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Smallville (comics)

Smallville is a fictional town in American comic books published by DC Comics. The childhood hometown of Superman, Smallville was first named in Superboy #2 (May 1949). The town, long in an unnamed US state that was first defined as Kansas in Superman: The Movie (1978), is the setting of many Superboy comics where Superboy defends Smallville from various threats. Since the 1978 appearance in Superman: The Movie, Smallville has been a setting in other non-comic book productions (film, television, video games and novels) featuring Superboy / Superman.

History
The DC Comics universe has several different timelines, with a major reboot in the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Pre-Crisis
In the earliest Golden Age comics, the name of Clark Kent's hometown is uncertain. Earliest stories would either show Clark's hometown as unnamed or even as Metropolis. However, as of Superboy #2, Smallville's name is permanently identified.

Smallville is retroactively shown as the Golden Age Superman's childhood hometown as well, as seen in the "Mr. and Mrs. Superman" series in Superman Family, as well as in The New Adventures of Superboy #15-16 (March–April 1981). Unlike Earth-One's Smallville, Earth-Two's Smallville stays a much less prominent small town since the Earth-Two Superman was never Superboy. Additionally, the Kents never owned a general store on Earth-Two, but instead stayed farmers until their deaths.

Post-Crisis
Smallville's history, as well as that of the Kents, is delved into in the late 1980s World of Smallville miniseries, plus the 1997-1998 miniseries The Kents.

Later, Smallville was retconned to have a violent history, with green kryptonite, a common substance in the area, having a mutating, dangerous effect on normal citizens of the town (similar to the TV show Smallville). This history, plus the near-destruction and reconstruction of the town by overzealous government forces, is explored in the storyline "The Search For Kryptonite."

Law and government
Smallville's chief of police is Chief Douglas Parker, who in pre-Crisis stories is considered a close ally of Superboy. Superboy is capable of being contacted by Chief Parker, as well as Lana Lang's father Professor Lewis Lang and the President of the United States, via a secret signal lamp hidden in the Kent household. Chief Parker exists in the post-Crisis DC comics, but his role is much less prominent.

In the modern comics, Smallville also has a sheriff department. It is headed by Sheriff Hayes who is murdered by a Black Lantern version of Earth-Two's Superman at the time when he was talking to his superiors about transferring to Metropolis.

A storyline late in the run of The New Adventures of Superboy sees Smallville's town council propose building Smallville's first shopping mall, though the mall's construction is revealed out to have sinister ulterior motives. While the storyline is unfinished as the comic was cancelled before the story could be concluded, it does see Jonathan Kent decide to run for a city council seat to try to thwart the mall's construction.

People
Noted residents of Smallville include the Kent family, Jonathan and Martha Kent, or Ma and Pa Kent as they were often called, and their adopted son Clark Kent; Clark's friend, classmate and sometimes romantic interest Lana Lang; Clark's best friend Pete Ross, and Smallville's chief of police Douglas Parker.

In the original Superboy comics, other noted residents include Professor Phineas Potter (Lana's uncle), archaeologist Lewis Lang (Lana's father), and the young Lex Luthor.

In post-Crisis comics, Conner Kent, an alternate Superboy, also lives in Smallville with the now-widowed Martha Kent. The super-powered dog Krypto lives with them as well. While not initially enjoying Smallville, Conner eventually changes his mind.

Features
Smallville is usually portrayed as an idyllic, small isolated American town, with a "Middle America" atmosphere – resembling the settings of some paintings of Norman Rockwell. Its residents are generally very friendly, though in Silver Age Superboy stories, it also tends to attract various threats (from criminals, alien invaders, etc.).

Smallville's economy mostly consists of various locally owned businesses, along with various farms surrounding the town, including the Kent family farm. In the original Superboy comics, the Kent family sells their farm when Clark starts school, and open a general store in town. Post-Crisis comics, however, show the Kents residing on their farm through Clark's adulthood.

Smallville has one high school, Smallville High School, which Clark, Lana, and Pete attend.

Smallville also was the home of the Smallville Orphanage, where the Kents originally brought the infant Kal-El after his rocket landed on Earth; the Kents returned several days later to formally adopt Kal-El, renaming him "Clark."

In terms of media, Smallville has had several newspapers mentioned over the years, including the Smallville Sentinel (shown in various stories in The New Adventures of Superboy) and the Smallville Times-Reader (in Elliot S. Maggin's "Last Son of Krypton" text novel). In Action Comics (vol. 2) #8, the Daily Star's editor George Taylor mentions to Clark Kent having met Ma and Pa Kent while working as a reporter for the Smallville Sentinel. Smallville receives most of its television and radio broadcasts from a larger nearby city, though Superboy #195 shows Smallville has its own radio station, WSMV.

In the original Superboy comics, a billboard outside of Smallville greets those driving into and out of town. The billboard features a picture of Superboy waving, with words next to it reading: "Welcome to Smallville, Home of Superboy."

Location

Similar to the whereabouts of other fictional DC Universe cities, the location of Smallville was, originally, never specifically stated in the comics.

Smallville's location varied widely throughout many stories, many of which placed Smallville close to Metropolis and Midvale, home of Supergirl. All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (notable for featuring the wedding of Legion of Super-Heroes members Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and published in 1978) calls Smallville "a quiet town, nestled in the hills just inland from the eastern seaboard." Most sources since the 1986 John Byrne Superman origin reboot point the location of Smallville to be in Kansas.

Superman Family #195
In the Superboy story in Superman Family #195 (May–June 1979), Interstate 70 is shown as running through or near Smallville, as Lana and Clark drive along the highway. States the real-world Interstate 70 passes through include Utah, Colorado, Kansas (Smallville's usual post-Crisis location), Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland (cited in some pre-Crisis references as Smallville's location ).

Amazing World of DC Comics #14
In Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (1977), an officially sanctioned fanzine with articles on DC Comics characters and series, Smallville was stated to be in Maryland. The Maryland location was supported in the comics with a map of Smallville and the surrounding area that was published in New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), which situated Smallville a few miles west of a large bay very similar to Delaware Bay (the same map placed Metropolis and Gotham City on the east and west sides of the bay.

Legion of Super-Heroes volume 2 #313
A map of Legion-era Metropolis included in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #313 (July 1984) indicates that Smallville was believed by the 1980s to be somewhere in northeastern Pennsylvania or northern New Jersey, while incorporated into Metropolis proper at that time as a historical district. In revisions of the map published after 1986, this was retroactively removed to accommodate changes of Smallville's location in other titles, as detailed below.

The Death and Life of Superman (novel)
In the novel The Death and Life of Superman (1993), Jonathan and Martha Kent drive to Smallville from the Great Bend, Kansas, airport which would put Smallville somewhere in central Kansas.

