About Estonia

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by the Russian Federation. The territory of Estonia covers 45,226 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate.

The Estonians are a Finno-Ugric people closely related to the Finns, with the Estonian language sharing many similarities to Finnish. The modern name of Estonia is thought to originate from the Roman historian Tacitus, who in his book Germania (ca. AD 98) described a people called the Aestii. Similarly, ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia. Until the late 1930s, the name was often written as “Esthonia” in most western countries.

Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic and is divided into fifteen counties (Maakonnad). The capital and largest city is Tallinn. Estonia has been a member of the United Nations since 17 September 1991, of the European Union since 1 May 2004, and of NATO since 29 March 2004. Estonia has also signed the Kyoto protocol. With only 1.3 million inhabitants, it comprises one of the smallest populations of the European Union countries.