Best Endorheic

Lake Balkhash is a large, endorheic freshwater and saline lake located in southeastern Kazakhstan. Covering an area of approximately 16,400 square kilometers, it is one of the largest lakes in Asia. The lake is uniquely divided by a strait into two distinct parts: a freshwater western half fed prima...

Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre is a vast endorheic salt lake located in the deserts of northern South Australia. Its basin represents the lowest natural point in Australia, sitting approximately 15 meters below sea level. Normally a dry saltpan, the lake only fills completely during rare, massive flood event...

The Eyre Basin is a vast, inland basin in South Australia. It’s notable as an endorheic lake system, meaning water flows in but rarely out, creating a unique salt-flat landscape. This area supports specialized wildlife and offers opportunities for scientific research focused on arid ecosystems and g...

The Okavango River (known as the Cubango in its upper reaches) is a river in southern Africa approximately 1,600 kilometers long. It rises in the Bié Plateau of central Angola and flows southeast through Namibia's Caprivi Strip before entering northern Botswana, where it terminates inland rather tha...

Lake Tengiz is a shallow endorheic saline lake in the Akmola Region of central Kazakhstan, covering approximately 1,590 sq km with a maximum depth of about 8 m. The lake is designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and forms the core of the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve, part of the Sar...

The Helmand Basin is an endorheic drainage basin covering much of southwestern Afghanistan and extending into eastern Iran. Its principal river, the Helmand, flows from the Hindu Kush toward the Sistan depression, where it feeds the Hamun system of shallow lakes and wetlands rather than reaching the...

Lake Gairdner is a large endorheic salt lake in the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia, covering approximately 4,349 sq km when dry and ranking among the largest salt lakes in Australia. The lakebed consists of a vast, flat salt crust that hardens during dry periods, creating one of the most e...

Lake Mar Chiquita is an endorheic, saline lake located in the northeast of Córdoba Province, Argentina. It is the largest salt lake in South America, receiving its primary inflow from the Río Dulce. The lake's water levels and surface area have historically experienced significant fluctuations, expa...

Lake Chilwa is a shallow, endorheic lake located primarily in southern Malawi, with its basin extending into neighboring Mozambique. It is the second-largest lake in Malawi by surface area and varies dramatically in size and salinity due to seasonal rainfall patterns and periodic drying cycles. The...

The Hamoun Lakes are transboundary wetlands on the Iran-Afghanistan border, fed chiefly by the Helmand River and vital to the Sistan region's ecology.

Lake Torrens is a large endorheic salt lake in South Australia, forming a near-crescent arc covering approximately 5,745 km² (2,218 sq mi). The lake is almost permanently dry, with a salt crust surface, and sits near some of the lowest elevations on the Australian continent. Located approximately 34...

An ephemeral salt lake in northeastern South Australia covering roughly 2,440 km², it forms part of a chain of salt lakes that receive water only infrequently.

Lake Rukwa is an endorheic salt lake in southwestern Tanzania whose water level fluctuates dramatically, periodically shrinking or expanding significantly over decades.

A large salt lake in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia, it was named by explorer Frank Hann in 1897 after his expedition failed to find the fresh water they had anticipated.

Lake Urmia is a hypersaline endorheic lake in northwestern Iran that was once the largest lake in the Middle East but has shrunk by over 80% since the 1970s due to water diversion.

A shallow, saline lake in southern California's Salton Sink, accidentally created in 1905 when an irrigation canal breach flooded the basin for nearly two years.

Principal feeder of Lake Chad at roughly 1,200 km, flowing through the Central African Republic and Chad and supplying the majority of the lake's water.

The Jordan River in the Middle East flows into the Dead Sea and is highly notable for its immense religious significance in Christianity as the site of Jesus' baptism.

China's longest inland river at roughly 2,179 km, flowing through the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang and terminating in the desert rather than reaching the ocean.

The Lachlan River is an intermittent river in central New South Wales, Australia, flowing roughly 1,339 kilometers and ending in the Great Cumbung Swamp rather than reaching the sea.

The Helmand River is the longest river in Afghanistan, notable for primarily flowing through the country's central highlands before ending in the inland Sistan Basin.

River originating in the Ethiopian Highlands and flowing roughly 2,490 km through Somalia, one of East Africa's longest rivers though it rarely reaches the sea.