9 Amazing Facts About Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni That Will Blow Your Mind (And #6 Even Surprises Locals!)

With 4,086 square miles of shockingly white salt crust, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the biggest salt flat on Earth. It is also a strange environment. Created from ancient lakes, this natural beauty is now among the most fascinating places in South America. Beyond its spectacular look, this amazing location has secrets and events that still astound scientists and tourists equally. From its part in global lithium production to its metamorphosis into the biggest natural mirror during rainy seasons, these nine amazing facts about the Salar de Uyuni help to explain why visitors from all around the world have fallen in love with this site.

1. The World's Largest Salt Flat

Until you are there in the Salar de Uyuni's middle, its great scale is hard to understand. Covering more than 4,086 square miles (10,582 square kilometres), this salt desert boasts more than 10 billion tonnes of salt, of which less than 25,000 tonnes are yearly collected. When many prehistoric lakes dried up some 30,000 years ago, the salt flat was created and a thick layer of salt stretches to the horizon in every direction. With surface variation of less than one metre throughout its whole breadth, this large white swath is so flat that it is used to calibrate satellite altimeters from space.

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Considered one of the most amazing geological features seen from orbit, the salt crust—which ranges in thickness from few meters to tens of meters—creates a landscape so precisely level. The development of this salt flat is evidence of the force of geology throughout time as the evaporation of mineral-rich water left behind almost exactly level surface of primarily sodium chloride. Small pyramids of salt dot the landscape during the dry season as local groups have evolved traditional salt-harvesting techniques handed down through the years. For local families, these harvesting methods not only offer a sustainable source of income but also assist to preserve the fragile equilibrium of this special ecosystem. The flat's surface's amazing accuracy has made it a necessary instrument for calibrating and testing different Earth observation satellites, therefore advancing our knowledge of world geography and temperature trends.