Facts about Estonia

Official name: Republic of Estonia
Total area: 45 227 square kilometres
Population: 1 294 236
Official language: Estonian
The biggest ethnic groups: Estonians 67.9%, Russians 25.6%, Ukrainians 2.1%, Byelorussians 1.3%, Finnish 0.9%

Capital: Tallinn
Number of islands: 1 521
Highest point: Suur-Munamägi (318 m)
Currency: EUR
The Republic of Estonia is a European country, bordering the Baltic Sea in the west and north (including the Gulf of Finland in the north), Latvia in the south and Russia in the east. Across the Gulf of Finland there is Finland; Sweden lies on the other side of the Baltic Sea.

Estonia is a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004 and a member of NATO since 27 March 2004.
For more information about Estonia, visit http://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eesti.

Some interesting facts

• The first human settlements in Estonia date back to the Mesolithic period (i.e. the Stone Age) more than 10,000 years ago.
• Estonians have one of the largest collections of traditional folk songs in the world – we have 133,000 songs documented in writing.
• In November 2003, UNESCO proclaimed the Estonian tradition of song and dance festivals a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
• The genetics researchers at Tartu University are close to a breakthrough in the creation of a vaccine against HIV.
• The world’s best Irish coffee is prepared by the Estonian Helger Aava; in June 2007 he won the first place in the “Coffee & good spirits” category at the World Barista Championship in Belgium.
• Estonia is the country where Kazaa, Skype and Hotmail were born.

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