Estonia

The eastern European nation of Estonia has had a long history of being overrun by other European nations, including Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Russia. A short period of independence after World War I ended when Estonia was forced into the Soviet Union in 1940. The withdrawal of Russian troops in 1994 restored Estonia’s independence, and the government initiated democratic reforms and strengthened ties with the West, leading to membership in the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2004. Estonia covers a land area of 45,228 square miles (roughly 117,000 square kilometers), making it roughly the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. The land area includes 1,500 offshore islands. Estonia borders on the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland, Latvia, and Russia. ...