Etosha Pan

Etosha Pan
Looking across the savannah to the hot, dry, salt-encrusted Etosha Pan
Map showing the location of Etosha Pan
Map showing the location of Etosha Pan
LocationNamibia
Coordinates18°47′07″S 16°15′50″E / 18.78528°S 16.26389°E / -18.78528; 16.26389
Official nameEtosha Pan, Lake Oponono & Cuvelai drainage
DesignatedAugust 23, 1995
Etosha Pan during wet season, Etosha Lookout/Halali

The Etosha Pan is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in the north of Namibia. It is a vast hollow in the ground in which water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after water has evaporated. The 120-kilometre-long (75-mile-long) dry lakebed and its surroundings are protected as Etosha National Park, Namibia's second-largest wildlife park, covering 22,270 square kilometres (8,600 sq mi). The pan is mostly dry but after heavy rains it is flooded with a thin layer of water, which is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on the surface.