Postcard-Geography Album: Estonia

Our postcard for this week is from the country of Estonia from Postcrossing.



"I send you a postcard picturing the city of Tallinn -the capital city of Estonia. The place was first mentioned on a pmap in 1154. The old town is a well preserved from the Middle Ages and has beeen added to UNESCO World Heritage List. A beautiful place!"

 Living in America, it is sometimes hard to imagine countries like Estonia that are small enough to be slightly smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined.

Estonia is mostly flat, with some undulating terrain in the east and southeast. Steep limestone banks and 1,520 islands mark the coastline.

Estonia is temperate and has four seasons just like we do, with a climate resembling New England's.

Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries today stemming from deep cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian colonization and settlement. Estonia was an independent nation until the 13th century. The country was then subsequently conquered by Denmark, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and finally Russia.  Estonia declared itself an independent democratic republic and in 1920 the Soviet Russia recognized Estonia's independence. In 1939 Nazi Germany gave control of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to the Soviet Union in return for control of much of Poland. During the Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944, many Estonians were executed in Nazi prison camps. In 1991 Estonia declared full independence. (source)

The most typical foods in Estonia are black bread, pork, potatoes and milk products. They eat several courses, the first being cold foods, typically fish, meats, sausages and potato salad. Next is the soup course, which is usually meat or chicken stock mixed with a variety of vegetables. Soups are also blended with sour cream , milk or yogurt. Pork and potatoes accompanied by a rich gravy and served with sauerkraut or other vegetables has been the traditional Estonian main course.  Estonians consider blood sausage and sauerkraut "typical Estonian foods", but mostly those are eaten only at Christmas. I found an interesting blog, Nami-Nami, which features Estonian food.
Also, if you would like to do a craft for Estonia, you could Welcome an Estonian Päkapikk Into Your Home For Advent.

visited 16 countries (7.11% of the world)