What is the name of the national park in Estonia. School Encyclopedia

The Baltic Sea is a sea that is located in northern Europe and flows into Atlantic Ocean. Its largest bays are Bothnian, Finnish, Curonian and Riga. average temperature water Baltic Sea in the summer it is - fifteen - seventeen degrees of heat. The sea washes the shores of large European states, including Poland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.

Large Estonian cities - ports are located near the sea. They supply seafood and fish to other Estonian settlements. Herring, roach, perch, silver bream, ide, bream, dace, pike, zander, eel live in this area. Most of the local population works in enterprises related to the fishing industry. total area The Baltic Sea is estimated at three hundred and eighty six thousand square kilometers. Its depth varies from forty to one hundred meters. The sea has the Landsort depression, the depth of which is four hundred and fifty-nine meters. The period of complete renewal of the sea waters is approximately thirty years.

Toompea Castle

Toompea Castle is the personification of the ruling power in Estonia, now the Parliament is located here, and one of the towers is crowned with the national flag of the country. The koepost was built in the Middle Ages on the hillside of Toompea, at an altitude of about 50 meters above sea level. The walls of the fortress are decorated with majestic towers, the most important of which is an observation tower 48 meters high - called Lange Hermann or "Long Warrior". Several centuries ago, it was customary to call the most powerful towers of any fortress that way. It was the "Long Warrior" who was honored to "carry" the Estonian flag.

What sights of Tallinn did you like? There are icons next to the photo, by clicking on which you can rate a particular place.

latin quarter

Tallinn's Latin Quarter is located between Vene Street and the defensive medieval wall. It was here that in 1246 the monks of the Dominican order founded their monastery. In the majestic church of St. Catherine, they held services in Latin, and subsequently opened the first school in the Lower City. Catholic monks were respected by the townspeople, but were expelled from Tallinn with the advent of the Reformation.

Today, only the walls remain of the Dominican monastery, and most its territory is occupied by Katarina k & auml ik street (St. Catherine's lane), which is also called Masters street. Hatters, tailors, jewelers and other craftsmen work here. They make ceramics and stained glass paintings, sew leather bags, blow colored glass. All this they immediately sell to tourists.

In addition, on Vene Street there is the only Catholic church in the city, Nikolskaya Orthodox Church, Gothic Bremen Tower and residential buildings different eras- from the 14th to the 20th century.

The Dome Cathedral or the Church of the Virgin Mary was founded at the beginning of the thirteenth century and consecrated in 1240 as a cathedral. Today it is one of the oldest temples in Tallinn. The cathedral has gone through several renovations. The first took place in the thirteenth century, then repairs were carried out in the fourteenth century and then several times later. In 1878, a modern organ was installed in the temple.

As a result of all construction manipulations, the cathedral combines different architectural styles. For example, its tower belongs to the baroque, and the chapels added later belong to more modern styles.

The relics of famous people of bygone times are buried in the cathedral. In addition, various noble coats of arms and epitaphs written in different centuries are stored here.

Today in the Dome Cathedral you can listen to organ music and enjoy the amazing acoustics of the room.

Tallinn Airport

Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is the main international Airport Estonia. It is the main base of the national airline Estonian Air, as well as an additional building of the Latvian airline Airbaltic. The airport is located 5 kilometers from the city center. Its runway, which includes eight gates and four taxiways, is 3,070 meters long and 45 meters wide.

Tallinn Airport serves mainly small aircraft, such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, but is also capable of receiving rather bulky aircraft such as the Boeing 747. The largest aircraft that landed at this airport in April 2009 is the An-124. According to statistics for 2011, the airport served 1,913,172 passengers. From 2007 - 2008, a large-scale reconstruction of the passenger terminal was carried out here, which significantly increased the airport's throughput.

Now Tallinn Airport is managed by the Estonian JSC Tallinn Lenujam.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the birth of Estonian President Lennart Meri in March 2009, Tallinn Airport was named after him.

Tallinn Zoo

The zoo in Tallinn was founded in 1939. Today, the collection includes more than 350 species of animals living on 89 hectares.

The zoo's expositions include: Alpine, Central Asian, South American, Arctic. Individual expositions are large groups animals: elephants, kangaroos, lions, seals, leopards, as well as pheasants, waterfowl and birds of prey.

The zoo is especially proud of the Tropical House collection, which is rare for the northern latitudes: the inhabitants of tropical jungle. The so-called children's zoo is located separately - the territory where the cubs of local inhabitants live.

