Found since prehistoric times, it is said that its existence dates back to more than ten thousand years.
It is a natural miracle, as it does not depend on tributaries or rivers that supply its highly saline water, but rather on the springs and the groundwater flowing from under them, which filters to them from the nearby Euphrates River, through the cracks and cracks at the bottom...
It is a closed lake with salt water surrounded by a natural limestone wall that re-closes itself when broken, due to the rapid hardening of the limestone in its water, and it can only be seen closely because it rises by 5 or 6 meters above sea level.
This lake contains very small fish that are high in grease, as they completely melt when trying to cook them, as well as adorn its surface with types of waterfowl, reaching 25 species, the most important of which are ducks, Eurasian grouse, small diver, Iraqi hoopoe, and gray croup. Likewise, most of the birds that migrate from their original homeland, such as Russia, southern China, Asian countries and cold regions, come annually to this lake and stay in it for four days and then migrate to the Gulf countries, and their types are many, including cranes that are very rare and forbidden to hunt internationally because they are vulnerable to extinction, as well as different species. From geese, Chinese ducks, burbs, khediri and many other rare bird species.
It was considered one of the unique lakes, due to its high salinity rate compared to the rest of the lakes and rivers in Iraq. Its water depth ranges from four to five meters, and the color of its water varies from dark green (near the banks) to blue in the depth. The water level in this lake fluctuates between dry and wet seasons, but it does not dry up because of the balance between the amount added from groundwater and the amount of water evaporated. It extends longitudinally in the shape of a pear, with a maximum length of 4.74 km and a maximum width of 1.77 km
It is Lake Sawa, the natural miracle, whose oddities are linked to fairy tales and religious ones. Some environmental experts who wrote about it said that it should have been added as an eighth wonder along with the Seven Wonders of the World. Some poets called her the "beautiful woman" because of the secrets of eternal immortality. It is a distinctive and strange lake in every way and an important environmental, historical, and heritage landmark. It has a history that extends from prehistoric times to now, and the name of Sawa is mentioned in historical books dealing with the history of the ancient civilization of Iraq, where there are indications that it is the source of the flow of water that flooded the earth in the story of the flood in the era of Noah, peace be upon him, and it was mentioned in the time of its king Gilgamesh and that it She returned to her normal state after swallowing water again. . This is a historical and archaeological evidence for Lake Sawa, which is not more than 30 km away from the ancient city of Warka.
Lake Sawa is located in the depths of a barren desert, surrounded by sand on all sides. Scientists suspected that there are springs inside the lake that feed it with water, but the surprise was that the bottom of the lake was made of hard rocks, and perhaps that is what made it constitute a real mystery that puzzled many scientists. And because it is the strangest lakes in the world, the locals called it the mother of secrets.
The closed salt lake of Sawa is located in the Muthanna Governorate in southern Iraq, near the Euphrates River, and it is 23 km west of the city of Samawah. Its area is part of the gypsum plain, and its land is characterized by flatness and flatness. The degree of inclination in it generally increases from northwest to southeast, at a rate of 2.7 meters per kilometer, and natural phenomena such as marshes and sand dunes abound in the region. The lake rises between one to four meters from the neighboring lands, and is above the nearby Euphrates River between five to seven meters, and it rises from the Shatt Al-Arab and the Arabian Gulf between 17-20 m. And it has the ability to build salt walls (made up mainly of gypsum) surrounding it on all sides. These salt walls form a barrier that prevents the lake water from seeping into the neighboring lands. The walls are built from the evaporation of salt-saturated water at the shallow edges of the lake and grow upwards over time until they are higher than the lake level (salt walls are up to 6 meters high) forming strange cauliflower-like shapes. Salt deposits are also spread along the beach, forming an exhibition of natural art sculptures.
In addition to its salinity and unique physical characteristics, this lake is an important tourist destination in Iraq, as it is linked to stories from Iraqi heritage and folklore, some of which are religious in nature and others are different social. Among the most attractive features of this lake are the shapes and zigzags of its strange limestone walls, and their colors range between intense blue, azure and beautiful green
