English: Lake Urmia is a salt lake in North Iran. At its greatest extent, it was the largest saltwater lake on Earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 km2, a length of 140 km (87 mi), a width of 55 km (34 mi), and a maximum depth of 16 m (52 ft). The lake has shrunk to 10% of its former size due to damming of the rivers that flow into it, and the pumping of groundwater from the surrounding area. The salinity has particularly increased in the half of the lake north of the Urmia Lake Bridge.

Lake Urmia, along with its once approximately 102 islands, is protected as a national park.

The prospect that Lake Urmia might dry up entirely has drawn protests in Iran and abroad. On May 5, 2016, Leonardo Di Caprio posted a photo of "a dilapidated ship dock remains on dried up Urmia Lake" on his Instagram page stating: "It used to be the biggest salt lake in the Middle East, but it now contains five percent of the amount of water it did two decades ago due to climate change, dam construction and decrease in precipitiation."

(Wikipedia)