Talk:Estonia

Formatting and language conventions For articles about Estonia, please use the 24-hour clock to show times, e.g. 09:00-12:00 and 18:00-00:00. Please show prices in this format: €100 and not EUR 100, 100 euro or 100€. Please use British spelling (colour, travelled, centre, realise, analogue, programme, defence).

For future reference the Project:CIA World Factbook 2002 import can be found at Talk:Estonia/CIA World Factbook 2002 import.

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Health and safety - ticks?

Should something be added about ticks? They're a real problem and one that travellers might want to be aware of, especially with all the talk about enjoying the forests and wild nature. (WT-en) Mustikas 03:32, 12 May 2012 (EDT)

Definitely. Please plunge forward and write a warning and useful precautions to take. (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 03:33, 12 May 2012 (EDT)

Canada

I heard that Canadians are not "blacklisted" from the list of favoured nations for residing in Estonia for some time. Would be good if someone could check this.

Years ago there was a problem with Canada causing displease in Estonia, partly because of treatment, if I remember correctly, of our president during unofficial trip to this American nation visiting local Estonian community. Sharp words were spoken by him them also. I don't know if Canada - at least as NATO ally and perhaps greatest 2 World War refuge - was since restored in its rightful position. This seems likely. But personally, I am not going to start looking for more up-to-date information. Please do it yourself and make corrections if necessary. (WT-en) Bete

Fixed to the Euro?

How could the Estonian currency be fixed to the Euro since 1993, since (I think) the Euro is not that old? --(WT-en) Jonboy 08:15, 6 May 2007 (EDT)

IIRC it was briefly fixed to the German mark, and then migrated to use the euro currency basket even before it became a physical currency. (WT-en) Jpatokal 19:12, 8 May 2007 (EDT)

Thanks. That's what Wikipedia indicates, though the date is implied to be 1992. I'll change the article to clear it up. --(WT-en) Jonboy 09:04, 11 May 2007 (EDT)

The Kroon was pegged to the EMU. —The preceding comment was added by (WT-en) 213.35.235.92 (talk • contribs) 20 Sep 2007

Respect

Sektsioon "Respect" on rõve ja ebameeldiv, paatoslik ning nilbe ja lipitsev (enda ees!) propaganda, mis tuleb kiiremas korras ümber kirjutada. The section "Respect" is exaggerated propaganda which should be re-written.

• Plunge forward! (WT-en) Jpatokal 01:25, 3 July 2009 (EDT)

Mismatch between sections "talk" and "understand" in 18.04.2022 Talk - "There is a large Slavic minority, particularly Russians, about 30%, and Ukrainians, about 4.3%, living in Estonia in 2019." Understand - "Even though Estonia is a member of the European Union, it is not a popular destination for immigrants and the country as a whole is very homogeneous" Last time saw this some years back but with other type of mismatch but basically the same so tried to correct it but this was reversed/adjusted and now back in square one. Most Estonian residents are Estonians as an ethnic group but issue be derived from (false) understanding of Estonians including all residents of Estonia since end of Soviet occupation. Also since joining EU 2004, Estonia has been increasingly favoured by immigrants and last decade, the population rise in some years can be attributed to this. Check details from Estonian statistics office or Eurostats. Doubt if the goal of this spread fake news so will adjust the "Understand" section so it will match better with the "Talk". —The preceding comment was added by 91.236.129.5 (talk • contribs)

Lots of articles have very old information that has not been updated. Just plunge forward and edit anything that you don't think will be controversial. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:04, 18 April 2022 (UTC)

Regions

I think 15 provinces is too much for a country as small as Estonia. Any ideas for sensible regions? (WT-en) Jpatokal 12:04, 22 October 2009 (EDT)

→ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maps_of_NUTS_of_Estonia ? Execept in might be an idea to treat Saaremaa and Hiiuma as seperate regions from western estonia. --(WT-en) Stefan (sertmann) ^talk 12:24, 22 October 2009 (EDT)

I propose to use just 4: North & Tallinn, East, South, West & The Islands. That's how Estonian Tourism Board sees Estonia so - cultural-wise it makes sense to me too. East could also be included in North. --(WT-en) Visitestonia

seems good to me, could you mash up a quick map (e.g. with google maps or your favourite drawing program) on where the borders should be, then I think we should be able to produce a WT style map fairly quickly. --(WT-en) Stefan (sertmann) ^talk 10:40, 5 November 2009 (EST)

Looks right to me (although I don't know the country beyond Tallinn & Narva). If the boundaries would align with the counties (Maakonnad?), you could just list which ones belong in which regions, to allow us to start on the map. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 19:08, 5 November 2009 (EST)

This one is fairly accurate - the only thing is that "center" should be included in North and that's it. --(WT-en) Visitestonia

I cleaned up the regions, cities and ODs lists. I don't know the country very well, so if I caught a mistake, just fix it. --(WT-en) globe-trotter 13:46, 26 May 2010 (EDT)

Image

Picture of the day on Commons is an Estonian image. Nice photo, but is it useful here? Pashley (talk)

I don't know.