The Kents
The 1990s limited series The Kents places Smallville in eastern Kansas, within approximately one day's horse ride from Paola, Kansas, which is located in Miami County.

Action Comics #822
In "Repo Man" Pt. 1, Smallville is placed approximately 55 miles from Salina, Kansas, and in line with Junction City, giving it approximately the same location as Dorrance, Kansas.

Smallville Season 11
Smallville Season 11 is the comic book sequel to the Smallville television series. This version of Smallville has a zip code of 67524, which is the real world zip code for Chase, Kansas. Although this Smallville is described as being about two hundred miles west of Wichita and southwest of Dodge City, placing it around Liberal, Kansas, while Chase is 73 miles Northwest of Wichita.

Television

 * The Superboy TV series (1988–1992) also places Smallville in Kansas, stating it is where Clark and Lana grew up. The main action of that series takes place at the fictional Shuster University in Florida, named for Superman/Superboy's co-creator, artist, Joe Shuster.

 * Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997) places Smallville as a city in Kansas as well, though Metropolis is located on the east coast (or maybe in eastern Pennsylvania, it is never stated for sure) and Superman must fly between the two locations using his super-speed.

 * Smallville was featured in Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000). It was also in Kansas.

 * In the television series Smallville (2001–2011), the town's location is two hundred miles west of Wichita and southwest of Dodge City, implied by the series to be located in west Kansas. The skyline of Metropolis is visible from high points of Smallville on a clear day. Though some episodes reference an hours-long drive from Smallville to Metropolis, characters easily—and frequently—traverse between the two towns. The headquarters of LuthorCorp are in Metropolis, and a LutherCorp plant is located in Smallville. Smallville is famous for a meteor shower that hit the town in 1989, and for the lingering effects of the meteor rocks on the town and some of its citizens. The meteor shower was a cover for the spaceship that brought Clark Kent to Kansas. It was later revealed that the meteor shower also brought Davis Bloome, also known as Doomsday, to Earth as well. The second-season episode "Lineage" gives its zip code as 67524, which is the real life code for Chase, Kansas.

 * Smallville appears in the Young Justice: Invasion 2013 episode "True Colors." Robin, Blue Beetle, Arsenal and Impulse go undercover in LexCorp Farms as tourists, and split off from the tour group halfway through the tour. They manage to procure a sample of the Reach's additive, but on their way out, are confronted by Black Beetle. After Green Beetle joins the fight as well, the heroes regroup. At Jonathan Kent's farm, Alpha Squad and Green Beetle meet up with Nightwing and Superboy. Lex Luthor and Vandal Savage discuss the damage done to the farms and conclude that the main production lines were never in any harm.

 * Smallville appears in The CW shows set in the Arrowverse:
 * Smallville of The CW first appears in the multi-series crossover event "Elseworlds", in The Flash 2018 episode "Elseworlds, Part 1". The power-swapped Flash and Green Arrow arrive on Earth-38 to enlist the help of Supergirl, who is visiting Superman and Lois Lane at the Kent family farm in Kansas following the arrests of Manchester Black and Agent Liberty. Supergirl and Superman help Flash and Green Arrow work on their swapped powers using the Kent family farm as their location.
 * Smallville appears in the multi-series crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths", in the Batwoman 2019 episode "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two". Superman, Lois Lane, and Iris West briefly visit Earth-167 (the setting of Smallville) where it was suspected that this Clark Kent is the Paragon of Hope. They are teleported away by their Lex Luthor who discovered that this world's Clark Kent gave up his powers.
 * Smallville appears in Superman & Lois (2021–present). The married Clark and Lois of Earth-167, with their teenaged sons Jonathan and Jordan, live on a farm just outside the town, established in "Pilot" to be in Rice County, Kansas.

 * Smallville appears in the My Adventures with Superman episode two-parts "Adventures of a Normal Man", when a young Clark Kent awakens the power of flight and super-strength to save a woman and her baby from a car accident.

Film

 * Smallville was first placed in Kansas by the 1978 film Superman: The Movie, although filming of the Kent family's agricultural land was done in Blackie, Alberta, Canada. The tag on the truck driven by Jonathan Kent (Glenn Ford) in the first film had a Cloud County, Kansas identifier. Areas of Calgary were presented as Smallville in Superman III while the surrounding fields of the town of Baldock, England portrayed the abandoned Kent farm in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
 * Smallville appears in Superman: Doomsday.
 * Smallville appears in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.
 * Smallville appears in Superman vs The Elite.
 * Smallville appears in the films set in the DC Extended Universe:
 * Plano, Illinois was used in Man of Steel, a spaceship was found by local farmer Jonathan Kent and his wife Martha. They discovered a baby in the ship and raised him as their own, naming him Clark Kent. Clark grew up in the town and his powers first manifested there. Eventually his parents revealed his alien origins after Clark used his powers to save his classmates on a flooding bus after it drove off a bridge. In 2013, General Zod and his Kryptonian forces entered Smallville in search of the growth codex. They confronted Martha Kent at her home before her son Clark Kent arrived to stop them, now wearing a blue alien superhero suit with a cape. No longer worried about hiding his powers, Clark fought Zod, and later Faora-Ul and Nam-Ek throughout Smallville destroying portions of it as a result. With the aid of the US military, Clark defeated the Kryptonians.
 * Yorkville, Illinois was used in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Clark Kent's funeral was held on the Kent farm in Smallville. At the funeral, Martha gave Lois an envelope with an engagement ring which was to be given to her during Clark's proposal. Heartbroken, she wears the engagement ring as she drops a pile of dirt on Clark's casket.
 * In Justice League, Flash and Cyborg were sent to retrieve Clark's body from Smallville. After Clark is brought back to life, he and Lois return to the Kent farm, where Clark fully regains his memories and reunites with Martha Kent.
 * Smallville appears in Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons.

Video games

 * Smallville appears in DC Universe Online. In the game, Lex Luthor has done an experiment where he has experimented on its citizens using Exobytes and Doomsday's DNA with Doomsday being trapped in a containment entropy cage in the barn near the Kent Family Farm. Jonathan Kent, Lana Lang, and Pete Ross are among the Smallville citizens that have been transformed into Doomsday-like creatures. Due to the experiments, Smallville has been practically destroyed.
 * Smallville appears in Lego DC Super-Villains. In the game's story, Gorilla Grodd, Killer Frost, Scarecrow, and the Rookie travel here in search for something to get them to space. Outside of the story, the player can freely explore the town and its surrounding areas.

