Sometimes the greatest secrets lay in places that we may never think to look and throughout the world
there are many different countries and cultures that are filled with these magic gems that surprise us in many different ways and
today here on FTD facts
We look at the great country of Estonia
A country that has a great form of culture and history and although it may not get a lot of media attention
It is one beautiful place that has many magical gems within it. What's up guys?
Welcome to FTD facts the channel where we talk about people cultures and places from all around the world now
Today if you haven't looked at the title, if you haven't looked at the thumbnail and you just clicked on this video
Don't ask me why we are gonna talk about Estonian now for all my returning viewers
First of all, thanks for coming back and learning about a new place
And yeah, guys, I got a new haircut pretty awesome, isn't it?
Other than that guys at any point throughout this video if you guys really like this video on Estonia and you want more Estonian content
Or you want a part 2 be sure
to hit the like buttons because if we get over 5,000 likes we know to do a part 2
That's how we do it here. Anyways, let's get started. Let's talk about Estonia and what is great about this country?
So of course for some countries around the world when you think of a stone yet you think of it maybe like this?
But the truth is it's not like this
It's actually a very very beautiful country and it looks a little bit more like this very beautiful indeed
mm-hmm, and when it comes to countries age does not mean a bad thing because it's had a history that dates back as far as
9000 BC and what's crazy about this country is because of its age and because it's considered a Christianized country
It is widely believed that Estonia was one of the last countries to ever be
Christianized which for Estonia didn't happen until about the 13th century during what is known as the livonian
Crusade now, of course when we hear about this we think to ourselves
What is the livonian crusade and why did it happen in Estonia? Basically, it was a crusade where the Germans of the Holy Roman Empire
Moved north to places like Finland and took over the Finland tribes
Which during this time?
It is known that the Duchy of Estonia became created after of course
the Germans had migrated north to this region now Estonia is also a rather interesting country when it comes to
Independence because throughout the 20th century. It's a country that's really struggled for independence and
Actually kind of has several dates of Independence because of that you could say that Estonia
Theoretically has two Independence days because on February 24
1918 was when the Republic of Estonia was created after it got independence from Russia
However, during the Second World War Estonia merged with Russia against the Germans and during that time there was a lot of back and forth
Occupation and although after the war Estonia had no longer much fear of the Germans
They pretty much became part of the Soviet Union, which lasted until August 20th of 1991
So there is a tiny tiny little bit of history about Estonia
I mean, it has a huge amount of history and a lot of culture behind that history
But let's get into some actual facts about Estonia today and some other cool facts about the country
For example, the capital city of Estonia is Tallinn and for Tallinn
It has been around for a long time as it was recorded to be first mentioned in
1219 ad and which of course by 1248 the city had its own rights and it first appeared on a map in
11:48 now one interesting thing about the city of Tallinn
It's one of the few countries in the entire world out of all countries in the world that has a capital
That's pretty much a medieval city. And because it's so well-preserved. The city itself is classified as a UNESCO zone
it's also interesting to know that Tallinn is known as
Silicon Valley of Europe as it is a place that has so many start-up businesses that began there and have become very successful
as a matter of fact, most people say that Estonia is the country that has the most
start-up businesses out of any country in the entire world
For example companies like Skype is located and was created there
The city is also considered a very tech-savvy city because the European Union's IT department is also located there
Now, of course for city of Tallinn, unfortunately, it doesn't really have a founded date because it became capital after
1991 after the Soviet Union had been dissolved and Estonia became its own country, but overall
Let's take a look at the country and the numbers behind it for example in
2018 as of a estimate that year they say the population sits at one million three hundred
Nineteen thousand one hundred and thirty three people making this country ranked
150 first in the world and in relationship to this its density sits at 190 fourth out of all countries in the world
Having approximately 28 people per square kilometer and although Estonia is not a big country compared to other countries
it does have a land size of
45227 kilometers Square ranking
129th with a water percentage of four point four five percent. So that's a general idea of the size and population
Let's take a look at some of the money the GDP and the currency of Estonia
For example the GDP in which we use the purchasing power parity, and it's a good way to compare nations
the GDP for Estonia sits at forty four point one seven seven billion dollars
With a per capita GDP of thirty three thousand eight hundred and forty two dollars
because of this it ranks 43rd in the world as of a
2018 estimate it should also be known that when it comes to Estonia the countries of Finland and Sweden are major
Influences towards the economy of this country and speaking of the economy of Estonia
although it has been a member of the European Union since September 4th of
2003 which by the way when Estonia joined the EU they became the first ex-soviet
Republic country to ever join the EU but although being a part of the EU the official currency of
Estonia is the Estonian Kroon which became the form of currency for Estonia on September 1st
1928 but however, although they do have their own form of currency in 2011
The Estonian euro was also introduced now for money. We should probably look at some imports and exports and find out what this country actually
Gives and contributes to the rest of the world. For example, when it comes to exports they sit at 14 point 1 billion dollars
Ranking 75th in the world of that their biggest exports are telephones at 17%
Refined petroleum at 3.8 percent and cars at 3.2. Of course
There are thousands of other products that Estonia exports, but it should be mentioned that machinery and equipment
Make up 33 percent of the entire
Exports of the country as for imports jumping over they have approximately fifteen point two billion dollars
ranking 81st in the world
Their biggest imports are refined petroleum at eight point three percent
Cars at five point six percent and telephones at four point three percent. So looking at those numbers
Estonia may seem like a country that imports more and may have a deficit to its exports, but however,
Keep in mind in 2010 Estonia had some really good economic points going for the country
for example
It was one of the countries that had the lowest amount of debt in
2010 out of all the EU countries
Being only six point seven percent of the GDP of that year and it should also be noted that in Estonia
There's pretty much no form of
Public debt that exists within the country and as well when it comes to this country
I should mention that Estonia produces about 75 percent of its own electricity, which actually reminds me
Have you ever heard of the s2 link cable?
