Living environment

Living Environment

Estonia is situated in North-Eastern Europe, on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. To the north it is bordered by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the east by Russia and to the south by Latvia. The shortest route from Russia by sea to China and also to Western Europe and North America is through the Baltic States.

Although its territory is of comparable size to that of Denmark and Holland, Estonia’s population is 4 times smaller than Denmark’s, and 12 times smaller than that of Holland. The density of population is only 35 persons/km².

47.6% of Estonian territory is covered by forest and woodland. Inhabitants in Tallinn, walking for less than half an hour from the city center, can easily access peaceful forest.

Estonia is a country of thousands of lakes. The largest of these is Lake Peipsi, which is the fourth largest freshwater lake in Europe.

The climate in Estonia is temperate, characterized by warm summers and fairly severe winters. In summer time, many Estonians leave the city for the weekend. Almost every family has a cottage in the country, with a small garden and orchard. During winter, people usually enjoy ski-related sports.