The Great Brăila Island ( ro, Insula Mare a Brăilei) is an island on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

river in the

Brăila County Brăila County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila. Demographics In 2011, Brăila had a population of 304,925 and the population density was 64/km2. * Romanians – 98% * Romani, Russians, Lipo ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It has on average length and width, with a total area of . The two river branches which separate it from the mainland are and . Adjacent to the west across the Vâlciu branch is the Small Brăila Island (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

: Insula Mică a Brăilei, actually a chain of several islands within swampy area), separated from the mainland by Vâlciu and . Currently, —94.6% of the area of island—are occupied by agricultural terrains of which are irrigated and is protected by a dam having a length of . On the island there are two

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

, Frecăței and Mărașu, which have about 5,000 inhabitants. In the southwest is the village of ''Mărașu''. There was a series of

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s – ''Brăila Pond'' (Romanian: ''Balta Brăilei''), until the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

drained them and built dams using

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

of political detainees and transformed it to an agricultural area. There were " re-education camps" at Grădina, Ostrov, Bandoiu, Lunca, Salcia, Stoienești, and Strâmba Veche. The terrain proved to be

fertile Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...

and it was declared a "success of Communism in Romania". In 2018, it was announced that Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an investor from the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

, had purchased 57,000 hectares on the Island for agricultural development.

Balta Mică a Brăilei Natural Park The Balta Mică a Brăilei Natural Park ( ro, Parcul Natural Balta Mică a Brăilei) is a protected area (nature park, natural park category V IUCN) which is situated in Romania, in Brăila County, on the administrative territory of communes Berte� ...

is base on the Small Brăila Island.

Notes

References

* Ediție Specială, 26 July 200
(part 1)(part 2)
*

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchare ...

, 4 August 2005
Bărăganul dintre brațele Dunării

Notes

References

See also