At the end of a course of over 2,840 km, collecting water from a vast hydrological basin that exceeds 8% of the area of Europe, the Danube (the second largest river of the Continent) has during the last 16,000 years built at its mouth on the Black Sea one of the most beautiful deltas in Europe, perhaps in the whole world.

The Danube Delta is famous as one of the greatest wetlands on Earth.

An area of 312,440 ha of the Danube Delta was inscribed by Romania in 1991 on the List of the World Heritage, as a natural site, due to its natural values. The Danube Delta hosts over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in its numerous lakes and marshes.

In 1990, the entire Danube Delta and its surrounding geographical units were declared a biosphere reserve under the “Man and the biosphere” Programme of UNESCO, with a total area of 580,000 ha. In 1998, the Romanian Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve and the Ukrainian Danube Biosphere Reserve were declared a transboundary biosphere reserve. The importance of the Danube Delta for the migratory and sedentary water birds and its huge area of waters resulted in its nomination on the List of the Ramsar Convention in 1991. The Danube Delta is also part of the Natura 2000 Network.