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The
Danube Delta
is situated in the eastern part of Romania, in the Tulcea
county. The Danube Delta has the third ecological significance
among the 300 UNESCO reserves in the world. Through
UNESCO resolution of 02.02.1999, the Danube Delta reserve
received the international certificate of Biosphere Reserve. The
Danube Delta has a surface of 5.640 km2,
the second largest delta in Europe. The surface that is
included in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (D.D.B.R.)
is of 4.178 km2, only 3.446 km2 of which
are on Romanian territory. The Razim-Sinoe lagoon system
is also included in the Danube Delta and it comprises Razim,
Golovita, Zmeica and Sinoe lakes. About the Lake Razim`s name
there are more variants: its name comes from that of the Russian
orthodox of old rite revolutionist Stepan Razim that was killed
on the lake`s borders. The name of Razelm was used by the Turks
to designate this lake. The Danube Delta was formed at the Danube river mouth that flows
in the Black Sea. The river is the second in length in Europe
after the Volga and it springs from the Black Forest Mountains (Schwarzwald)
in Germany and travels 2.860 km until its river mouth, crossing
17 countries. Due to the mud deposits carried by the river, the
delta`s surface has grown in time (it grows with 40 m per year),
most of its relief is formed of channels, lakes, sand dunes.
On the Tulcea county territory the Danube flows in the Black
Sea through three river branches: Kilia in the
north that has a length of 115 km, a depth of 39 m and the
Tulcea Branch (19 km in length) that is divided at the Sulina
Ceatal in two: Sulina Branch, 64 km length and 26 m depth
that traverses the middle of the delta and Saint George`s
Branch (64 km in length, 26 m in depth) in the south.
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