Dead Sea to be one of 7 natural wonders?
Tuesday, 14 July 2009 12:00 AM
Dead Sea at sunset
The Dead Sea is one of the 77 nominees in an international competition to be named one of the new seven natural wonders of the world.
The New 7 Wonders of Nature competition has generated a great deal of international interest, and organisers expect over a billion people worldwide to participate in the online voting over the next two years. Finalists will be announced in 2011.
The Dead Sea was selected from an original list that included about 440 sites from 220 countries.
The list of 28 finalists for the next stage of the competition will be published on www.new7wonders.com on 21 July at 12:07 GMT, when voting will begin both online and via mobile phones.
It is the lowest place on earth and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Israel and the Megillot Dead Sea regional council proposed the Dead Sea as a candidate for the competition.
The council wanted to raise awareness of the lowering of the sea level, which has lost about one metre in height every year for the past three decades.
Well known as a natural health spa, the mud and thermo-mineral hot springs of the Dead Sea are said to ease muscular tensions, improve blood circulation, and alleviate rheumatic pain.
The surrounding area is also popular among tourists who visit sites such as the Roman fortress at Masada and the location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
travelbite.co.uk
