Estoniaofficially Republic of Estonia, Estonian Eesti, or Eesti Vabariik, country in northeastern Europe, the northernmost of the three Baltic states. It is bounded on the west and north by the Baltic Sea and on the east by Lake Peipus (Peipsi; Russian: Chudskoye Ozero) and the Narva River; it is bordered on the east and southeast by Russia and on the south by Latvia. Estonia has an area of 17,462 square miles (45,227 square kilometres), of which about one-tenth is made up of Estonia’s area includes some 1,500 islands and islets. The ; the larger islands are Saaremaa (1,044 square miles) and Hiiumaa (395 square miles). The capital is Tallinn (Reval).

Estonia has been dominated by foreign powers through much of its history. In 1940 it was incorporated into the U.S.S.R. as one of its constituent republics. Estonia remained a Soviet republic until 1991 when, along with the other Baltic states, it declared its independence. The U.S.S.R. agreed to independence for Estonia and the other Baltic states on Sept. 6, 1991, and United Nations membership followed shortly thereafter.