Radio
The first time in any media that Smallville or the Kent farm were linked to a specific location was in The Adventures of Superman radio show. In the storyline "The Secret Rocket" (9/29/47-10/30/47), mention was made several times that young Clark Kent grew up on Eben Kent's farm in Iowa. The farmtown was unnamed in the story (as the name "Smallville" appeared for the first time two years later in Superboy (volume 1) #2); the nearest town named in the broadcast was the real-life Centerville.

Novels

 * Superman writer Elliot S. Maggin incorporated the Kansas location into the DC Universe in his 1981 Superman novel, Miracle Monday.
 * In the novel, It's Superman! by Tom De Haven, which is set in 1938, Smallville is placed in Osage County along U.S. Highway 75.

Other uses
Smallville is also a nickname given to Clark Kent by Lois Lane. Adaptations of the Superman mythos that feature Lois using this nickname include the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Superman: The Animated Series, and Smallville.

On June 21, 2013, Hutchinson, Kansas officially changed its name to Smallville for a day, thanks to a campaign started by local residents Ben Eisiminger, KC Mcneely, and Christopher Wietrick. The annual "Smallville Comic Con" has been hosted at the Kansas State Fairgrounds since 2017.

title: Smallville (comics)


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Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania

The south-eastern Transylvania region in Romania currently has one of the highest numbers of existing fortified churches from the 13th to 16th centuries. It has more than 150 well preserved fortified churches of a great variety of architectural styles (out of an original 300 fortified churches).

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania are seven villages (six Saxon and one Székely) founded by the Transylvanian Saxons. They are dominated by fortified churches and characterized by a specific settlement pattern that has been preserved since the Late Middle Ages.

The list
The seven villages listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site:

History
The Saxon villages of Transylvania appeared in the twelfth century when the Kings of Hungary settled German colonists in the area. They had a special status among nations in the province and their civilisation managed to survive and thrive, forming a very strong community of farmers, artisans and merchants. Being situated in a region constantly under the threat of the Ottoman and Tatar invasions, they built fortifications of different sizes. The most important towns were fully fortified, and the smaller communities created fortifications centered on the church, where they added defensive towers and storehouses to keep their most valuable goods and to help them withstand long sieges.

Description
The topography in Southern Transylvania is that of a plateau, cut by wide valleys of various small rivers that flow into larger ones, namely the Olt River, Mureș River, Târnava Mare River and Târnava Mică River. The villages follow the topography closely and try to make the best of it; thus villages situated in a valley developed around a central street and possibly some secondary ones, while those situated on a flatter spot follow a looser, radial pattern. Due to security reasons and the traditions of the Saxon inhabitants, the villages are compact.

The main element is the church, always situated in the middle of the town. Different types of fortifications can be found: a small enceinte around the church, a row of fortifications around the church or a real fortress with multiple fortification walls centered on the church. The churches have been adapted to include defensive functions; all of them are either Romanesque basilicas or single-nave churches of the late Gothic period. The churches often include many additions, ranging in age from the original period in which the churches were built Late Middle Ages to the sixteenth century. Many churches also include baroque elements from that period, as the baroque style was very popular in the region.

In almost all cases, the church is situated in an easily defendable position, generally on a hilltop. Elements of fortifications found in the main cities in the area have been adapted here, and they are a testimony of the building techniques used along the years by the Saxon community. Some fortifications had observation towers, some of them being church towers adapted to the needs of a fortress. The materials are the traditional ones, stone and red bricks, with a red clay tiled roof, a typical feature of the area.

Close to the church there is the main square of the village or Tanzplaz (Dance Square) to which social life gravitated. The only buildings situated next to the fortifications are those of communal use: the school or the village hall. The parish house, along with the houses of the most wealthy villagers, were situated around this square. Also in most sites, barns for grain storage are situated close to the centre of the village.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Iberia (airline)

Iberia, legally incorporated as Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal, is the flag carrier of Spain. Founded in 1927 and based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main base of Madrid–Barajas Airport. Iberia, with Iberia Regional (operated by an independent carrier Air Nostrum) and with Iberia Express, is a part of International Airlines Group. In addition to transporting passengers and freight, Iberia Group carries out related activities, such as aircraft maintenance, handling in airports, IT systems and in-flight catering. Iberia Group airlines fly to over 109 destinations in 39 countries, and a further 90 destinations through code-sharing agreements with other airlines.

On 8 April 2010, it was confirmed that British Airways and Iberia had signed an agreement to merge, making the combined operation the third largest commercial airline in the world by revenue. Shareholders of both carriers approved the deal on 29 November 2010. The newly merged company, known as International Airlines Group (IAG), was established in January 2011, although both airlines continue to operate under their respective brands.

Early years
Iberia, Compañía Aérea de Transportes, was incorporated on 28 June 1927 with a capital investment of 1.1 million pesetas by financier Horacio Echevarrieta and Deutsche Luft Hansa. Flight operations commenced on 14 December 1927. The Spanish government contracted the company to provide postal transport between Madrid and Barcelona. During the Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, Spanish aviation companies were amalgamated and became state-controlled as a general interest public utility, starting early 1928. Consequently, Iberia was merged into CLASSA (Compañía de Líneas Aéreas Subvencionadas S.A.), ceasing independent operations on 29 May 1929. Although the airline had neither a fleet nor commercial operations under its brand, the name 'Iberia' remained registered.

In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Spanish navy captain and director general of the company Daniel de Araoz y Aréjula received the order from General Kindelán to organize an airline for the air transport in nationalist-held territory during the war. Daniel de Araoz y Aréjula traveled to Germany to get support and material for the restoration of the company as an independent airline, thus six Junkers Ju 52 from Deutsche Luft Hansa arrived, which were acquired by Iberia at the end of the conflict, in addition to material to help the operations. As the name "Iberia" was still registered, it was used when operations began in 1937 towards the end of the war. During the conflict Iberia was a purely domestic airline, with headquarters in Salamanca the airline operated flights to cities in the nationalist side, Spanish North Africa, Spanish West Africa and Morocco. After the war, at the end of the 1930s, the airline served the Seville–Larache–Cabo Juby–Las Palmas, Barcelona–Saragosa–Burgos–Salamanca–Seville–Tetuan and Palma–Barcelona–Vitoria runs using Junkers Ju 52 aircraft. On 1 May 1939, Iberia operated its first regular service to an international destination as an independent civil airline with a Madrid–Lisbon flight.

