ia and
Eritrea (UNMEE), which has monitored the 25-km-wide Temporary
Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000, is extended for six months in
2007 despite Eritrean restrictions on its operations and reduced
force of 17,000; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern
Sudanese rebel groups

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

IDPs: 32,000 (border war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000; most IDPs are
near the central border region) (2007)

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Estonia

Introduction
Estonia

Background:

After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian rule,
Estonia attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into
the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US - it
regained its freedom in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Since the last Russian troops left in 1994, Estonia has been free to
promote economic and political ties with Western Europe. It joined
both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Geography
Estonia

Location:

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland,
between Latvia and Russia

Geographic coordinates:

59 00 N, 26 00 E

Map references:

Europe

Area:

total: 45,226 sq km
land: 43,211 sq km
water: 2,015 sq km
note: includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined

Land boundaries:

total: 633 km
border countries: Latvia 343 km, Russia 290 km

Coastline:

3,794 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: limits fixed in coordination with
neighboring states

Climate:

maritime, wet, moderate winters, cool summers

Terrain:

marshy, lowlands; flat in the north, hilly in the south

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Suur Munamagi 318 m

Natural resources:

oil shale, peat, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite,
arable land, sea mud

Land use:

arable land: 12.05%
permanent crops: 0.35%
other: 87.6% (2005)

Irrigated land:

40 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

21.1 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 1.41 cu km/yr (56%/39%/5%)
per capita: 1,060 cu m/yr (2002)

Natural hazards:

sometimes flooding occurs in the spring

Environment - c