Wow
this one's actually pretty interesting because this is a hydropower cable that goes in between Estonia and Finland and it was the first
interconnection link between the Nordic and Baltic countries in the world with a total length of
105 kilometers long it sits at an average depth of
330 feet deep and it began construction in 2006 being finished in 2007
So those are just some human aspects and of course some human achievement character traits of the country of Estonia
but one thing that I find really amazing about this country is its geology
so one thing that is famous within Estonia is it's a small meteorite pockets known as the colleague craters and
basically
there are about nine of these little craters in the Rema region in which they say these small craters were formed anywhere between
1530 to 1450 BC and what's interesting about these is that because Finland and Estonia have some cultural?
Relationships these meteorites are even mentioned in finnish folklore
Also when it comes to estonia, it is a very low low country when it comes to height the country itself
unfortunately doesn't have a lot of mountains and
Is known to be quite flat with an average elevation of only 15 meters above sea level
But the tallest peak within the country is known as egg Mountain or simply seer Mon ammaji
which is located in the southeast region of the country and sits that only
318 meters high or
1043 feet also interesting fact about egg Mountain is they have a really tall building?
There for people to like I guess go up and observe the region and area
But it's interesting to know that when it comes to this tower
This is the fifth one to be built as the original and first one was built in 1812
Oh, yes, and of course one thing that I failed to mention when it comes to Estonia is biodiversity
It's got quite a lot of this because what is interesting about Estonia is it is very well known for oil shale
Mining in which in 2011 oil shale
provided up to 85 percent of the energy for the entire country and if you include
deposits for limestone and oil shale and
Forestry they make up forty seven percent of the entire land of Estonia
And for that reason alone Estonia has many protected zones and parks in which the country boasts to have at least five major
national parks
159 nature reserves and other regions that are protected which because of this it makes 18 percent of the entire
Lands of Estonia and of course 26 percent of all of its seas protected zones
Which I just found to be an absolutely amazing fact and Estonians also took a major step
Into having a more green way of life by introducing the nature Convention Act which went into effect in
2004 as well if you're wondering which of the parks is considered the largest national park in the country
it is the la Hema National Park which spans a
725 kilometres square and it is the largest one not only in Estonia
But one of the largest in all of Europe, of course
We could go on for hours and talk about how great Estonia is from a cultural perspective and just as a country
But either way, my name is Dave Walpole and that reminds me guys, by the way
If we missed any facts in this video
be sure to let us know down there in the comments section below of the stuff that we missed because
here on the channel
We generally do a lot of part twos
Which also reminds me if you guys like this video and you want a part too or you want us to continue to talk about?
Estonia either from a military perspective or about other great things about this country
Be sure to hit the like buttons because if we get over
5,000 likes then we know you guys are just really liking this stuff and that you want to come back for more but on that
Guys, my name is Dave Wawa and don't forget to hit that subscribe button if you guys haven't done it
And it's your first time here, but however you learns today about the great and amazing country of Estonia
One that is constantly growing and evolving to better itself and its people a country filled with great opportunities
Startup businesses and home to tech geniuses and is a nation of great
forestry and nature and of course cultural history
This is the people culture and country of Estonia a place that reminds us that sometimes
The world can revolve around
places that are small and humble in nature
So guys if you like this video and you want to learn about more other great countries around the world
We'll check out our country's playlist right here on top of that
We've got some other great content for you guys to check out so don't forget to tune in to us every single day
We'll see you guys in the next one. You guys. Have a good one. Alright, bye