Estonia: Geography#
| Location | Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia |
|---|---|
| Geographic Coordinates | 59 00 N, 26 00 E 59.0,26.0 |
| Area | total: 45,228 sq km land: 42,388 sq km water: 2,840 sq km note: includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea We are unable to verify those figures from Factbook, since the 6 main sources we used for checking give different figures as follows: Factbook: 45228 DBpedia: 45099 Geoname: 45226 Infoplease: 0 Britannica: 45227 Wolfram: 45228 Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org |
| Land boundaries | total: 657 km border countries: Latvia 333 km, Russia 324 km |
| Coastline | 3,794 km |
| Elevation Extremes | lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Suur Munamagi 318 m |
| Highest Mountains | |
| Terrain | marshy, lowlands; flat in the north, hilly in the south |
| Natural Hazards | sometimes flooding occurs in the spring |
| Natural Resource | oil shale, peat, rare earth elements, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud |
| Land Use | arable land: 13.97% permanent crops: 0.13% other: 85.89% (2011) |
| Climate | maritime; wet, moderate winters, cool summers |
| Irrigated Land | 4.58 sq km (2010) |
| Renewable Water Resources | 12.81 cu km (2011) |
| Environment_CurrentIssues | air polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale burning power plants in northeast; however, the amount of pollutants emitted to the air have fallen steadily, the emissions of 2000 were 80% less than in 1980; the amount of unpurified wastewater discharged to water bodies in 2000 was 1/20 the level of 1980; in connection with the start-up of new water purification plants, the pollution load of wastewater decreased; Estonia has more than 1,400 natural and manmade lakes, the smaller of which in agricultural areas need to be monitored; coastal seawater is polluted in certain locations |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Large Cities | Tallinn; Tartu; Narva; Kohtla-Jarve; Parnu [Verified] Important Cities |
| Geography-note | the mainland terrain is flat, boggy, and partly wooded; offshore lie more than 1,500 islands Important Rivers Important Lakes |