DELTA

American three-stage space-launch vehicle; its development began in 1959. The first version was capable of placing a 480-pound (220-kilogram) payload into a 300-mile (480-kilometre) orbit. In the early 1960s, Delta launched TIROS weather satellites, Echo 1, and the Telstar, Relay, and Syncom communication satellites. An improved Delta with a more powerful first stage and capable of placing 1,000 pounds (450 kg) into a 500-mile (800-kilometre) orbit put the Syncom 3 communication satellite into orbit on Aug. 19, 1964. Several Long Tank Deltas were also built; an advanced version has an inertial guidance system and can be flown with either two or three stages. The two-stage version is capable of placing a 3,600-pound (1,630-kilogram) payload into a 230-mile (370-kilometre) orbit. state, southern Nigeria. It is bounded by Edo state to the north, Anambra state to the east, Rivers state to the southeast and south, the Bight of Benin of the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and Ondo state to the northwest. On the east and south the state is bounded by the lower course and delta of the Niger River. Delta was created in 1991 from the southern half of former Bendel state. Asaba, on the Niger River, is the state capital. Most of the state lies at an elevation below 500 feet (150 metres) in the Niger River delta. Mangrove swamps predominate in the delta and merge with freshwater swamps to the north. A maze of interconnected waterways and the Forcados and Escravos rivers, which empty into the Bight of Benin, are used for transportation. The state is inhabited by the Igbo people in the east, the Edo in the north, and the Itsekiri, Urhobo, Isoko, and Ijo in the south and west. Agriculture is the mainstay of the state's economy; yams, cassava, oil palm produce, rice, and corn (maize) are grown for local consumption. Delta is a major exporter of petroleum, rubber, timber, and palm oil and palm kernels via the Niger delta ports of Burutu, Forcados, Koko, Sapele, and Warri. Petroleum is exported by pipeline from the Ughelli fields, and other major oil fields exist near Warri (which possesses an oil refinery), Koko, and Escravos, as well as offshore. The state's industries include glass and bottle factories, textile mills, and plastics, rubber, plywood, natural gas, boatbuilding, sawmilling, and furniture industries. A major steel-producing complex is at Aladja, adjacent to Warri. A bridge crosses the Niger from Asaba to Onitsha. Area 6,833 square miles (17,698 square km). Pop. (1991) 2,570,181; (1995 est.) 2,873,711. district municipality, southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is situated in the southern Vancouver metropolitan area, between the Fraser River delta and Boundary Bay (an arm of the Strait of Georgia). Though its northern section is primarily residential, much of its area is devoted to dairying, truck gardening, and farming cash crops. Delta's industries, which are mainly concentrated on Annacis Island in the Fraser River, include fishing and fish canning, food processing, and paper milling. Robert Bank, a superport built for the bulk handling of coal and completed in 1970, occupies a 55-acre (22-hectare) man-made island in the Strait of Georgia off the suburb's western shore. Delta has several fine beaches and ferry service to Vancouver Island. Inc. 1879. Pop. (1991) 88,978.