Estonia Independence Day

People all across ESTONIA celebrated their country's Independence Day yesterday. Estonia achieved independence from the Russian Empire in 1918. Happy belated Independence Day!

Struve Geodetic Arc

What is the Struve Geodetic Arc, a UNESCO World Heritage Site spanning across the countries of BELARUS, ESTONIA, FINLAND, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, MOLDOVA, NORWAY, RUSSIA, SWEDEN, and UKRAINE? The UNESCO World Heritage Site webpage (↗) provides an interactive map and description:

The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks.

Surveyors from around the world and other people involved in geodesy and geography might consider adding a [probably expensive] trip through Eastern Europe onto their travel "Bucket List"! The UNESCO description is available under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Intergovernmental Organization 3.0 license (↗).

Estonia Exports

The following items are major exports of ESTONIA: automobiles and parts, clay, communications equipment, dairy products, dolomite, electronics, equipment and machinery, furniture and other wood products, grain, limestone, metal, oil shale, packaged food, peat, phosphorite, plastic, potatoes, sand, seafood, textiles, wood, and various vegetables. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include Finland (top importer), Sweden, Latvia, Russia, Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Poland, China, Belgium, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Angola, and India.

Independence Day in Estonia

Residents in the Republic of ESTONIA — Eesti Vabariik in the Estonian language — are celebrating their 99th Independence Day today. The first February 24th independence day was established in 1918, commemorating the Declaration of Independence from Soviet Russia. Estonia's other independence day (August 20th) is known as Restoration Day. This day celebrates the nation's sovereign independence after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Happy Independence Day, Estonians!

Estonia Endangered Species

As of July 18th, 2015, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for ESTONIA in Eastern Europe lists only two critically endangered species and six endangered species. Fortunately, Estonia does not have any extinct species on the IUCN Red List. The critically endangered species are the European Eel and European Mink. Estonia's endangered species are the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Egyptian Vulture, Violet Click-Beetle (Limoniscus violaceus), Thick-Shelled River Mussel, Velvet Scoter, and Yellow-breasted Bunting. The Violet Click-Beetle has a wide distribution across Europe - in countries such as Austria, Estonia, Greece, Romania, and Spain - but only lives in about 500 square kilometers total.

Estonia post (links opens in new tab or window)

Photo of the Day: Kuresoo Bog, Estonia

National Geographic's Photo of the Day for April 6th, taken by Martin Koitme, is a reflective scene featuring a noctilucent cloud being reflected in a bog pool of ESTONIA's Kuresoo Bog. Located in Soomaa National Park (Estonian: Soomaa rahvuspark) of southwestern Estonia, the Kuresoo Bog is one of the world's largest bogs. Also, the word soomaa essentially means land of bogs.

Link to the Fascinating Photo (National Geographic)

GeoFact of the Day | Gulf of Riga and Highest Baltic Point

Two GeoFacts in one today! The Gulf of Riga is a bay situated southwest of ESTONIA and north of LATVIA. Latvia's capital, Riga, is located on the confluence of the Gulf of Riga and the Daugava River.

The highest point in the low-lying Baltic States — a region comprising Estonia, Latvia, and LITHUANIA — is Suur Munamägi, which stands over 1,000 feet in southern Estonia.

GeoFact of the Day | Counties of Estonia

ESTONIA, a Baltic Sea nation in Eastern Europe, contains 15 counties. The counties of Estonia are Harju, Hiiu, Ida-Viru, Jõgeva, Järva, Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Põlva, Pärnu, Rapla, Saare, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi, and Võru.

Lake Võrtsjärv

Võrts Järv (or Lake Võrtsjärv) is a freshwater lake located in southern ESTONIA and is the second largest lake, after Lake Peipus, in Estonia. Nearby towns include Meleski, Mustla, and Rõngu.

What are the Baltic States?

The three Baltic States are (from north to south) ESTONIA, LATVIA, and LITHUANIA. Estonia's capital is Tallinn, Latvia's capital is Riga, and Lithuania's capital is Vilnius.

> To learn more about Estonia, visit my Estonia post (links open in new window)!
> To learn more about Latvia, visit my Latvia post!
> To learn more about Lithuania, visit my Lithuania post!

Saaremaa Island

Saaremaa (Ösel) is the largest island belonging to ESTONIA, an Eastern European country located east of the Baltic Sea and north of Latvia. Towns that are located on the island include Kahtla, Kuressaare, Lümanda, Valjala, and Võhma.

Estonia

Map Credit: © Maps of the World (mapsofworld.com)
Click on map to enlarge it in a lightbox window. The north arrow (top-right corner) is supposed to point more towards the northwest, parallel to the lines of longitude (24° E, 25° E, etc.)

Officially known as EESTI Vabariik ("Estonian Republic") in the Estonian language, ESTONIA is one of three Baltic states and is located in Eastern Europe. Estonia is east of the Baltic Sea, northeast of the Gulf of Riga, north of Latvia, and west of Russia. Finland is north of Estonia, with the Gulf of Finland in between both countries. About 1.35 million people call Estonia home. Independence from the Soviet Union was declared on August 20th, 1991 and officially recognized by the Soviet Union on September 6th — and Estonia has been a sovereign country since then. February 24th and August 20th are celebrated as Independence Days. Estonia's currency once was the Estonian Kroon, which had an ISO 4217 currency code of EEK. Since 2011, Estonians use the Euro as their currency.

