Great Salt Desert

Great Salt Desert
Dasht-e Kavir
Sand dunes in the Rig-e Jenn in the Kavir Desert
Great Salt Desert
Length800 km (500 mi)
Width500 km (310 mi)
Area77,600 km2 (30,000 mi2)
Geography
CountryIran
ProvinceKhorasan, Semnan, Tehran, Isfahan, Yazd
Coordinates34°44′15.2″N 54°49′37.56″E / 34.737556°N 54.8271000°E / 34.737556; 54.8271000

The Great Salt Desert or Kavir Desert (Persian: دشت کویر, romanizedDasht-e Kavir, lit.'Low Plains' in classical Persian, from khwar (low), and dasht (plain, flatland)) is a large desert lying in the middle of the Iranian Plateau. It is about 800 kilometres (500 mi) long by 320 kilometres (200 mi) wide with a total surface area of about 77,600 km2 (30,000 sq mi), making it the world's 24th largest desert. The desert stretches from the Alborz mountain range in the north-west to the Lut Desert in the south-east. It is spread across the Iranian provinces of Khorasan, Semnan, Tehran, Isfahan and Yazd.