Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (Ukrainian:Білгород-Дністровський), formerly known as Akkerman (see naming section below), is a regional city and port situated on the right bank of the Dniester Liman (on the Dniester estuary leading to the Black Sea) in the Odessa Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Bessarabia. The city serves as an administrative center of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky Raion and a big freight seaport.