Dniester Estuary


Dniester Estuary, or Dniester Liman is a liman, formed at the point where the river Dniester flows into the Black Sea. It is located in Ukraine, in Odessa Oblast, and connects Budjak to the Ukrainian mainland. The city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi lies on its western shore and Ovidiopol on its eastern shore. Shabo, situated downstream of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, is known for its wine. The estuary hosts the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky Seaport.
The area of the liman varies between 360 and 408 km², it is 42.5 km long and has maximum width of 12 km. The average depth is 1.8 m, the maximum depth 2.7 m.
On the spit separating the liman from the open Black Sea to the south is the resort town of Zatoka. The only entirely Ukrainian road connecting to Budjak is the P70 along the spit; to avoid the marshes at the northern end of the liman, Highway M15 has to cross into Moldova.