Wikipedia portal for content related to Estonia
Welcome to the Estonian Portal Tere tulemast Eesti portaali
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe . It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland , to the west by the sea across from Sweden , to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia . The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland , the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa , and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,335 square kilometres (17,504 sq mi). Tallinn , the capital city , and Tartu are the two largest urban areas . The Estonian language is the indigenous and official language . It is the first language of the majority of the population of 1.4 million.
The land of present-day Estonia has been inhabited by humans since at least 9,000 BCE. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Papal -sanctioned Northern Crusades in the 13th century. After centuries of successive rule by the Teutonic Order , Denmark , Sweden , and the Russian Empire , a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the mid-19th century. This culminated in the 1918 Estonian Declaration of Independence from the then-warring Russian and German empires. Democratic throughout most of the interwar period , Estonia declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II , however the country was repeatedly contested, invaded, and occupied ; first by the Soviet Union in 1940 , then Nazi Germany in 1941, and ultimately reoccupied in 1944 by, and annexed into, the USSR as an administrative subunit (Estonian SSR ). Throughout the 1944–91 Soviet occupation, Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile . Following the 1988–90 bloodless Estonian "Singing Revolution " against Soviet rule, the nation's full independence was restored on 20 August 1991 .
Estonia is a developed country with a high-income advanced economy , ranking 31st (out of 191) in the Human Development Index . The sovereign state of Estonia is a democratic unitary parliamentary republic , administratively subdivided into 15 maakond (counties) . It is one of the least populous members of the European Union and NATO . Estonia has consistently ranked highly in international rankings for quality of life , education , press freedom , digitalisation of public services and the prevalence of technology companies. (Full article... )
Front view of Alatskivi Castle
Alatskivi Castle (Estonian : Alatskivi loss , German : Schloss Allatzkiwwi ) is a neo-Gothic castle in Alatskivi , Estonia . Dating to the 17th century, it is situated in Peipsiääre Parish , Tartu County . It was rebuilt in the late 19th century by Baron Arved von Nolcken, modeled on the royal residence of Balmoral in Scotland . A renovation occurred between 2005 and 2011. Five rooms on the first floor house the Eduard Tubin museum, which documents his accomplishments as a music composer and conductor.
Alatskivi Castle is surrounded by various ancillary buildings and a forested park of 130 hectares (320 acres) area, the largest in
Tartu County . The park contains many
oaks ,
ashes ,
maples ,
alders and an approach road lined with
linden trees. (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
The following are images from various Estonia-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 2 Corded Ware culture pottery and stone axes, at the EHM (from
History of Estonia )
Image 3 Stone
cist graves from the Bronze Age in northern Estonia (from
History of Estonia )
Image 4 A moment before the opening of the 25th
Estonian Song Festival (2009) at the Tallinn Song Festival grounds. (from
Culture of Estonia )
Image 5 Map of
Varbola Stronghold by L. A. Mellin (from
History of Estonia )
Image 6 The Swedish Empire, 1560–1815 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 7 Toompea castle – the seat of the
Riigikogu (from
History of Estonia )
Image 8 Estonia's greatest territorial extent ever, reached during its War of Independence, marked by the light blue line on the map. (from
History of Estonia )
Image 9 Ancient Estonia until 21 September 1217 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 10 Varbola ruins (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 11 Tools made by Kunda culture, the
Estonian History Museum (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 12 Comb Ceramic pottery at the Estonian History Museum (from
History of Estonia )
Image 13 Estonian farmers drinking (vodka) in an
inn , by
Oskar Hoffmann (painter) , 1899. (from
Culture of Estonia )
Image 14 Estonian Soviet politician
Johannes Käbin led the
Estonian Communist Party from 1950 to 1978 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 16 Europe in 19th century (from
History of Estonia )
Image 17 Livonian Confederation in the 15th century (from
History of Estonia )
Image 18 Dannebrog falling from the sky during the
Battle of Lindanise , 1219 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 20 Outline of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (from
History of Estonia )
Image 21 Tallinn, 28 August 1941 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 22 Soviet prison doors on display in the Museum of Occupations, Tallinn (from
History of Estonia )
Image 23 Estonian
folk music performers dressed in 19th-century festive
folk costumes (from
Culture of Estonia )
Image 24 Artifacts of the hoard from Kumna, Estonia (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 25 Comb Ceramic pottery at the Estonian History Museum (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 26 Hermann Castle , Narva, was one of the Teutonic Order's castles in Estonia. (from
History of Estonia )
Image 28 Stone Cist Graves from The Bronze Age in Northern Estonia (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 30 From
Dirham hoards in Estonia, 8th–11th centuries. (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 32 Registration card for Estonian citizenship from 1989 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 34 Livonia, as shown in the map of 1573 of Joann Portantius (from
History of Estonia )
Image 35 Fragments of
Wanradt-Koell Catechism (1535), the first book printed in
Estonian language . (from
History of Estonia )
Image 36 Counties of Ancient Estonia in the beginning of the 13th century. (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 37 Tartu University (Universität Dorpat) in 1860, during its 'Golden Age' (from
History of Estonia )
Image 38 Public education systems founded during prior Swedish rule made Estonia and Finland the two most literate areas of
Russian Empire (map of
1897 census literacy data) (from
Culture of Estonia )
Image 39 Corded Ware culture pottery and stone axes at the Estonian History Museum. (from
Ancient Estonia )
Image 41 Estonian President
Kersti Kaljulaid with Russian President
Vladimir Putin in April 2019 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 43 Europe in the 9th century (from
History of Estonia )
Image 44 The Estonian Army High Command in 1920 (from
History of Estonia )
Image 45 Tools made by
Kunda culture , the Estonian History Museum (from
History of Estonia )
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