page_title: Danube Delta
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Danube Delta / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Territorial losses of Romania in the Danube delta since 1948 Français&#160;: Pertes territoriales de la Roumanie dans le delta du Danube depuis 1948 Pierderile teritoriale ale României în Delta Dunării după anul 1948
context_page_description: The Danube Delta is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Romania, with a small part in Ukraine. Its approximate surface area is 4,152 km², of which 3,446 km² is in Romania. With the lagoons of Razim–Sinoe, located south of the main delta, the total area of the Danube Delta is 5,165 km². The Razim–Sinoe lagoon complex is geologically and ecologically related to the delta proper and the combined territory is listed as a World Heritage Site.
context_section_description: Recorded history notes that the Dacians lived in the Danube Delta before it was conquered by the Romans.  After later invasion by the Goths, the region changed hands many times.  During the 15th century, the Danube Delta became part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1812, following the Russo-Turkish War, the borders of the Ottoman and Russian Empires were set by the Kilia and Old Stambul Channels of the Danube, and in 1829 by the St George Channel. The Treaty of Paris of 1856, which ended the Crimean War, assigned the Danube Delta to the Ottoman Empire and established an international commission which undertook a series of works to help navigation. In 1878, following the defeat of Ottoman Empire by Russia and Romania, the border between the two countries was set by the Kilia and Old Stambul Channels.
  In 1991, the Romanian part of the Danube Delta became part of UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Around 2,733 km² of the delta are strictly protected areas.
  In 1998, under UNESCO's Programme on Man and the Biosphere, the 6,264.03 km² of the Danube Delta were established as a biosphere reserve, shared by Romania and Ukraine.
  Historically, in Romania, part of the Danube Delta was marked as a reserve in 1938.
  In Ukraine, the Danube branch of the Black Sea State Reserve was established in 1973. In 1981, it was reorganized into the Natural Reserve "Danube Fluxes", and in 1998, it was extended into the Danube biosphere reserve.
caption: Territorial losses of Romania in the Danube delta since 1948
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2016:11:28 19:08:20", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9585", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "339", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "371"}