Here's another beautiful Picture of the Day:

Early morning in Endla Nature Reserve

I'm not sure what part of Estonia the reserve is in. From the looks of the map in w:Endla Nature Reserve, it is probably in what we're calling North Estonia, but it might be in South Estonia. The Wikipedia article says it's in central Estonia, a region not recognized on our map. Ikan Kekek (talk) 11:31, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

According to Google maps Endla is located on the border of Jõgeva, Lääne-Viru and Järva counties. In our region division Jõgeva is in South Estonia and Lääne-Viru and Järva in North, so the picture could be put in either North or South.

I've also noticed that there have recently been many (incredibly pretty) pictures from Estonia as the picture of the day, and they're not by one but by several different photographers. It's almost tempting to make WP-style galleries in our guides for Estonian destinations. ϒpsilon (talk) 12:32, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

We could certainly add images to Estonian regional articles, which have none, and there is room for more photos in the Estonia article itself. I don't like galleries, though. Too many small photos. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:52, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

E-citizens?

This story looks worth mentioning: E-citizens unite: Estonia opens its digital borders Pashley (talk) 00:45, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

Proper time formatting: 13:30 not 1:30PM

Since the proper time formatting in Estonia is like 13:30, I will plunge forward and convert all remaining AM and PM times to the proper format, as proposed in Wikivoyage:Time and date formats.

Thanks for reading, Ceever (talk) 19:16, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Please do. ϒpsilon (talk) 19:31, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

"Other destinations"

There should be no more than 9, per 7+2. If China#Other destinations can be limited to 9, I don't see a good argument for not limiting Estonia to 9. Here's the current list:

National Parks

• 1 Lahemaa National Park – On the coast within an hour east (50 km) of Tallinn. Given its size it is the largest park in Estonia and one of Europe's biggest national parks, with 1,000 km² of bogs, trails, and forests.
• 2 Soomaa National Park – The second largest national park in Estonia, famous for its "fifth season". A peat bog formed from a glacier melt from around 11,000 years ago.
• 3 Matsalu National Park – One of the largest and most important autumn stopping grounds for migratory birds in Europe. Excellent for birdwatchers, due it is rich ornithological species.
• 4 Vilsandi National Park – Rich in marine fauna, and international bird sanctuary with over 250 recorded bird species, on the west coast of Saaremaa. Covers 238 km², including 163 km² of sea and 75 km² of land, plus 160 islands and islets.
• 5 Karula National Park – The hilly landscapes of Southern Estonia. Estonian’s smallest national park between Valga and Võru.
• Alutaguse National Park – The Newest national park that covers a sparsly populated area in Northeastern Estonia that is south from towns like Jõhvi and Narva. This park was created in order to protect last few habitats of flying squirrels in Estonia itself.
• 6 Otepää Nature Park and Lake Pühajärve} – Part of the Otepää recreational region with an area beyond 3,000 km². Trails along the lake and paths in the hilly forests.
• Meenikunno Nature Park – A 5 km hike and wooden trail with an observation platform in the middle of the swamps.

Islands

• 7 Saaremaa – The largest Estonian and wild seaside character island with castles and fortresses, one perfectly preserved, a beach, a spa and famous mills. Saaremaa is even sometimes called Sparemaa. Furthermore, the island is surrounded by a myriad of tiny islands including Abruka with its nudist camps.
• 8 Hiiumaa – The second largest Estonian island. Popular for its lighthouses, ancient churches, historical values and the sense of humour of its inhabitants, but scarcely populated. In winter, it can sometimes be reached by car via an ice bridge on the Baltic Sea.
• 9 Kihnu – The southernmost group of islands, Kihnu, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Cosy and warm yet exotic – folk costumes are worn here every day and the handicraft of older generations remains highly valued.
• 10 Muhu – The third largest Estonian island, and a rural municipality connected to the nearby Saaremaa by an artificial embankment, where ferries to the harbour of Virtsu arrive. Has an open air museum, and its locals are known for still sewing woollen clothes. Sleepy fishing villages, working windmills, thatched cottages, plenty of deer, moose and birds.
• 11 Ruhnu – The communal territory corresponds to that of the homonymous island, formerly known as Runö.
• 12 Vormsi – The fourth largest Estonian island, very close to the mainland. Vormsi is a small island covered with forests and a Swedish community. A unique blend of Soviet and Swedish history mixed with unspoilt nature.
• Osmussaare – A small and mostly inaccessible island in the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, 7.5 km off the mainland, and part of the Noarootsi Parish.
• Pakri – Two islands in the Gulf of Finland: Suur-Pakri and Väike-Pakri (Swedish: Stora Rågö and Lilla Rågö), administratively part of Paldiski.
• Naissaar – An island mostly covered by forest northwest of Tallinn with about 35 residents.
• Prangli – A small island with, harbour (for ferries to Leppneeme on the mainland), mainly fir trees, and a lighthouse from 1923.

I look forward to suggestions on which ones to keep, but as someone who's never been to Estonia, the obvious (though possibly incorrect) first steps would be to eliminate the four unlinked bullets at the end and delete the red-linked Alutaguse National Park. However, that would leave 11 "Other destinations" - two too many. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:31, 2 July 2022 (UTC)