Baltic Countries
Baltic Countries · 18 August 2023
Estonia has a high-income, advanced economy and is a democratic unitary parliamentary republic, administratively subdivided into 15 maakond or counties on the Eastern edge of the Baltic Sea. With a population of about 1.4 million, it is one of the smallest members of the European Union and of NATO. Estonian is its indigenous and official language and is the first language of most of its population. The country has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BCE and only adopted Christianity in the 13th...
Baltic Countries · 30 June 2023
The Curonian Spit, a Lithuanian National park, lies across the Danė River from the city of Klaipeda on the South-west coast of Lithuania. Access to the Lithuanian end of the Spit is by a short ferry ride from Klaipeda. There is no bridge and no access to the Russian end of the Spit (see below centre beyond the walkers).
Baltic Countries · 20 June 2023
First conquered by the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century as part of a crusade to Christianise the country, by the 15th century Lithuania was a semi-autonomous grand Duchy within the Kingdom of Poland. After the partitions of Poland in 1795, the area was annexed by Russia. After World War I, the area became part of the restored Republic of Poland. The area was soon annexed by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany during Operation Barbarossa, and did not finally regain its independence until...