Portal:Estonia

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Welcome to the Estonian Portal!
Tere tulemast Eesti portaali!

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti or Eesti Vabariik; Germanic languages: Estland; Finnish: Viro), is a country in Northern Europe. Estonia has land borders to the south with Latvia and to the east with Russia. It is separated from Finland in the north by the Gulf of Finland and from Sweden in the west by the Baltic Sea.

Estonia has been a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004 and of NATO since 29 March 2004. The Estonians are a Finnic 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 country's name are Estia and Hestia.

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Estonia was a dominion of Denmark during Middle Ages. Between 1206 and 1645 Denmark for several periods of time either held claims to, or ruled over, parts of present-day Estonia.

Denmark rose as a great military and merchant power in the 12th century. It had an interest to end the occasional Estonian and Couronian pirate attacks that threatened its Baltic trade. Danish fleets made attacks against Estonia in 1170, 1194, and 1197. In 1206 King Valdemar II and archbishop Andreas Sunonis made a raid to Ösel (Saaremaa) island. The islanders were forced to submit and the Danes built a fortress there, but they found no volunteers to man it. They burned it down themselves and left the island. However, they laid a claim to Estonia as their possession, which was recognized by the pope.

In 1219 Valdemar gathered a fleet of hundreds of ships against the Estonians, led by the archbishop, bishops and the army of Rugians under their prince Wizlav. They landed in Lyndanisse (Tallinn) harbor in the province of Revelia (Revala, Rävälä, later merged into Harria province) in northern Estonia. According to a legend, the first ever flag of Denmark fell from sky and helped the Danes to win the battle against Revelians and Harrians. The date of the battle, June 15th, is the annual holiday of Valdemarsdag in present Denmark.

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Credit: taken by Abraxasss.

St. Katherine's church built in 1436, situated in Tallinn.

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Did you know...

...that the capital of Danish Estonia was named Lyndanisse on their invasion in 1219?
... that Raadi Manor land was used by the Estonian National Museum and a secret Soviet airfield?"
... that the Estonian Sports Museum has helped organise an exhibition to celebrate Estonia's first Olympics in London?"

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Main topics

Counties: Harju County • Hiiu County • Ida-Viru County • Järva County • Jõgeva County • Lääne County • Lääne-Viru County • Pärnu County • Põlva County • Rapla County • Saare County • Tartu County • Valga County • Viljandi County • Võru County

History: Ancient Estonia • Estonian Crusade • Danish Estonia • Livonian War • Duchy of Livonia • Swedish Estonia • Estophilia • Estonian Age of Awakening • Autonomous Governorate of Estonia • Estonia in World War II • Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany • History of the Jews in Estonia • Occupation of Estonia by Soviets (Estonian SSR)

Politics: Parliament • President • Prime Minister • Cabinet • Constitution • Elections • Political parties

Geography: Islands • Lakes • Rivers

Economy: Tallinn Stock Exchange • Estonian kroon

Military: Maavägi • Merevägi • Estonian Air Force

Demographics: Language

Culture: Cinema • Cuisine • Education • Literature • Music • Public holidays

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm)

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Things you can do

Requests: Please add these missing articles to Wikipedia by clicking on their red links and adding information about them. Make sure to cite all of your sources! To make an Estonia-related article request, add it here and also to Wikipedia:Requested articles.

Tuhala Witch's Well · Olympic Yachting Centre in Pirita · Tourism in Estonia · Radio in Estonia (currently a redirect) · Flora of Estonia · Banking in Estonia · Art of Estonia (currently a redirect) · List of bridges in Estonia (currently a redirect) · Buddhism in Estonia · Conscription in Estonia · Environmental issues in Estonia (currently a redirect) · Marriage in Estonia · Life in Estonia · Andrus Alver · Mare Puusepp · Irina Raud · Henno Sepmann · Anton Soans · Toomas Annus · Tiit Kuuli · Hans H. Luik · Aadu Luukas · Villem Reiman · Endel Siff · Peeter Tulviste · Ilmar Koppel · Elmar Leppik · Karl Orviku · Jaak Parksepp · Johannes Piiper · Voldemar Vaga · Valmer Adams · Anna Haava · Kalju Kangur · Enn Kippel · Juhan Kunder · Valdo Pant · Juhan Peegel · Hando Runnel · Women's football in Estonia, More...