● ● ● ● ●  People and Places  ● ● ● ● ●  Estonian is the country's official language with over 1,200,000 communicators, and other languages in Estonia include Baltic Romani, Estonian Sign Language (6,300 communicators), Russian (1,100,000), Russian Sign Language, and Võro (over 80,000). According to Ethnologue, Baltic Romani is a developing language with approximately 360 communicators in Estonia (2013 census). Pertaining to ethnic groups, about 70% of citizens are Estonian. Ethnic Russians comprise about 25% of Estonia's population, followed by Ukrainians (2%), Belorussians (0.9%), Finns, Latvians, and Germans. Over 50% of Estonians identify as atheist or do not adhere to any religion (over 590,000), while an additional 17% of people have not or did not want to declare their religion according to the Estonian government's official statistics website: Statistics Estonia.

Approximately 310,000 people (28%) are Christians, followed by Jewish people (2,000), Earth Believers (2,000), Muslims (1,500), Buddhists (1,150), and Taara neo-pagan believers (1,050). Housing over 440,000 residents, the capital and most-populated city of Estonia is Tallinn. Popular sites and attractions in Tallinn include Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Kadriorg Park, the 1939-era Kajsamoor ship, Kalamaja District, Kumu Art Museum, Oleviste Church, Patarei Sea Fortress-Prison, Patkuli Observation Tower, St. Catherine's Passage, Tallinn Old Town district, Toompea Hill, and the Town Hall Square.

Other major cities include Haapsalu, Narva, Pärnu, and Tartu. Lower-populated communities include Kõpu, Kuressaare, Lohusuu, Mõisaküla, Mustjala, Otepää, Pärnu-Jaagupi (Pärnu-Saint James), Rakvere, Riguldi, Sääre, Tapa, Tõstmaa, Virtsu, and Võru. Landmarks located outside of Tallinn include the Episcopal Castle (in Kuressaare), Kissing Students Fountain (Tartu), Narva Castle (Narva), Rakvere Castle (Rakvere), Tartu's Old City, and Tartu's Town Hall Square.

● ● ● ● ●  Land Features  ● ● ● ● ●  Like in neighboring Latvia, the landscape of Estonia features a variety of farmland shapes and sizes interspersed with forests, freshwater lakes, and wetlands on flat and gently rolling surfaces. Major crops growing on the land include barley, berries, carrots, cucumbers, hay, peas, potatoes, and tomatoes. Livestock farming and timber harvesting are other prominent land uses. Unlike Latvia, however, Estonia boasts over 2,300 islands while Latvia has about a couple dozen — none of which are in the Baltic Sea. Located west of mainland Estonia, two largest Estonian islands are Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Saaremaa dwarfs the size of Hiiumaa by over two-and-a-half times, with a size of 2672 km² and 1032 mi² to Hiiumaa's 989 km² and 382 mi². Smaller islands and islets include Kesselaid, Kihnu, Kõinastu, Muhu, Naissaar, Osmussaare, Ruhnu (near Latvia), and Vormsi.

There are national parks and reserves practically everywhere to protect forests, wetlands, prairies, and bogs! These environment-preservation treasures include Agusalu (northeast), Alam-Pedja (southeast-central), Emajõe-Suursoo (east), Endla (northeast-central), Lahemaa (north), Matsalu (west), Muraka (northeast), Nigula (southwest), Soomaa (west-central), Viidumäe (western Saaremaa island), and Vilsandi (western Saaremaa and on other islands). Estonia's highest point is Suur Munamägi, which is nicknamed "big egg mountain" in English. Located in the Haanja Upland of southeastern Estonia, this "big egg" hill stands 318 meters and 1,043 feet tall in elevation. Other hilly upland regions include Otepää in the southeast (northwest of Haanja) and Pandivere in northeastern Estonia.

Pärnu — Estonia's longest river at 143 kilometers and 89 miles — begins in north-central Estonia and winds its way past the city of Pärnu before emptying into the Gulf of Riga. At the other end of Estonia, the Narva river runs 77.2 kilometers and 48 miles long and connects three water bodies together, from north to south: Narva Bay, Narva Reservoir, and Lake Peipus. Other rivers include Ema, Jägala, Pedja, and Võhandu. Typically frozen for half of a year, Lake Peipus is the largest lake — covering about 3,560 km² and 1,370 mi². This lake and its southern connection — Lake Pskov — straddle much of the Estonia-Russia border. Surrounded by forests and tidy agricultural plots, Estonia's second-largest lake is the 280-km² Võrtsjärv (Lake Võrts). The southern end is pointy while the northern coast is rounded; therefore, the lake looks like the red Google Maps marker!

This post was updated with more information on April 6th, 2017.

Capital of Estonia

The capital of ESTONIA, an Eastern European country north of Latvia and west of Russia, is Tallinn!