Denakil desert also Danakil depression, in northern Ethiopia, extending into Eritrea and Djibouti. This desert is centered on the Denakil Depression, a large triangular basin that drops to 120 m (394 ft) below sea level, and is bounded on the north by the Denakil Alps, a range of hills separating the desert from the Red Sea.   

The main road from the Ethiopian interior to the Red Sea ports of Djibouti and Āseb, in Eritrea, passes along the desert's southern fringe. Characterized by black lava formations, smoking volcanic cones, hot springs and sulfur fields.

Part of the Great Rift Valley system, the Denakil Desert is subject to significant seismic activity, but no major earthquakes has occurred in modern times. There are a number of active volcanoes.   
Mount Erta'ale at 503 m (1,650 ft) erupted as recently as 1995. Parts of the desert are inhabited by wild asses and zebras. The desert contains small deposits of manganese and potash, but the principal resource is rock salt, mainly from salt flats around the region's half dozen saline lakes. The largest is Lake Asale, near the Eritrean border, at 120 m (394 ft) below sea level. Transported by camel caravans, salt tablets, known as amole, were once used as currency in the region. Denakil is the Arabic word for the area's native Afar, a herding people who speak a Cushitic language related to Somali. Fiercely protective of their sparse resources, they number around 100,000.