Danube–Black Sea Canal

The Danube–Black Sea Canal (Romanian: Canalul Dunăre – Marea Neagră) is a canal in Romania, which runs from Cernavodă, on the Danube, to Constanţa (southern arm, as main branch), and to Năvodari (northern arm), on the Black Sea. Administrated from Agigea, it is an important part of the European canal system that links the North Sea (through the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal) to the Black Sea. The main branch of the canal, with a length of 64.4 km (40.0 mi), which connects the Port of Cernavodă with the Port of Constanţa, was built in 1976–1984, while the north branch, known as the Poarta Albă – Midia Năvodari Canal, with a length of 31.2 km (19.4 mi), between Poarta Albă and Port of Midia, was built in 1983–1987.The Canal was notorious as the site of labor camps in 1950s Communist Romania, when, at any given time, several tens of thousands political prisoners worked on its excavation. The total number of people used as a workforce for the entire period is unknown, as is the number of people who died in the construction. These works were later used in the Carasu irrigation system.