In 1940, the government gave the monopoly of national air transport to Iberia (this fact changed 6 years later when the government liberalized the national air traffic for the private airlines), This privilege helped the company to start building as an important international airline, which had not been until then. The airline was nationalised on 30 September 1944 and became part of Instituto Nacional de Industria. The policy of the company was to separate itself from the German orbit to which it had been linked in its first years and establish relations with the United States in terms of aircraft purchase and supplies of aeronautical material for the operation. Thus that year the purchase of seven DC-3 and three DC-4 was finalized, to expand the network in Europe and accomplish the company's first transatlantic flight. This was achieved in 1946, Iberia was the first airline to fly between Europe and South America after World War II, using a Douglas DC-4 to operate flights between Madrid and Buenos Aires. This flight was the first of an expansion of flights between Latin America and Europe through Spain carried out by the company, with destinations such as San Juan de Puerto Rico, Caracas, Ciudad de México and La Habana. The bad diplomatic relations of the francoist regime delayed some destinations until the beginning of the 50s.

Iberia incorporated four more DC-4s into its fleet during the first half of 1950, enabling both the strengthening of current services and the launch of new ones. With the Pact of Madrid in 1953, visa requirements were eliminated for US visitors to Spain. This stimulated the start of transatlantic flights between Spain and the United States the following year. The airline phased in the first of three Super Constellations in June 1954. The aircraft was named Santa María to commemorate Columbus' first voyage and was deployed in the inauguration of the new Madrid–New York service two months later, on 3 August 1954, the same day that Columbus left the port of Palos de la Frontera. The amendments to Article 6 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 14 June 1954 made in Paris on 30 June 1956 about non-scheduled air services enabled mass tourism using chartered aircraft since allowing European member states to carry out this type of operation with international flights between their territories. This favored the airline given that it had in its territory several highly sought after destinations, mainly those on the eastern and southern Mediterranean coast and in the Balearic and Canary Islands, highly demanded by seaside tourism which began with this type of operation.

In 1959, the Spanish airline Aviaco became a part of Iberia by controlling two-thirds of its capital in a capital increase. Aviaco had been created in 1948, after the national air traffic had been liberalized for Spanish private companies in 1946.

In 1961, Iberia had 9 Super Constellation in the fleet, that year came into service the first DC-8-50, the four-engined jet airliner was progressively incorporated until reaching the number of 8 aircraft of the 50 series variant. Iberia was gradually incorporating jets of short and middle range, such as Sud Aviation Caravelle, and Douglas DC-9. The Super Constellations were removed and sold in 1966 and, two years later, three DC-8-63 with more seat capacity were incorporated into the fleet. By 1969, the long-range fleet of Iberia was composed of 11 DC-8s. In the early 1970s the jumbo jets Boeing 747s and Douglas DC-10s came to the company during an expansion of the intercontinental routes, especially to Central America. By the middle of this decade, the airline flew to almost all Latin American capitals. With the expansion in Latin America the company had followed a policy of purchasing shares and establishing agreements with several Latin American airlines such as Compañia Dominicana de Aviación, Aérolíneas Peruanas, PLUNA and Air Panamá Internacional. At first, the intention of this policy could be to create a strong distribution network for intercontinental routes passengers, but as the airline was controlled by the state the Franco regime used this investment policy to get support in Latin America. Iberia gave material, capital and logistical support to those flag-carrier airlines. By 1971, these investments resulted in the loss of 14 million dollars. Iberia also bought the short-middle range trijet Boeing 727-200 in 1971, of which the company had 35 aircraft and was used until 2001 like the other short-range jet bought by the company in the late '60s, the Douglas DC-9.

In 1987, Iberia, together with Lufthansa, Air France and SAS Group, founded Amadeus, an IT company (also known as a Global Distribution System) that would enable travel agencies to sell the founders and other airlines' products from a single system.

This year Iberia planned a fleet renewal in the middle-range fleet with the McDonnell Douglas MD-87 and Airbus A320 replacing the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 727 respectively. In June 1990, the carrier bought 16 Boeing 757s for US$1 billion, including spares and training; twelve more aircraft of the type were taken on option as a part of the deal.

Development since the 1990s
In the 90's, Iberia followed a policy of buying shares of Latin American flag carriers. It intended to control the entire Latin American market and become one of the largest airlines on the worldwide scene.

The investments started in June 1990 with the buying of a 30% stake in Aerolineas Argentinas. In 1991 Iberia bought a 45% stake in Viasa for $81 million and a 35% stake in Chilean Ladeco The airline continued making progress in setting up Europe's first international airline frequent-flyer programme in 1991, with the creation of Iberia Plus.

In 1994, the bad results of Aerolineas Argentinas, which presented a positive balance in its commercial exploitation but hid a significant deficit with losses in non-operating activities, led Iberia to increase its ownership participation to 85%. With this increase in participation, the Argentine state renounced its "golden share", allowing Iberia to have full fiscal control of the company. Iberia began a reduction in the size of the company, a liquidation of the national and overseas offices, and the technical sale of its entire fleet composed of 28 aircraft in a "sale and lease back" operation. Argentine sources indicate that the purchase capital of Aerolíneas Argentinas was charged to its financial liability. This, together with the aforementioned sales, generated a big controversy, giving rise to criticism of the Argentine government for the privatization of the company. The truth is that during the period that Aerolíneas Argentinas was owned by Iberia (1990–1995), the Spanish airline allocated more than 1,200 million dollars to the Argentine flag carrier and kept the airline operating despite the poor results. Meanwhile, the Argentine government refused to invest more capital and expressed its desire to get rid of a large part of its shares. Iberia carried out major reforms in the structure of the company, which by that date was outdated with, among other things, extortionate personnel costs. Some of these changes included the development of a free booking program, the complete computerization of the management system, the introduction of business class on domestic flights, and the creation of a new hub in Ezeiza International Airport for long range regional flights to Latin American destinations. In 1995, before the process of privatization of Iberia, Aerolineas Argentinas was transferred to the Spanish government through INI, which would later become SEPI. In 2001, the Argentine flag carrier was sold to the Spanish company Grupo Marsans.

In 2008, the president of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner expropriated the company to Grupo Marsans with the symbolic pay of 1 argentine peso ($0.57) and renationalized the airline. In July 2017 the ICSID condemned Argentina to pay 320 million dollars to Grupo Marsans for having paid a lower price than the real value of the company. On 7 April 2010, the president of the Spanish Court of Auditors presented at the Spanish Parliament the figures of the investment in Aerolíneas Argentinas between 1990 and 2001, which was estimated at €2,100 million.

