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Ask people what they know about the Dead Sea and most will tell you that it’s impossible to sink (下沉) when you are swimming in it. But not everyone knows why. Kids News researched the Dead Sea and found some interesting facts.

The Dead Sea is an inland lake 50 kilometers long by 15 kilometers wide in the Middle East between the west bank and Jordan. The Jordan River is the main source of the Dead Sea water. It is about 430 meters below sea level, the lowest point on the surface of the Earth. The water level has been dropping even lower for the past 60 or so years. It drops about 1 meter each year.

It’s a popular place for people to have a holiday, partly because it’s in the desert, which means lots of hot, sunny days.

It’s called the Dead Sea because it is full of salt. The Dead Sea water is perhaps 10 times as salty as open ocean seawater and nothing much can live in it. Exactly how sally it is changes through the depth (深度) of the lake and with how much water is flowing in (流入) from the Jordan River and how much water is evaporating (蒸发).

The water of the Dead Sea is full of salt, which makes it much denser (密度更大) and heavier than freshwater. If you swim in it, you float (漂浮) very easily.