Key Facts about Estonia

About Estonia:

• It is a country in northeastern Europe, the northernmost of the three Baltic states.
• It is bordered by Russia in the east and Latvia in the south.
• It is also bounded by the Gulf of Finland in the north, the Baltic Sea in the west, and Lake Peipus in the east.
• Estonia shares its maritime borders with Finland and Sweden.
• Estonia’s area includes many islands and islets; the two largest of these islands, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, are off mainland Estonia’s west coast.
• Capital: Tallinn
• Official Language: Estonian 
• Currency: euro (€)

_{Political System:  It is a parliamentary republic.}

• History:
  • Ruled at various times during the Middle Ages by Denmark, the German knights of the Livonian Order, and Sweden, Estonia ended up part of the Russian Empire in the 18th century.
  • It experienced its first period of independence in 1918, following the end of World War One and the collapse of the Russian Empire.
  • In 1940 it was forcibly incorporated into the U.S.S.R. as one of its constituent republics.
  • Estonia remained a Soviet republic until 1991, when, along with the other Baltic states, it declared its independence.
  • The Soviet Union recognized independence for Estonia and the other Baltic states in 1991, and United Nations membership followed shortly thereafter.
  • Estonia set about transforming its government into a parliamentary democracy and reorienting its economy toward market capitalism.
  • In 2004 joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).