The plans to make the Iberia group the dominant airline in the Latin American market also failed in Venezuela. In 1997 the board of directors of Viasa, in which Iberia was the majority, decided to suspend the flights of the company, arguing that the situation was unfeasible. Iberia announcing that the company was not going to continue providing more capital into Viasa if its local partner, the Venezuelan state-owned group FIV, was not going to do the same. By then Iberia had invested more than 250 million dollars in the Venezuelan flag carrier without having any profit. In February 1997, the agreement for the liquidation of Viasa that accumulated a 200 million dollar debt, with a capital of only 2 million dollars, was announced. Iberia and the Venezuelan government had the intention of liquidating the company to avoid bankruptcy. Iberia offered to write off the 150 million dollar debt that Viasa had accumulated to the Spanish carrier in exchange for keeping its fleet of four DC-10s and five Boeing 727s. The agreement included compensation for the staff after the liquidation, which had a cost of 20 million dollars.

Regarding Ladeco, Iberia was a minority shareholder (35%) and did not intervene in its management. Initially, Iberia had the intention of achieving the merger of Ladeco with Lan Chile, but Chilean antitrust laws prevented it. Later, in 1995, Lan Chile made a major acquisition of Ladeco shares and acquired 57.6% of the company, this operation was approved by the Chilean antitrust prosecution, and then began a merger process in which Iberia losses some rights acquired during its time as shareholder of Ladeco. In 1997, Iberia sold its shares in Ladeco.

In 1996, the airline launched its website.

The company ordered 76 aircraft from Airbus in February 1998, which at the time was the largest single Airbus order. The following year it bought Aviaco and inherited that airline's fleet.

By the end of the '90s, Iberia owned as majority shareholder the Spanish airlines Aviaco, Viva Air, Binter Canarias and Binter Mediterráneo, and Latin American airlines Aerolíneas Argentinas, Austral, Viasa and Ladeco.

During 2001, Iberia was privatised and shares were listed on stock exchanges. By 2002, when Iberia celebrated its 75th anniversary, it had carried nearly 500 million people in its history. In July 2004, Iberia announced it had decided to move its Latin American hub from Miami, Florida to San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

On 5 February 2006, Terminal 4 at Madrid - Barajas Airport was turned over to Iberia and fellow Oneworld alliance members. This provided much-needed expansion capabilities for Iberia. Iberia represents around 60% of the airport's traffic. In 2005, the airline and its regional branch Air Nostrum transported 21,619,041 passengers via Madrid – Barajas Airport.

In November 2006, Iberia launched Clickair, a low-cost carrier subsidiary. Clickair merged with Vueling in 2009.

On 12 November 2009, Iberia confirmed that it had reached a preliminary agreement to merge with British Airways. The merger between the two carriers would create the world's third-largest airline in terms of revenue. On 8 April 2010, it was confirmed that British Airways and Iberia had agreed to a merger, forming the International Airlines Group, although each airline would continue to operate under its current brand.

In November 2012, Iberia announced plans to reduce the number of employees by 4,500 and its fleet by five long-haul and 20 short-haul aircraft.

In 2012, Iberia established another low-cost airline Iberia Express, which operates short- and medium-haul routes from its parent airline's Madrid hub, providing feeder flights onto Iberia's long-haul network. The airline began operating on 25 March 2012 and shares its head office with Iberia in Chamartín, Madrid. In 2013, the headquarters of both airlines were moved to a new office in Ciudad Lineal, Madrid, and the corporate images have been changed as part of the renewal process.

In 2023, Iberia announced its return to Tokyo's Narita International Airport in October 2024 following its withdrawal in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Iberia first started flights to Tokyo in 1986, began nonstop flying in 1992, but had previously suspended flights between 1998 and 2016.

Business trends
The key trends for Iberia are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):

Head office
The company head office is in the MV49 Business Park in Madrid. This facility is in proximity to the intersection of the Autopista de Circunvalación M-30 and Avenida de América. In 2013 the company moved its head office from the former Campos Velázquez, in the Salamanca district of Madrid, to save money.

Ownership
On 3 April 2001, Iberia was privatised and included in the IBEX 35 stock index of the Madrid stock exchange. The core shareholders were: Caja Madrid– 23.45%, British Airways 13.2%, SEPI– 5.20%, El Corte Inglés– 2.90%. British Airways raised its stake in Iberia by purchasing American Airlines' remaining shares, reportedly paying £13m for the small shareholding. This increased BA's total stake in Iberia to around 10% and preserved its two seats on the Iberia board.

In July 2008, British Airways and Iberia announced plans to merge, wherein each airline would retain its original brand. The agreement was confirmed in April 2010, and in July, the European Commission and United States Department of Transportation permitted the merger and the two airlines began to co-ordinate transatlantic routes with American Airlines. On 6 October 2010, the alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia formally began operations. At the time it was estimated the alliance would generate an estimated £230 million in annual cost-saving for BA, in addition to the £330 million which would be saved by the merger with Iberia. The merger was finalised on 21 January 2011, resulting in the International Airlines Group (IAG), the world's third-largest airline in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest airline group in Europe.

Prior to merging, British Airways owned a 13.5% stake in Iberia, and thus received ownership of 55% of the combined International Airlines Group; Iberia's other shareholders received the remaining 45%.

The merger has been controversial. British Airways operates two funded principal-defined benefit pension schemes in the UK. British Airways admits that one of the most serious financial risks it suffers is the challenging pension schemes' combined deficit. The last actuarial valuation was £3.7 billion, a value even greater than IAG's capitalisation. In addition and according to the "Pensions Act" for the year 2004, should it be necessary, the United Kingdom's Pension Regulator could force Iberia or IAG to give additional financial support to British Airways' retirement pension schemes. In its "Annual Report and Accounts Year ended 31 December 2011" BA declared that "negative movements in pension asset values and financial returns from these assets may increase the size of the pension deficit".

, the airline had over 18,000 employees.

Due to Brexit, Iberia has been forced to prove that it is still a Spanish airline, despite being merged with British Airways. The consequence for not doing so is their potential inability to fly within the European Union.

Subsidiaries and alliances
Iberia has a 9.49% stake in low-cost carrier Vueling which is based near Barcelona, with parent company IAG owning the remaining 90.51%. This was done to ensure that IAG does not have 100% of the shares in Vueling, but that the shares are split between its divisions. Iberia also has a 0.95% share in Royal Air Maroc.

Iberia is allied with American Airlines, Qantas, Avianca and British Airways, and it was allied with Grupo TACA. On 1 September 1999, the company joined the Oneworld alliance.

Iberia formerly owned Aviaco, which operated most domestic routes. It was founded on 18 February 1948 and operated until 1 September 1999. Iberia also owned Binter Canarias, until the Spanish government began the privatisation of the subsidiary. Hesperia Inversiones Aéreas bought the airline from Iberia in July 2002. A second airline using the Binter name, Binter Mediterraneo, was formed as a subsidiary of Iberia in 1988 with routes from Melilla to Málaga, Almeria, Valencia and in its last year, with Madrid. The airline was acquired by Air Nostrum in 1998 and merged into its operations, at that time the airline had a fleet of CN- 235.

