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The 'Makgadikgadi Pan' is a large salt pan in Northern Botswana, the largest salt flat complex in the world.
These salt plans are the largest in the world, covering 16,000 sq km and situated on an ancient lake that evaporated 10,000 years ago. The area is home to one of Africa's biggest zebra populations, and usually only quad bikes are permitted on the fragile plans in single file.
Makgadikgadi is not a single pan but many pans with sandy desert in between which has been counted in the area estimate. The largest individual pan is about 5,000 km², and it is frequently covered with water. Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia on the other hand is a single salt flat of 10,582 km² and rarely has much water and claims to be the world's largest salt pan.
Commercial operations to mine salt and soda ash began in 1991.
The main water source is the Nata river, called Amanzinyama in Zimbabwe where it rises at Sandown about 60 kilometres from Bulawayo.
Kubu Island, a rock island, is within the Makgadikgadi Pan.

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★ Images from the Mkgadikgadi Pans