The Dead Sea is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The lake's shores are the lowest land elevation on earth, as of 2019, the lake's surface is 430.5 metres (1,412 ft) below sea level. It's the deepest and saltiest salt lake. It is 304 m (997 ft) deep with a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2% (in 2011), which is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean.

The high salinity creates a harsh environment where plants and animals struggle, which is why it is called the Dead Sea. The main northern basin of the Dead Sea spans 50 kilometers (31 miles) in length and reaches a width of 15 kilometers (9 miles) at its broadest point.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean Basin for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts, and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilisers. Today, tourists visit the sea on its Israeli, Jordanian and West Bank coastlines.