River delta

A delta is an area positioned at the end of a river (adjacent to an ocean, sea or lake), made up of the silt carried by the currents of the river and deposited as the water loses speed. The area is characterised by the river dividing in a number of streams (distributaries), often leading to a maze of streams dividing and coming together.

The most famous delta is that of the Nile, and it is this delta from which the term is derived, because the Nile delta has a very characteristic triangular shape, like the (upper-case) letter delta (Δ). Other rivers with notable deltas include the Ganges/Brahmaputra combination (this delta spans most of Bangladesh), the Niger, the Amazon, the Mississippi, the Rhine, the Rhône, the Danube, the Mekong, and the Ebre.