Great Braila Island
Encyclopedia
The Great Brăila Island is an island on the Danube
river in the Brăila County
, Romania
. It has on average 60 km length and 20 km width, with a total area of 710 km². The two river branches which separate it from the mainland are Măcin and Cremenea.
Currently, 681.3 km² (94.6% of the area of island) are occupied by agricultural terrains of which 70.84 km² are irrigated and is protected by a dam having a length of 23.5 km. On the island there are two communes, Frecăţei
and Măraşu
, which have about 5,000 inhabitants.
It used to be a series of swamp
s - Brăila Pond (Romanian: Balta Brăilei), until the Communist regime
desiccated it and built dams using forced labour of political detainees and transformed it to an agricultural area. There were five "re-education camps
" at Grădina, Lunca, Salcia, Stoieneşti and Strâmba Veche. The terrain proved to be fertile and it was declared a "success of Communism in Romania".
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
river in the Brăila County
Braila County
Brăila is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila.- Demographics :In 2002, Brăila had a population of 373,174 and the population density was 78/km².*Romanians – 98%*Romas, Russians, Lipovans, Aromanians and others....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. It has on average 60 km length and 20 km width, with a total area of 710 km². The two river branches which separate it from the mainland are Măcin and Cremenea.
Currently, 681.3 km² (94.6% of the area of island) are occupied by agricultural terrains of which 70.84 km² are irrigated and is protected by a dam having a length of 23.5 km. On the island there are two communes, Frecăţei
Frecatei, Braila
Frecăţei is a commune located in Brăila County, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Agaua, Cistia, Frecăţei, Salcia, Stoieneşti and Titcov....
and Măraşu
Marasu
Măraşu is a commune located in Brăila County, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Băndoiu, Măgureni, Măraşu, Nedelcu, Plopi and Ţăcău....
, which have about 5,000 inhabitants.
It used to be a series of swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s - Brăila Pond (Romanian: Balta Brăilei), until the Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
desiccated it and built dams using forced labour of political detainees and transformed it to an agricultural area. There were five "re-education camps
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
" at Grădina, Lunca, Salcia, Stoieneşti and Strâmba Veche. The terrain proved to be fertile and it was declared a "success of Communism in Romania".