Salar de Uyuni

Salar de Uyuni (or "Salar de Tunupa") is the world's largest <a href="/facts/Salt_pan_(geology)/DWJK5h39">salt flat</a>, or <a href="/facts/Dry_lake/f2U3V1mP">playa</a>, at 10,582 square kilometres (4,086 sq mi) in area. It is in the <a href="/facts/Daniel_Campos_Province/gPEsvFHH">Daniel Campos Province</a> in <a href="/facts/Potos%C3%AD_Department/PgUroM3M">Potosí</a> in southwest <a href="/facts/Bolivia/YNBoDKKR">Bolivia</a>, near the crest of the <a href="/facts/Andes/a4wlgG3e">Andes</a> at an elevation of 3,656 m (11,995 ft) above sea level.
The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes that existed around forty thousand years ago but had all evaporated over time. It is now covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average elevation variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of <a href="/facts/Brine/xsN2GcLF">brine</a>, which is exceptionally rich in <a href="/facts/Lithium/7vXX6BWA">lithium</a>. The large area, clear skies, and exceptional flatness of the surface make the Salar ideal for calibrating the <a href="/facts/Altimeter/dHEXhjQK">altimeters</a> of Earth observation satellites. Following rain, a thin layer of dead calm water transforms the flat into the world's largest mirror, 129 km (80 miles) across.
The Salar serves as the major transport route across the Bolivian <a href="/facts/Altiplano/Eq1pASWK">Altiplano</a> and is a prime breeding ground for several species of <a href="/facts/Flamingo/l97N685y">flamingos</a>. Salar de Uyuni is also a climatological transitional zone since the towering tropical <a href="/facts/Cumulus_congestus_cloud/KdNLMm3Y">cumulus congestus</a> and <a href="/facts/Cumulonimbus_incus/GBwMgbXx">cumulonimbus incus</a> clouds that form in the eastern part of the salt flat during the summer cannot permeate beyond its drier western edges, near the Chilean border and the <a href="/facts/Atacama_Desert/RmLNNvvg">Atacama Desert</a>.
The Salar has been used as a filming location for movies such as <a href="/facts/Star_Wars:_The_Last_Jedi/85rXcGj3">Star Wars: The Last Jedi</a> (2017; as planet Crait), <a href="/facts/The_Fall_(2006_film)/GBXdG3nz">The Fall</a> (2006), <a href="/facts/Salt_and_Fire/TQVI2cye">Salt and Fire</a> (2016), The Unseen (2017), and several others.

Salar de Uyuni open-in-new

Salar de Uyuni