THE BASICS
Language: Estonian, Russian, English, Finnish and German
Currency: Euro
Capital: Tallinn - population 408,000
Kiiking
FUN FACTS ABOUT ESTONIA
Estonia has:
Online voting for elections, it was the first country in the world to use it.
A population of only 1.3 million. making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.
Lots of trees - almost 50% of the country is covered in forest.
The highest number of meteorite craters per land area in the world.
the title of "Least religious country in the world" with only 14% of people claiming and religious beliefs.
The second highest literacy rate in the world - 99.8%.
The largest collection of folk songs in the world - over 133,000.
Three capitals that change during the year - Tartu is the cultural capital, and Parnu is the Summer Capital.
Joined the Eurozone and the official currency is no longer the Kroon - it is now the Euro.
More women than men - for every 100 females there are only 84 men. The women live longer too - 10 years more than men on average.
Won the Wife Carrying World Championships 11 times since 1998 - even though it originated in Finland.
Their own sport called Kiiking, where you attach yourself to a giant steel swing and use your legs to make it rotate 360 degrees.
2,355 Islands.
Tallinn has completely free public transport for residents
There is a law in Tallinn that pedestrians MUST wear personal reflectors when they are out and about after dark. It is not so strictly enforced with tourists.
Tallinn is one of only three cities in Estonia that has a population greater than 50,000
Over 1.5 million tourists visit Tallinn every year - more than the population of the whole country.
Before 1918, Tallinn used to be called Reval. This is thought to be of German origin because according to legend the name comes from a deer hunt, when an animal fell off a cliff and died - in German Reh-fall means "deer-fall"
Tallinn has a signature drink - Vanna Tallinn. Drunk hot, cold, straight or mixed, Vana Tallinn is a mix of rum, vanilla pods, orange and citris oils
Estonia has had independence from the Soviet Union for 25 years.
Estonia has two Independence Days. It first achieved independence from the Soviet Union on Feb 24th, 1918 and then again on August 20th, 1991 after 51 years of occupation. The second day is known as "Restoration of Independence Day"
INVENTED BY ESTONIANS
Skype
Other stuff probably...
ELECTRICITY
Power plugs and sockets:
There is no reason that we should need electricity as we will only be there 6.5 hours, but;
Estonia uses 2 round pins (see picture)
This is the same plug for Morocco, Spain and Italy
