun all year round, dry air, little to no rain, in summer temperatures reach above forty degrees Celsius, and in winter temperatures rarely fall below 20 degrees Celsius, and the concentration of oxygen in the region is high due to its low Above sea level, it is the highest in the world at 35%, and the atmospheric pressure is the highest in the world, reaching 799 mm Hg.
economic importance
- Companies operating on the shores of the Dead Sea benefit from highly concentrated salts in the production of potash, bromine, magnesium, and sodium salts.
- Dead Sea mud and its rich materials have encouraged many companies to use it in the production of many ointments, masks and cosmetics, in addition to using it in therapeutic aspects.
- Tourism was the reason for attracting many investments to build huge resorts and hotels in the Dead Sea area, and to employ and train the local workforce.
tourism
The Dead Sea's tourist importance lies in the following aspects:
- Medical Tourism: As the atmosphere is free of moisture and the area contains sulfur springs, sea water and its rich mud, which made it a focus of attention for those suffering from joint problems and skin problems such as rheumatism and psoriasis, which prompted the World Health Organization to designate it as a global center for the treatment of many skin diseases in 2011. In that area, a group of projects were established that provided treatments, massages, and physical therapy for patients, who began to visit the place from all over the world.
- Business tourism: Where the Dead Sea region on the eastern side hosted many international conferences, seminars and meetings, the most important of which was the World Economic Conference in Davos, more than once, and the Dead Sea Company for Conferences and Exhibitions was established in 2003.
- Sports tourism: Where sports events are held, the most important of which is the running marathon from Amman to the Dead Sea, in which many tourists and local residents participate, and whose proceeds are allocated to support patients with brain and nerves in Jordan.
- Historical and religious tourism: Visiting the archaeological areas where there are some important archaeological and religious monuments in the region, such as Masada, which includes a palace and castle built back to the year 100 BC, and Khirbet Qumran, where hundreds of manuscripts dating back to the year 100 BC were found, and these manuscripts are of high value as part of the Some of them refer to the Jewish Bible, and the other is interpretations of the Bible. These manuscripts were found in jars inside the Qumran caves, as there is the cave of the Prophet Lot in the place.
