Name
Salar is salt flat in Spanish. Uyuni originates from the Aymara language and means a pen (enclosure), and is also the name for a town of 10,600 people (which serves as a gateway for tourists visiting the Salar). Thus Salar de Uyuni can be loosely translated as a salt flat with enclosures, the latter possibly referring to the "islands" of the Salar; or as "salt flat at 'pen for animals'".
Aymara legend tells that the mountains Tunupa, Kusku and Kusina, which surround the Salar, were giant people. Tunupa married Kusku, but Kusku ran away from her with Kusina. Grieving Tunupa started to cry while breast-feeding her son. Her tears mixed with milk and formed the Salar. Many locals consider the Tunupa an important deity and say that the place should be called Salar de Tunupa rather than Salar de Uyuni.
Read more about this topic: Salar De Uyuni
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