Iberia was a founding partner in the computerised air ticket reservation system, Amadeus, with an 18.28% stake. Iberia is also active as a tour operator through its Viva Tours and Tiempo Libre units, and with Cacesa, it supplies parcel shipment services.

In addition, Iberia is an aircraft maintenance company, servicing its fleet and those of another 48 companies, including some leading European airlines. Iberia is a supplier of aircraft handling services at all Spanish airports and two in Equatorial Guinea; its airline clients number more than 200 and has 7300 employees.

Joint businesses
Iberia participates in a joint business with Qatar Airways and British Airways which includes the operation of three daily flights between Qatar Airways' Doha hub and Madrid along with up to 10 flights between Doha and London.

Iberia also participates in the Oneworld transatlantic joint venture with American Airlines, British Airways, and Finnair.

Codeshare agreements
, Iberia had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

 * Aer Lingus
 * airBaltic
 * American Airlines
 * Avianca
 * Binter Canarias
 * British Airways
 * Boliviana de Aviación
 * Bulgaria Air
 * Cathay Pacific
 * Copa Airlines
 * Czech Airlines
 * El Al
 * Evelop Airlines
 * Finnair
 * Japan Airlines
 * LATAM Brasil
 * LATAM Chile
 * LATAM Ecuador
 * Qatar Airways
 * Royal Air Maroc
 * Royal Jordanian
 * Viva Aerobus
 * Volaris
 * Vueling
 * Wideroe

Current fleet

, Iberia operates an all-Airbus fleet composed of the following aircraft:

Fleet development
In August 2015 IAG converted eight A350-900 and three Airbus A330-200 options into firm orders for Iberia. In June 2018 the airline took the delivery of its first A350.

In June 2017 Iberia ordered 17 A320neo and 3 A321neo with deliveries from 2018. The first A320neo was delivered in May 2018. The first A321neo was received by Iberia Express in June 2020.

At the 2019 Paris Air Show, IAG agreed to purchase 14 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, 8 for delivery to Iberia and 6 to Aer Lingus, with options for a further 14 of the aircraft.

Former fleet
Over the years, Iberia operated the following aircraft types:

Aircraft cabins
All aircraft in the fleet are configured in a two-class layout with Business and Economy cabins. Iberia currently markets three distinct business class variations, depending on flight length. In March 2009, Iberia announced that between 2009–2011 it would renovate its economy class on all its planes as well as design a new business class for its long-haul planes. Iberia was one of the last remaining major airlines to equip all of its intercontinental routes with personal entertainment screens. , the Airbus A330-200 and −300, and A340-600 fleets are equipped with personal IFE. In-flight catering is provided by Do & Co.

Business Class is available on Spanish domestic and inter-European flights. Seats are the same as in the economy cabin but with the middle (B and E) seats blocked off. Business Class tickets also include improved ground service (priority check-in, security, boarding, baggage handling, and lounge access).
 * Business Class

Business Plus is offered on long-haul flights to the Americas and Southern Africa. Business Plus offers lie-flat seating and international business-class amenities.
 * Business Plus

Iberia has moved more to an American, or "a-la-carte" model for domestic and European flights, offering a buy on board service called "Tu Menú" in economy for meals, snacks and beverages. Mid-haul flights to Dakar, Moscow, and Tel Aviv as well as long-haul intercontinental flights are fully catered in Economy except alcohol.
 * Economy

Accidents and incidents
, a total of 37 aircraft operated by or for Iberia have been written off in accidents and shoot-downs since 1939. Several Iberia aircraft have also been hijacked. These incidents and accidents include the following:
 * On 19 April 1928, a Rohrbach Ro VIII Roland I with registration D-1219 made a hard landing near Ventas de Muniesa, 12 km north of Muniesa, Teruel which resulted in serious damage to the aircraft and caused injuries to the 11 occupants, one of them severely and later died. According to witnesses, there were foggy conditions in the area and the plane had given several low passes around the place before landing. The aircraft was flying from Barcelona to Madrid.
 * During 1939, Iberia lost two trimotor Junkers Ju 52s. On 16 March, one crashed due to bad weather in Cabezavellosa on the regular flight from Salamanca to Seville. On 18 December, another Ju 52 was mistakenly shot down by British anti-aircraft fire as it passed over Gibraltar on its flight from Tetuán to Seville, when it was mistaken for a German aircraft (the German military used large numbers of Ju 52s in World War II). Three crew and seven passengers were killed.
 * On 23 December 1948, a Douglas DC-3 crashed in foggy and heavy rain conditions in risk of Sierra de Pandols near Bot killing all 27 occupants. After the collision, the fuselage disintegrated and the plane burst into flames following the resulting explosion. The plane fell into Puig Cabal's valley. The aircraft was found two and a half hours later.
 * On 28 October 1957, an engine fire caused a Douglas DC-3 to crash near Getafe killing all 21 occupants.
 * On 29 April 1959, a Douglas DC-3 crashed onto Sierra de Valdemeca, Cuenca after being diverted due to bad weather with the loss of all 28 occupants.
 * On 31 March 1965, a Convair 440-62, crashed into the sea on approach to Tangiers killing 50 of the 53 occupants. The aircraft stalled at low altitude.
 * On 5 May 1965, Flight 401, a Lockheed Constellation, crashed at Los Rodeos Airport at Tenerife after hitting a scraper and tractor during a go-around in foggy conditions. Of 49 occupants, 30 passengers and six crew members were killed.
 * On 4 November 1967, Flight 062 a Sud Aviation Caravelle crashed at Blackdown, West Sussex, United Kingdom killing all 37 passengers and crew on board.
 * On 7 January 1972, Flight 602 crashed into Sa Talia hill in San Jose on approach to Ibiza Airport killing all 104 on board.
 * On 5 March 1973, 68 people were killed in a mid-air collision above the French city of Nantes involving an Iberia Douglas DC-9 flying from Palma to London as Flight 504; and a Convair 990 Coronado aircraft, operating as Spantax Flight 400. The Spantax Convair 990 was able to make a successful emergency landing whilst the Iberia DC-9 crashed killing everyone on board. The accident occurred during a French air traffic controllers' strike.
 * On 17 December 1973, Flight 933, an Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-10 registered as EC-CBN, collided with an ALS system of the runway threshold upon landing at Boston Logan after a flight from Madrid Airport. There were no fatalities among the 168 people on board; however, the aircraft was written off.
 * On 7 December 1983, Iberia Flight 350, a Boeing 727 (EC-CFJ), crashed while taking off in dense fog when it collided with Aviaco Flight 134, a Douglas DC-9 (EC-CGS) that had mistakenly taxied onto the runway at Madrid Airport. All on the Aviaco flight perished, and 51 (50 passengers, 1 crew member) of the 93 on board the Iberia flight were killed. Among the casualties was the famous Mexican actress Fanny Cano.
 * On 19 February 1985, Iberia Flight 610, a Boeing 727-200, crashed after hitting a television antenna installed on the summit of Monte Oiz while landing in Bilbao, killing 148 people.
 * On 26 July 1996 Iberia Flight 6621, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30 flying from Madrid to Havana was hijacked mid-flight. The hijacker, a Lebanese national named Ibrahim Saada, demanded the flight be diverted to Miami International Airport. No one was hurt and the aircraft later landed at José Martí International Airport some hours later. Saada was later apprehended and faced up to 20 years in prison.
 * In 2001, Iberia Flight 1456 from Barcelona to Bilbao crashed on landing. There were no fatalities but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
 * On 9 November 2007, Iberia Flight 6463, an Airbus A340-600, registration EC-JOH, was badly damaged at Quito, Ecuador after sliding off the runway at Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport. No injuries were reported. According to Airbus, the aircraft was written off.

