Estonia

Kõiguste Bay, Estonia
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:K%C3%B5iguste.IMG_4533.JPG
Author: Avjoska


Estonia is a small country in the Baltic region of northern Europe. Covering 45,228 sq km (17,413 sq mi), Estonia is bordered by Russia to the east and Latvia to the south. The Gulf of Finland is to the north of Estonia, the Baltic Sea is to the west while Lake Peipus straddles the border of Estonia and Russia.

Estonia is a parliamentary republic headed by a president and a prime minister. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn. The country has a population of 1.3 million people. The official language of the country is Estonian. Ethnic Estonians form close to 70% of the population, ethnic Russians form 26%, and the rest are minority groups.

St John's Church, Tartu, Estonia
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaani_Kirik_Tartu.jpg
Author: Jeroenm


Estonia is in the Eastern European Time zone, two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+2), and three hours in summer (UTC+3). Estonia uses the Euro (€) as its legal tender. Traffic is driven on the right. The phone IDD code is +372. The electricitiy is 230V/50Hz using European plug.

In 2009, Estonia had a nominal GDP of $19.123 billion, equivalent to a per capita nominal GDP of $14,266. Its per capita GDP at purchasing power parity is $17,908.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander-Newski-Kathedrale.JPG
Author: Georg Mittenecker


Estonia is in the temperate climate zone, with areas in transition between maritime and continental climate. Its four seasons are of near-equal duration. Warmest month is July, with average temperature of 16.3°C (61.3°F) on the Baltic islands to 18.1°C (64.6°F) inland. The coldest month is February, when average temperature drops to -3.5°C (25.7°F) on the Baltic islands and -7.6°C (18.3°F) inland.

Estonia was ruled by neighboring powers including the Danish, Teutonic, Polish, Swedish and Russian. It was part of the Russian Empire until 1918, when it declared independence. During the Second World War, it was annexed by the Soviet Union. Estonia regained its independence on 20 August, 1991.

Narva Castle, Estonia
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Narva_castle.jpg
Author: Андрей Симонов

Preparing Money for Estonia

The currency used in Estonia is the Euro (EUR).

Planning your visit to Estonia

Estonia is today a member of the Schengen Agreement, so visitors from EU and EFTA do not need to bring a passport - an approved ID card will do. Visitors from other countries which do not need a visa include the citizens of Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City, and Venezuela.

The Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport (TLL) is the gateway into Estonia. It receives direct connection with major cities in Europe such as London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Recommended Travel Guidebook

My favorite travel guidebook for further reading in preparation of your trip is the Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Eyewitness Guide, because it follows a format that I find useful to users, not to mention I have also contributed to some of the titles in the Eyewitness series of guidebooks.

Major Cities in Estonia

World Heritage Sites in Estonia

Estonia ratified the World Heritage Convention on 27 October, 1995. As of August 2010, it has 2 World Heritage Sites, both in the cultural category. Estonia also has another 4 sites on the World Heritage Tentative List.

Sites in Estonia on the World Heritage Tentative List

Places of Interest in Estonia

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.