Snake Island, also known as Serpent Island, (Ukrainian: Острів Зміїний, Ostriv Zmiinyi; Romanian: Insula şerpilor), is a Ukrainian island located in the Black Sea near the Danube Delta.
The island is populated. A rural settlement of Bile was established in February 2007, which is part of the Vylkove city, Kiliya Raion, Odessa Oblast. The territorial limits of the continental shelf around Snake Island were delineated by the International Court of Justice.
Geography
The island is an igneous rock formation located 35 km from the coast, east of the mouth of the Danube River. The island's coordinates are 45°15′18″N 30°12′15″E / 45.255°N 30.20417°E / 45.255; 30.20417. The island is X-shaped, from S-W to N-E 690 meters by 682 meters from N-W to S-E, covering an area of 0.205 km². The highest area is 41 metres (135 ft) above sea level. The island does not have a prominently featured mountain, but rather a low-slope hill.
The nearest coast location to Snake Island is Kubanskyi Island on the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, located 35 km (22 mi) away between the Bystroe Channel and Skhidnyi Channel. The closest Romanian coast city, Sulina is 45 km (28 mi) away. The closest Ukrainian city is Vylkove, 50 km (31 mi), however there also is a port Ust-Dunaisk, 44 km (27 mi) away from the island.
In the coastal waters 50 fish and six crab species have been recorded, some of which are included in the Red Book of Ukraine. A presidential decree of 9 December 1998, Number 1341/98, declared the island and coastal waters as a state protected area. The total area protected covers 232 hectares.
Maritime delimitation
The status of Snake Island was important for delimitation of continental shelf and exclusive economic zones between the two countries. If Snake Island were recognized as an island, then continental shelf around it should be considered as Ukrainian water. If Snake Island were not an island, but a cliff, then in accordance with international law the maritime boundary between Romania and Ukraine should be drawn without taking into consideration the isle location.
On 16 September 2004 the Romanian side brought a case against Ukraine to the International Court of Justice in a dispute concerning the maritime boundary between the two States in the Black Sea.
On February 3, 2009, the court delivered its judgment, which divided the sea area of the Black Sea along a line which was between the claims of each country. The court concluded that Snake Island is not an island, therefore it "should have no effect on the delimitation in this case, other than that stemming from the role of the 12-nautical-mile arc of its territorial sea".
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