Editing Chilia branch (section)

{{Short description|Branch of the Danube River; part of the Ukraine-Romania border}}
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2024}}
{{infobox river
| map = {{infobox mapframe | stroke-color = #0000ff | zoom = 8 }}
}}
[[File:Danube delta chart.png|300px|thumb|[[Danube Delta]] full map with its distributaries identified]]

The '''Chilia''' '''branch''' ({{Langx|ro|Brațul Chilia}}; {{Langx|uk|Кілійське гирло|translit=Kiliiske hyrlo}}) is one of three main [[distributary|distributary channels]] of the river [[Danube]] that contribute to forming the [[Danube Delta]]. Lying at the northernmost area of the delta, the distributary creates a [[natural border]] between [[Romania]] and [[Ukraine]] (see [[Romania-Ukraine border]]) and is named after the two towns carrying the same name, located across from one another on both banks: [[Kiliya, Ukraine|Kiliya]], on the northern, Ukrainian bank and [[Chilia Veche]] (Old Chilia) on the southern, Romanian bank.

The other two main branches of the Danube are the [[Sulina branch]] and the [[Sfântu Gheorghe branch]].

The Chilia branch begins at the [[Ismail Islet]] where Danube splits on Chilia branch and Sulina branch and ends near the town of [[Vylkove]] where Chilia branch splits further into [[Ochakove distributary]] (eastward) and Old Istambul distributary (southward). Chilia branch is {{convert|104|km|mi}} long. The flow at the entrance into the delta is of 6,350&nbsp;m<sup>3</sup>/s; the Chilia branch carries between 58 and 60&nbsp;percent of this flow.

Along the Chilia branch is located the former Ottoman fortress in today's Ukrainian city of [[Izmail]]. The [[Siege of Izmail|fall of Izmail]] in 1789 led the Ottomans' loss of complete control over the northern [[Black Sea|Pontic]] shores (today southern Ukraine) and to the expansion the [[Russian Empire]] to this part of the [[Black Sea]], with the continuation of struggles and warring between the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] and Russian Empires.