Lop Nur, salt basin, SE Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, in the Tarim River basin. Since 1964, Lop Nur has been used by the China for its nuclear test explosions. Once a large salt lake (as mapped by ancient Chinese geographers), it is now largely dried up, with marshes and small, shifting lakes receiving the channels of the Tarim river. The region was explored by N. M. Przhevalsky and Sven Hedin; archaeological sites at the ancient margins of the lake have yielded mummies of Caucasian inhabitants. In 1928, at the time of the last expedition, the lake covered c.1,200 sq mi (3,100 sq km). The name sometimes appears as Lop Nor and Lo-pu po.

Lop Nor, Xinjiang, China: see Lop Nur.

Lop Buri, town (1990 pop. 40,190), capital of Lop Buri prov., S Thailand. Originally called Lavo, it was ruled by the Mons in the 7th and 8th cent. and by the Khmers from the 10th to the 13th cent. While Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand, Lop Buri served as an alternate capital.