Estonia

Estonia (Eesti ), officially the Republic of Estonia (Eesti Vabariik), is a country on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km).

The Baltic Sea is a mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, northeast Germany, Poland, Russia and the North and Central European Plain.

It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km).

It extends between Finland (to the north) and Estonia (to the south) all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it.

It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km).

It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west.

The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 B.C. Ancient Estonians were some of the last European pagans to be Christianized, following the Livonian Crusade in the 13th century.

The Livonian Crusade was the conquest of the territory constituting modern Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia during the pope-sanctioned Northern Crusades, performed mostly by Germans from the Holy Roman Empire and Danes.

The official language of the country, Estonian, is the second-most-spoken Finnic language.

The Estonian language (eesti keel ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch spoken in Estonia.

After centuries of successive rule by Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Estonia under Swedish rule signifies the time between 1561 and 1710, when parts of present-day Estonia (and after 1645 all of the present-day country) were under Swedish rule.

It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km).

Lake Peipus (Peipsi-Pihkva järv; Псковско-Чудское озеро; Peipussee) is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on the border between Estonia and Russia.

During World War II (1939–1945), Estonia was repeatedly contested and occupied by the Soviet Union and Germany, ultimately being incorporated into the former.

The occupation of the Baltic states involved the military occupation of the three Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—by the Soviet Union under the auspices of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in June 1940.

In 1987 the peaceful Singing Revolution began against Soviet rule, resulting in the restoration of de facto independence on 20 August 1991.

The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

After the loss of its de facto independence, Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile.

The Estonian government-in-exile was the formally declared governmental authority of the Republic of Estonia in exile, existing from 1944 until the reestablishment of Estonian sovereignty over Estonian territory in 1991–92.

After centuries of successive rule by Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Governorate of Estonia (also Esthonia; Est(h)ländisches Gouvernement; Эстля́ндская губе́рния; Eestimaa kubermang) was a governorate of the Russian Empire in what is now northern Estonia.

After the loss of its de facto independence, Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile.

The official position of Russia is a continuation of the Soviet position that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were not annexed by the Soviet Union but joined of their own accord in 1940.

This culminated in independence from Russia in 1920 after a brief War of Independence at the end of World War I.

The campaign was the struggle of Estonia for its sovereignty in the aftermath of World War I.

After centuries of successive rule by Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It corresponds to the present-day areas of northern Latvia and southern Estonia.

After centuries of successive rule by Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

This period is considered to begin in the 1850s with greater rights being granted to commoners and to end with the declaration of the Republic of Estonia in 1918.

It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km).

The artifacts the first settlers left behind present characteristics that are shared with those found in Estonia, Russia, and Norway.

This culminated in independence from Russia in 1920 after a brief War of Independence at the end of World War I.

The Tartu Peace Treaty (Tartu rahu, literally "Tartu peace") or Treaty of Tartu is a peace treaty between Estonia and Soviet Russia signed on 2 February 1920, ending the Estonian War of Independence.

One of the world's most digitally advanced societies, in 2005, Estonia became the first state to hold elections over the Internet, and in 2014, the first state to provide e-residency.

e-Residency of Estonia (also called virtual residency or E-residency) is a program launched by Estonia on 1 December 2014.

The country ranks very high in the Human Development Index, and does well in measures of economic freedom, civil liberties, education, and press freedom (third in the world in 2012 and 2007).

With a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least populous members of the European Union, the Eurozone, OECD, the Schengen Area, NATO, and from 2020, the United Nations Security Council.

The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

One of the world's most digitally advanced societies, in 2005, Estonia became the first state to hold elections over the Internet, and in 2014, the first state to provide e-residency.

The idea of having electronic voting in Estonia gained popularity in 2001 with the "e-minded" coalition government.

The country ranks very high in the Human Development Index, and does well in measures of economic freedom, civil liberties, education, and press freedom (third in the world in 2012 and 2007).

Around the 11th century, the Scandinavian Viking era around the Baltic Sea was succeeded by the Baltic Viking era, with seaborne raids by Curonians and by Estonians from the island of Saaremaa, known as Oeselians.

Saaremaa (, ; German and Ösel) is the largest island in Estonia, measuring 2673 km2.

In 1030 Yaroslav the Wise defeated Estonians and established a fort in modern-day Tartu; this foothold lasted until an Estonian tribe, the Sosols, destroyed it in 1061, followed by their raid on Pskov.

Pskov (see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about 20 km east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River.

The sovereign state of Estonia is a democratic unitary parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties.

Counties (maakond, plural maakonnad) are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Estonia.