title: Iberia (airline)


text:
Danube Delta

The Danube Delta (Delta Dunării, ; Дельта Дунаю, ) 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 (Tulcea County), with a small part in Ukraine (Odesa Oblast). Its approximate surface area is 4,152 km2, of which 3,446 km2 is in Romania. With the lagoons of Razim–Sinoe (1,015 km2 with 865 km2 water surface), 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; the combined territory is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Geography and geology
The modern Danube Delta began to form after 4000 BCE in a bay of the Black Sea when the sea rose to its present level. A sandy barrier blocked the Danube bay where the river initially built its delta. Upon filling the bay with sediment, the delta advanced outside this barrier-blocked estuary after 3500 BC, building several successive lobes: the St. George I (3500–1600 BC), the Sulina (1600–0 BC), the St. George II (0 BC–present) and the Chilia or Kilia (1600 AD–present). Several other internal lobes were constructed in the lakes and lagoons bordering the Danube Delta to the north (Chilia I and II) and toward the south (Dunavatz). Much of the alluvium in the delta and major expansion of its surface area in the form of lobes resulted from soil erosion associated with human clearing of forests in the Danube basin during the 1st and 2nd millennium. Geologist Liviu Giosan told The New York Times:

"Probably 40 percent of the Delta was built in the last 1000 years. Finding that was like a eureka moment." At present, the delta suffers from a large sediment deficit, after the construction of dams on the Danube and its tributaries in the later half of the 20th century. However, construction of a dense network of shallow channels in the delta over the same period, a sedimentation enhancing strategy, attenuated the deficit on the delta plain but increased erosion along the coast The Danube Delta is a low alluvial plain, mostly covered by wetlands and water. It consists of an intricate pattern of marshes, channels, streamlets and lakes. The average altitude is 0.52 m, with 20% of the territory below sea level, and more than half not exceeding one meter in altitude. Dunes on the most extensive strand plains of the delta (Letea and Caraorman strand plains) stand higher (12.4 m and 7 m respectively). The largest lakes are lakes Dranov (21.7 km2), Roșu (14.5 km2) and Gorgova (13.8 km2).

Distributaries of the Danube
The Danube branches into three main distributaries into the delta, Chilia, Sulina, and Sfântul Gheorghe (Saint George). The last two branches form the Tulcea channel, which continues as a single body for several kilometers after the separation from the Chilia. At the mouths of each channel gradual formation of new land takes place, as the delta continues to expand.

Chilia, in the north, the longest, youngest, and most vigorous, with two secondary internal deltas and one microdelta in full process of formation at its mouth (to Ukraine).

Sulina, the central and thus the shortest arm, which consequently led to its extensive use for traffic and severe transformation. At its mouth is located the main port and a single settlement with urban characteristics of the Romanian part of the delta. Because of the alluvium deposited at its mouth, a channel gradually advancing into the sea (presently it has 10 km) was built in order to protect navigation.

Sfântul Gheorghe (Saint George in English), in the south, is the oldest and most sparsely populated. Its alluvium has led to the creation, beginning in 1897, of the Sacalin Islands, which today measures 19 km in length.

Climate
The climate of the Danube Delta is continental, with strong influences from the vicinity of the Black Sea and its prevalent amphibian environment. It is the driest and sunniest region of Romania. The mean annual temperature is 11 °C (−1 °C in January and 22 °C in July), with mean precipitation between 400 mm/year and 300 mm/year, decreasing from west to east. Evaporation is around 1,000 mm/year, amplified by strong and frequent winds, resulting in long periods of drought in the summer. The northwest winds cause frequent storms in spring and autumn. In the interior of the delta, the continental character of the climate is very pronounced.

Main ecosystems

The Danube Delta falls within the Pannonian steppe ecosystem of eastern Europe, with Mediterranean influences. As a young region in full process of consolidation, the Danube Delta represents a very favourable place for the development of highly diverse flora and fauna, unique in Europe, with numerous rare species. It hosts 23 natural ecosystems, but due to the extent of wetlands an aquatic environment is prevalent; a terrestrial environment is also present on the higher grounds of the continental levees, where xerophile ecosystems have developed. Between the aquatic and terrestrial environments is interposed a swampy, easily flooded strip of original flora and fauna, with means of adaptation to water or land, depending on the season or hydrological regime. At the contact between freshwater and sea water, some special physical, chemical and biological processes take place, which have led biologists to consider this area as a very different ecosystem called beforedelta. Musura Gulf, north of Sulina, and Saint George Gulf are considered the most representative of this type of ecosystem.

Situated on major migratory routes, and providing adequate conditions for nesting and hatching, the Danube Delta is a magnet for birds from six major ecoregions of the world, including the Mongolian, Arctic and Siberian. There are over 320 species of birds found in the delta during summer, of which 166 are hatching species and 159 are migratory. Over one million individual birds (swans, wild ducks, coots, etc.) winter here.

Ecosystem of running water
This comprises the arms of the Danube, and a series of its more important streamlets and channels. It is an environment rich in plankton, worms, molluscs, grubs, and sponges, with numerous species of fish, such as the carp, pike, pike perch, sheat-fish, and freshwater sturgeons (sterlet, Vyza and Danube mackerel).