Church of St Olaf

The spire of the Church of St. Olaf is visible from afar and is considered one of the symbols of the Estonian capital. In medieval times, the building was considered the tallest in the world and its height reached 159 meters.

However, fires and lightning did not spare the church. Now it is 123.7 meters in height. The church got its name in honor of King Olav II Haraldsson of Norway, but the locals prefer a different version. According to legend, when it was decided to build a temple, one architect was found in the city, he agreed to do all the work for free if people guessed his name. Nobody knew the mysterious architect, and the cunning townspeople sent a "spy" to his house, who overheard the name of the master. As he climbed the spire and erected the cross, someone from below called his name "Olaf". The architect turned around, could not resist and fell down. In the Estonian manner, the name of the church is pronounced Oleviste.

St. Olaf's Church is a Baptist church, the first mention of which dates back to the middle of the thirteenth century.

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Tallinn Town Hall

The Gothic building of the town hall is the only one of its kind preserved in Northern Europe. The first mention of it dates back to 1322, then it was a limestone building one story high.

The town hall changed its original appearance and became a more solid building in the fifteenth century, when Reval (the old name of Tallinn) was in its heyday. At this time, the town hall is being expanded, it has a second floor with halls for solemn ceremonies, as well as a tower. In this form, she survived to this day, demonstrating the talent of the then stone masters and the exquisite taste of foreign architects.

Later, a weather vane appeared at the town hall, which was popularly nicknamed "Old Thomas". And in the middle of the seventeenth century, the building was decorated with drainage systems made in the form of dragon heads.

In 2004, one of the main Tallinn sights celebrated its 600th birthday.

The most popular attractions in Tallinn with descriptions and photos for every taste. Choose best places to visit the famous places of Tallinn on our website.

Individual and group

More sights of Tallinn

I bring to your attention short story about a summer trip to Estonia, about getting to know its nature and visiting several nature reserves and national parks. After this trip, the word "Estonia" is strongly associated with such words as "beauty", "harmony" and "peace"!

Initially, I planned to publish this article in the http://wild-magazine.ru/ magazine, but something happened to the magazine and it stopped publishing (run out of money?), so I am publishing the article here.

A small introduction.

Environmental protection activities in Estonia are at a fairly high level. high level. Nature protection was started here back in 1910. That year, on the island of Vilsandi, on the initiative of the lighthouse keeper Artur Toom The first Estonian reserve, the Vaika ornithological reserve, was founded. On August 14, 1910, an agreement was concluded between the parish parsonage and the Riga Society of Nature Researchers to lease the island of Vilsandi and its surrounding islands in order to protect the birds nesting there. This event served as a starting point and became the most important in the history of nature conservation in Estonia (for more details, see). Currently, about a quarter of the area of ​​Estonia is a protected area (for comparison, in Russia, protected areas occupy about 7.6% of the area).

In terms of area, Estonia is comparable to European states like Denmark and Holland, but its population is only 1.3 million people. And if we take into account that more than 600 thousand of them live in Tallinn, Tartu and Narva, then we get the population density in countryside only 15 people. per sq. km! And indeed, people outside the city are almost invisible there, the roads are magnificent, and the nature looks pristine!

Approximately half of the territory of Estonia is occupied by forests, and one fifth by swamps. In Estonian, two words are used for swamps: sooo – fens and raba- raised bog, which is fed precipitation. Estonia can be safely called the kingdom of swamps - from anywhere in mainland Estonia to the nearest swamp, as a rule, no more than 10-15 km!

Estonia actively promotes responsible family outdoor recreation and eco-tourism. In nature reserves and national parks (except for those places where tourists are not allowed to visit), hiking trails are laid almost everywhere (including through swamps), observation towers, parking lots and places for tents are equipped where you can relax and spend the night. For safe movement and minimization of harm to nature, swamp trails are equipped with wooden decks. Bog shoe excursions, canoeing on the rivers of national parks, etc. are also offered.

As a rule, most natural parks and reserves have information centers - many Russian museums could envy their equipment and interactive equipment! In these centers, various printed materials are available to tourists free of charge (with some exceptions): beautifully designed brochures with diagrams, maps nature trails, with information about the local flora and fauna, etc., and what is especially nice, all this is almost always presented in Russian!

The only tourist trail with a length of about 7 km passes through the territory of the reserve, it can even be seen on Google satellite maps:

The trail starts from a large swamp lake...

