The Salar De Uyuni reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Salar De Uyuni

Salar de Uuyni, is the world’s largest salt flats. Sitting 3650 meter high, Salar de Uyuni sits in the Departmento of Potosi in southwest Bolivia near the crest of the Andes.

40,000 years ago the salt flats were a part of Lago Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When this lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Lagos Poopö & Uru Uru, and the two major salt deserts, Coipasa and the larger Uyuni.

Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually. Every November Salar de Uyuni is also the breeding grounds for three breeds of South American flamingos - Chilean, James and Andean. Salar de Uyuni is also a significant tourist destination in western Bolivia.

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