Ecosystem of stagnant water
This environment includes the lakes, and various ponds, streamlets and channels. It is characterized by a rich floating and submerse flora (Myriophyllum, Ceratophyllum, Vallisneria etc., under the water; Nymphaea alba, Nuphar lutea, Trapa natans, Alisma plantago etc., floating plants with roots near the lakes' borders; and Salvinia natans, Stratiotes aloides, Spirogyra etc., floating plants without roots, having negative effect for aquatic bioproductivity). Of the fish, the most important are Tench (Tinca tinca), common bream (Abramis brama), common rudd (Scardinius erythropthalmus), Prussian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio), wels catfish (Silurus glanis), European perch (Perca fluviatilis), and northern pike (Esox lucius).

Ecosystem of marshy and flooding areas

Reed plants and floating reed islands (called plaur in Romania) are the most common and well-known components of the Danube Delta. Vegetation of this ecosystem consists of the common reed (Phragmites communis) and, on near river banks, mace reed/cattail (Typha latifolia, Typha angustifolia), sedge (Carex dioica, Carex stricta), Dutch rush (Scirpus radicans, Schoenoplectus lacustris), and brook mint (Mentha aquatica), etc. They provide ideal spawning and nesting grounds. The plaur are a mixture of reed roots, grass and soil, usually floating or anchored to the riverbed. As a rule, the reed surrounds the lakes and ponds, and slowly invades the water surface.

This type of ecosystem is noted for its variety and large population of birds, some of them are very rare. The most important are the tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), red-crested pochard (Netta rufina), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), greylag goose (Anser anser), pygmy cormorant (Microcarbo pygmeus), purple heron (Ardea purpurea), great white egret (Egretta alba), little egret (Egretta garzetta), Eurasian spoonbill(Platalea leucorodia), great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus), mute swan (Cygnus olor), and glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus). A recent and welcomed newcomer is the pheasant (Phasianus colchicus).

Among the mammals, there is the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), European mink (Mustela lutreola), little ermine (Mustela erminea aestiva), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and wild cat (Felis silvestris), in winter the European hare (Lepus europaeus) and, on the brink of disappearing from the delta, the wolf and the fox. During the Middle Ages, the Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) was a resident across the steppes of Ukraine, including Danube Delta, and once, they were hunted to extinction and they're extirpated. The East Asian raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), bizam/introduced muskrat (Ondatra zibethica), and to some extent South American nutria (Myocastor coypus), are recent species that have successfully adapted.

River bank and levee ecosystems
The firm land of the delta used to be covered with large groves of willow trees, which have been cut down almost entirely and replaced with Canadian poplars. On the river banks kept in their natural state, small groves of willow trees (Salix alba, Salix fragilis, Salix purpurea, Salix pentandra, Salix triandra etc.) can still be found, mixed with white poplar (Populus alba). Occasionally, the willow trees form corridors along the arms and bigger channels of the Danube. On the levees of Letea and Caraorman, mixed forests of oak (Quercus robur, Quercus pedunculiflora) with various trees (Fraxinus pallisiae, Ulmus foliaceae, Populus tremula), shrubs (Prunus spinosa, Crataegus monogyna, Rosa canina, Berberis vulgaris etc.), and vines (Vitis sylvestris, Hedera helix, Humulus lupulus, Periploca graeca, which reaches up to 25m) grow on sand dune areas. On the Letea levee, these exotic-looking forests grow especially in the depressions between the sand dunes, in small groves called hasmace. Fauna of this region include the meadow viper (Vipera ursinii), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), and Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo), etc.

Inhabitants

The Danube Delta is perhaps the least inhabited region of temperate Europe. On the Romanian side live about 20,000 people, of whom 4,600 live in the port of Sulina, which gives an average density of approx. two inhabitants per km2. The rest of the population is scattered among 27 villages, of which only three, all situated marginally, had more than 500 people in 2002. The city of Tulcea, at the western edge of the delta, has a population of 92,000 (in 2002); it represents the node of the region and the gate to the delta.

Its acute isolation and harsh conditions of living, based mainly on subsistence, made the Danube Delta a place of emigration, or transit at least. Very few of those born in the region stay there through adulthood; at the same time, the origins of its inhabitants vary widely, as people from many parts of Romania can be found in the delta. The total population has remained more or less constant throughout the 20th century; there were 12,000 inhabitants in the 1890s, and 14,000 before the Second World War. Romanians account for approximately 80% of the population, and Ukrainians for 10%. Other people living in the delta include ethnic minorities such as Greeks, Turks and Bulgarians (in 1992). Distinctive to the region, but very rare as an ethnic entity, are the Lipovans, descendants of the Orthodox Old Rite followers who fled from religious persecution in Russia during the 18th century.

On the Ukrainian side, located at the northern edge of the delta, the town of Izmail has a population of 85,000, Kiliya a population of 21,800, and Vilkovo, the main center of the Lipovan community, a population of 9,300.

History

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.

Environmental issues
Large-scale works began in the Danube Delta as early as the second half of the 19th century. First corrections of the Sulina arm began in 1862, and they continued throughout the 20th century. As a result, the length of the Sulina arm was reduced from 92 to 64 km, and its flow more than doubled, thus making it suitable for large-vessel navigation. Correcting the six large meanders on its course thereby reduced the length of the Sfântu Gheorghe branch from 108 to 70 km, and its flow also increased somewhat. Both these increases were made to the detriment of the Chilia arm, which at present remains the most unspoiled arm of the main three. These corrections, as well as the digging of various secondary channels throughout the body of the delta, have had a serious impact on the ecosystem. Natural environments have been altered, the breeding pattern of fish has been disrupted, and the flows in the main arms have increased, with serious consequences regarding the discharge of alluvia and the erosion of banks.

Reed was intensively harvested during the Communist era. The regime had plans to transform the delta into a large agro-industrial zone. Although the first modern agricultural exploitation dates from 1939 (Ostrovul Tãtaru), only after 1960 were large areas drained and converted, to the detriment of the wetlands. In 1991 agricultural land in the delta surpassed 100,000 hectares, and more than a third of its surface has been affected by crop cultivation, forest plantation, or pisciculture (fish farming). As a result of these changes, along with the increasing pollution and eutrophication of the waters of the Danube, and decades of exploitation and poor fishing regulations, the fish population has been visibly reduced.

In 2004, Ukraine inaugurated work on the Bistroe Channel that would provide an additional navigable link from the Black Sea to the populous Ukrainian section of the Danube Delta. However, because of the negative impact which this new channel might have on the fragile ecosystem of the delta, the European Union advised Ukraine to shut down the works. Romanian officials threatened to sue Ukraine at the International Court of Justice. Under the presidency of Kuchma, Ukraine had responded that Romania was only afraid of the competition that the new channel would bring, and continued working on the channel. Under the presidency of Yuschenko, who visited Romania in 2005, both sides agree that professionals should decide the fate of the channel. In the long run, Ukraine plans to build a navigation channel, if not through Bistroe Channel, then through another channel.

title: Danube Delta