Big swamp lake.

... and after about 500 m leads to the first observation tower:

View from the first observation tower

marsh expanses

Swamp lakes with the purest water

And how beautiful it must be here in the golden autumn!

We did not manage to go the whole trail - the midday sun was merciless, and in the swamp there was nowhere to hide from the sun's rays. Unfortunately, during the day you will not see its inhabitants (herons, cranes, etc.) in the swamp - for this you need to come before dawn or late in the evening. By the way, for covert observation of these very inhabitants, at one of the observation towers in the swamp, the first floor was made in the form of a shed with viewing windows for photography. It was not possible to get inside (there was a lock), but I assume that there is a table and a couple of places to sleep in the shed. Most likely, the keys to this house are issued by agreement with the administration of the reserve.

View from the second observation tower.

Luitemaa landscape reserve.

Just 35 kilometers from Nigula towards the sea, on the coast of the Pärnu Bay, there is the Luitemaa landscape reserve. It also has swamps, but still its main part is the dunes and coastal meadows. Luitemaa is translated as "land of the dunes". The most picturesque part of the landscape of southwestern Estonia and the largest dunes of the Pärnu Bay are located here. Moreover, the dunes that form the coastline here are more than 5000 years old!

Coastal meadows in Luitemaa

Lahemaa National Park.

We also managed to visit amazing place how national park Lahemaa. It is located in northern Estonia on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, about seventy kilometers east of Tallinn. The area of ​​the park is 72.5 thousand hectares, and about a third of the territory is occupied by the sea. The coast is colorful with peninsulas, bays and small islands. There are four peninsulas (Yuminda, Pärispea, Käsmu and Vergi) and four bays (Kolga, Hara, Eru and Käsmu). Precisely because of a large number bays, the founder of Estonian landscape science J. G. Grano and called this region "Lahemaa" - The edge of the bays, and in 1971 a national park was created to protect the unique landscapes of the coast.

The natural landscapes in the park are quite diverse, there are pine forests with boulder fields, swamps, rivers and lakes, and of course a picturesque sea coast. Despite its rather high conservation status- it is almost completely open to the public (with the exception of a small natural reserve) territory with reserved nature. There are some restrictions, they concern places for setting up tents and making fires.

The park has more than 20 equipped nature trails with a length of 0.5 to 18 km. To get acquainted with the park, we chose the Käsmu peninsula. From the village of Käsmu I went to Cape Vana Juri and the island of Kuradisaar. The local coast is a paradise for photographers, here you can observe a lot of mute swans, cormorants, terns and other birds, although it is quite difficult to approach them unnoticed closer than 30–50 m.

Swans and cormorants on the background of the island of Kuradisaar

Lahemaa Park is also famous for the large number of boulders brought by the glacier. The largest boulder field in Estonia (400 ha) is located on the Käsmu peninsula. The dimensions of some boulders reach five meters in height and fifteen meters in girth.

Huge boulders at Cape Wana Yury

Boulders in the forest on the Käsmu peninsula

Arctic Terns

And instead of a conclusion.

After the trip, I never tired of wondering how the Estonians managed to achieve all this. In my humble opinion, they are developing eco-tourism exactly as it should be done. Their extensive network of ecological trails and nature trails is evenly distributed throughout the country. With the exception of reserves closed from visiting, the rest of the territory is adapted for travel, there are routes both for trained tourists and for ordinary urban residents, including people with disabilities. handicapped. And we are not talking about the development of mass tourism. Tourism in protected areas is developing taking into account the minimization negative impact on nature. The number and mode of behavior of tourists are strictly regulated. In the immediate vicinity of parks and reserves, no roads are being built - only dirt roads, bike paths and hiking trails. They do not build hotels and sanatoriums - only miniature huts for lodging for the night and places for tents.

But let's not idealize - for sure, this approach has its own negative sides. For example, I immediately imagined what difficulties the “wild” tourism, so familiar to me in our Karelia, could face here ...

The main objects of ecological tourism are unique natural complexes, namely:

• National and natural parks, state nature reserves, monuments of nature;
• · dendrological parks and botanical gardens;
• health-improving areas and resorts;
• reserves.

National parks are nature protection, environmental education and research institutions, the territories of which include natural complexes and objects of special ecological, historical value, and which are intended for use in environmental, educational, scientific and cultural purposes and for regulated tourism. A protected zone with a limited nature management regime is being created around the national park.

