Estonia in postcards

The final leg of Europeana 1989′s Baltic Way events is happening this weekend in Tallinn, Estonia. If you have stories and memorabilia from taking part in the world’s longest human chain, take it along to the National Library of Estonia on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 August between 10:00-18:00.

Events have already taken place in Lithuania and Latvia, and we blogged about the contributions of those countries to Europeana (see Looking at Lithuania and Finding Lost Latvia). Now it’s the turn of Estonia! Let’s get familiar with the place first of all through this great collection of postcards from the National Library of Estonia and which came into Europeana through the Europeana Travel project.

Facts about Estonia

The Republic of Estonia is bordered by the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, Latvia, Lake Peipus and Russia.

With a population of 1.3 million, it has about the same number of people as Mauritius or Trinidad & Tobago.

Estonia is one of the least densely populated countries in Europe, with only 32 people per square kilometer.

Estonia does very well for internet access – it is described as one of the most ‘wired’ countries in Europe and a leader in e-government.

Skype was created by Estonian developers.

The oldest human settlement in Estonia dates from 9,000 BC.

Following the Singing Revolution and The Baltic Way, Estonia declared independence on 20 August 1991.

Estonia has over 1,500 islands.

Estonia’s forests are getting bigger! Currently over 50% of the country is forest.

Hollywood actress Mena Suvari has Estonian heritage – her father is of Estonian descent.

Thank you to the National Library of Estonia for contributing the public domain postcard gallery! See the originals on the National Library of Estonia’s website – digar.nlib.ee