Danube Delta
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Danube_delta_satelite.png
Satellite photo
The Danube Delta (Delta Dunării in Romanian), located in Dobrogea, Romania and a small part in Odes'ka oblast', Ukraine, is the largest and best preserved of European deltas, with an area of 3446 km².
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Geography
Every year, the alluvium deposited by the Danube increases the width of the Delta by around 40 meters, making it extremely dynamic. Near Tulcea, the Danube is divided in three river branches before it flows into the Sea: Chilia, Sulina and Sfântu Gheorghe (Saint George), but many other channels make split the Delta into areas with reed, marshes and forests, some of which are flooded during the spring and autumn.
About 44 km off the coast of the Danube Delta lies Snake Island, a territory which has been claimed by both Romania and Ukraine but is currently administered by Ukraine.
In 2004, Ukraine inaugurated work on the Bistroe Channel that will provide a navigable link from the Black Sea to the Ukrainian section of the Danube Delta. The European Union urged Ukraine to shut it down, because it will damage the wetlands of the Delta. The Romanian side, committed to protecting the delta, said they will sue Ukraine at the International Court of Justice.
Nature
It hosts over 1,200 varieties of plants, 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in its numerous lakes and marshes. The Danube Delta has been entered onto the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites and Biosphere reserves. Around 2,733 km² of it are strictly protected areas.
This is the place where millions of birds from different places of Earth (European, Asian, African, Mediteraneean) come to lay their eggs.
Around 2,500 years ago, as Herodotus says that the Danube was divided in seven branches.
Inhabitants
Around 15,000 people live in the Delta, most of them are living off fishing with their traditional wooden kayaks. It includes a community of Lippovans which are descendants of the Old Rite Followers who left Russia in 1772 to avoid religious persecutions. The main center of Lippovan community in the Ukrainian part of Danube Delta is Vilkovo.
History
Starting with the 15th century, the Danube Delta was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Paris of 1856 which ended the Crimean War established an international commission which made a series of works to help navigation. In 1878, after the Romanian war of Independence it became part of Romania.
See also
External links
- www.deltadunarii.ro
- Birds of the Danube Delta (http://www.eurobirding.co.uk/danube_delta.htm)
- Danube Delta: Photo Gallery (http://www.aboutromania.com/danube00.html)da:Donau-deltaet
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