| Great Bitter Lake | |
|---|---|
| البحيرة المرة الكبرى (Arabic) | |
 The Great Bitter Lake from low orbit (north is left) | |
  Great Bitter Lake | |
| Location | Suez Canal |
| Coordinates | 30°19′21″N 32°22′57″E / 30.32250°N 32.38250°E |
| Lake type | salt lake |
| Primary inflows | Suez Canal |
| Primary outflows | Suez Canal |
| Basin countries | Egypt |
| First flooded | 1869 |
| Max. length | 24 km (15 mi) |
| Max. width | 13 km (8.1 mi) |
| Surface area | 194 km2 (75 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Max. depth | 28 m (92 ft) |
| Salinity | 41‰ |
| Surface elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Settlements | Fayed Abou Sultan |
The Great Bitter Lake (Arabic: البحيرة المرة الكبرى; transliterated: al-Buḥayrah al-Murra al-Kubrā) is a large saltwater lake in Egypt which is part of the Suez Canal. Before the canal was built in 1869, the Great Bitter Lake was a dry salt valley or basin.[1][2] References are made to the Great Bitter Lake in the ancient Pyramid Texts.[3]
The canal connects the Great Bitter Lake to the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The canal also connects it to the Small Bitter Lake (Arabic: البحيرة المرة الصغرى; transliterated: al-Buhayrah al-Murra as-Sughra).
Ships traveling through the Suez Canal use the Great Bitter Lake as a "passing lane", where they can pass other ships or turn around.[1]
- ^ a b "Great Bitter Lake, Egypt (Oct. 26, 2009)". Earth Observatory NASA. 26 October 2009. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ^ Madl, Pierre (1999). Essay about the phenomenon of Lessepsian Migration Archived 2016-07-31 at the Wayback Machine, Colloquial Meeting of Marine Biology I, Salzburg, April 1999 (revised in Nov. 2001).
- ^ Jones, Greg (Apr 28, 2014). Waters of Death and Creation: Images of Water in the Egyptian Pyramid Texts. BookBaby. ISBN 9781483526362. Retrieved 18 November 2016.[permanent dead link]