Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (, ; ; Russian: Белгород-Днестровский, romanized: Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy), historically known as Akkerman () or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on the right bank of the Dniester Liman (on the Dniester estuary leading to the Black Sea) in Odesa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Budjak. It also serves as the administrative center of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion, one of seven districts of Odesa Oblast, and is the only locality which constitutes Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It is a location of a big freight seaport. Population: Nomenclature The city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi is also referred to by alternative transliterations from Ukrainian as Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky or Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyy. Dnistrovsky was added to differentiate it from Belgorod (in Ukrainian Bilhorod), a city in Russia, when both were a part of the Soviet Union. Previous names Ophiusa (Οφιούσα), Phoenician colony (meaning "city of snakes" in Greek) Tyras (Τύρας), Ancient Greek colony (also the Greek name for the River Dniester) Asprokastron (, "White Castle"), Greek name in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Name attested from 944 to 1484 AD. Maurokastron (Μαυρόκαστρον, "Black Castle"), Greek name of a Roman/Byzantine fort in Late Antiquity on a site directly opposite Asprokastron, but usually taken together. Album Castrum ("White Castle"), Latin name Cetatea Albă ("White Citadel"), Romanian name Moncastro, Italian corruption of Maurokastron used by Genoese traders and during Genoese rule (14th–15th centuries) Turla, Turkic Akkerman, Ottoman Turkish ("White Castle") and Russian name until 1944 Aqkermen, Crimean Tatar name Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy, Russian (Бе́лгород-Днестро́вский, "White city on the Dniester") The town became part of the Principality of Moldavia in 1359. The fortress was enlarged and rebuilt in 1407 under Alexander the Good and in 1440 under Stephen II of Moldavia. It fell to Ottoman conquest on August 5, 1487. The city was known in Romanian as Cetatea Albă with other languages using the Turkish name, Akkerman, or variations of the Turkish name. Since 1944 the city has been known as "Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi" (Білгород-Дністровський), while on the Soviet geography maps often translated into its Russian equivalent of "Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy" (Бе́лгород-Днестро́вский), literally "white city on the Dniester". The city is known by translations of "white city" or "castle" in a number of languages including Белгород Днестровски (Belgorod-Dnestrovski) in Bulgarian, Akerman (Акерман) in Gagauz, Białogród nad Dniestrem in Polish, Walachisch Weißenburg in Transylvanian German, Dnyeszterfehérvár in Hungarian and (Ir Lavan) in Hebrew. In Western European languages, including English,