The level of Lake Urumiyeh is again sinking, despite decades of efforts to restore it. It now measures 1270.27 meters high, which is just 23 centimeters (nine inches) more than the lowest figure ever recorded. The lake is the largest in West Asia and the sixth-largest salt lake in the world—or at least it used to be when its surface area was 5,000 to 6,000 square kilometers. Now it’s just 1,130 square kilometers.
