Lowest road

The lowest road is along the Israeli (western) shores of the Dead Sea at 393m (1290ft) below sea level. The waters in the deepest sections of the Dead Sea are so salty and dense that they're effectively fossilized, resting on the sea floor since a few centuries after Biblical times. Any fish washed into it die instantly, and no other life aside from bacteria survives in its waters. The Dead Sea is the lowest body of water on earth, at an average of around 400m (1,312ft) below sea level. It is 80km (50 miles) long, with a maximum width of 18km (11 miles). It lies on the Israel-Jordan border and has a rich history: the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves in surrounding hills, and archaeologists believe that the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah could be submerged beneath its waters. Lying in a sunken block between two parallel geological faults (in fact a northern extension of Africa's Great Rift Valley), it is fed largely by the Jordan River, but has no outlet – the hot desert climate ensures that the heavy inflow evaporates rapidly.