Salar de Uyuni, Salt flat in Potosí and Oruro departments, Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni is a salt flat of about 10,582 square kilometres in the Daniel Campos Province of Potosí Department and Ladislao Cabrera Province of Oruro Department, southwestern Bolivia, at 3,656 metres. Its crust, roughly 8 metres thick, lies over brine rich in lithium, and conical heaps of coarse white salt are piled on the flat surface.
Prehistoric lakes evaporated around 40,000 years ago, leaving sodium chloride deposits several meters thick. Modern lithium exploration since the 1980s transformed the economic importance for global battery production.
Aymara communities harvest salt as their economic foundation across this remote plateau, with families passing extraction zones through generations and selling harvested salt at regional markets throughout the Andean highlands.
Visitors need sun protection and warm clothing due to rapid temperature changes between day and night. Multi-day tours from Uyuni town with four-wheel-drive vehicles provide the only practical access to this remote expanse.
From December to April, rainwater transforms the surface into a giant natural mirror used for satellite calibration. The flat reflection enables precise altitude measurements for orbiting instruments.
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