Sabkhat al-Jabbul

Where is Sabkhat al-Jabbul?

Countries on its shores: Syria.

Largest lake of: Syria.

Middle of the lake: 36.07° N, 37.50° E

The story behind it

In the past, Sabkhat al-Jabbul filled with water in spring and shrank again in summer and autumn. Around it lie wide salt flats. Since 1988, large irrigation projects have been watering the fields nearby, and a lot of slightly salty water from them runs off into the basin. This keeps the water level steadier, and in 2009 the lake covered about 100 km². How big it is can change from year to year. The lake is the most important source of salt in Syria, and people collect salt there. Around the lake lies the steppe, a dry grassland where shepherds let their animals graze. The area is a nature reserve for water birds, and since 1998 it has been on the list of wetlands of international importance. Only one lake in Syria is bigger: the artificial reservoir on the Euphrates River.

Find it on the globe

Sabkhat al-Jabbul is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.