A differentiated regime of special protection is established on the territory of national parks, taking into account their natural, historical, cultural and other features. In the territories of national parks, various functional zones can be distinguished, including:

• · Reserve, within which any economic activity and recreational use of the territory are prohibited;
• educational tourism, intended for the organization environmental education and familiarization with the sights of the national park;
• Recreational, intended for rest;
• · protection of historical and cultural objects, within which conditions for their preservation are provided;
• · visitor services, designed to accommodate overnight accommodations, tent camps and other tourist service facilities, cultural, consumer and information services for visitors.

Any activity that can damage natural complexes and objects of flora and fauna, cultural and historical objects and that is contrary to the goals and objectives of the national park is prohibited on the territories of national parks.

Natural parks are environmental recreational institutions, the territories of which include natural complexes and objects of significant ecological and aesthetic value, and are intended for use in environmental, educational and recreational purposes.

Consider the main tasks of national and natural parks.

Table 6 Main tasks of national and natural parks

On the territories of natural parks, various regimes of special protection and use are established, depending on the ecological and recreational value of natural sites. AT natural parkх nature protection, recreational, agro-economic and other functional zones, including zones of protection of historical and cultural complexes and objects, can be allocated.

Within the territories of natural parks, activities that entail a change in the historically established natural landscape, a decrease or destruction of the ecological, aesthetic and recreational qualities of natural parks, a violation of the maintenance regime for historical and cultural monuments are prohibited.

Reserves do not belong to the main objects of ecological tourism, although in the so-called buffer zones it is possible to organize, for example, ecological trails.

Reserves are nature protection, research and environmental education institutions. Their main goal is to preserve and study the natural course of natural processes and phenomena, the genetic fund of flora and fauna, certain types and communities of plants and animals, typical and unique ecological systems. One of the tasks of the reserves is environmental education.

In Estonia, under state protection 10% of the territory (4548 km2) was taken. There are four national parks - Vilsandi, Karula, Lahemaa, Soomaa, four nature parks - Loodi, Naissaar, Otepää, Haanja, 58 nature and 154 landscape reserves.

Table 7 Distribution of the largest natural complexes in Estonia by region

The first Red Book of Estonia on endangered and rare species began to be compiled in 1976 (published in 1982), which included 155 plant species and 104 mammal species. Work on the second book was started in 1990. It includes 229 plant species, 92 animal species and 12 fungi species.

AT last years The principles of ecological tourism are widely used in the work of national parks and reserves. The rapid development of ecological tourism in recent decades explained not only by the deterioration in the quality environment, but also by the increasing "cultivation" of popular recreation areas - mountainous regions, sea coasts, etc.

The territory of Estonian national parks - Lahemaa, Karula, Soomaa and Vilsandi - is open to everyone in the main part.

In nature reserves, the movement of people and any economic activity is prohibited. Seasonally, some sections of the parks may be closed, for example, during the nesting season of birds.

The flow of tourists to nature reserves should be limited and carefully regulated. Instead of mass types of tourism, it seems more acceptable for nature reserves to organize long, specialized (and more expensive) tours for a small number of groups.

A landscape reserve (nature park) is a protected area of ​​natural or cultural landscapes that are rare or characteristic of Estonia, and which has been established for environmental, cultural or recreational purposes.

On the Day of European Nature Reserves, 24 May, Estonian nature reserves hold open days, cleanups and school days. Games are organized on the ground, new tourist trails, gati leading to springs or to the silence of swamps are opened.

Nature reserves and other areas closed to traffic must be marked.

In the summer of 2000, in the Lahemaa National Park, appropriate state standard traffic signs. Motorized parking Vehicle in security zones is allowed only in places separated for this.

In recent years, in the state national parks of European countries and in Estonia, the principle has been introduced: everything that you brought to the reserve, leaving it, should be taken with you.

Estonian national parks are promising regions for the development of ecotourism due to factors such as:

• 1) high diversity and aesthetic appeal of natural landscapes;
• 2) rich recreational resources;
• 3) unique flora and fauna, the presence of a large number of relict species, as well as rare species listed in the international Red Book;
• 4) the presence of unique ecosystems;
• 5) favorable opportunities for observing wild animals and birds;
• 6) convenient location, well-developed transport network;
• 7) extensive tourist infrastructure - hotels, holiday homes, camp sites;
• 8) great interest in the development of the ecotourism industry and its support from the authorities, protected areas, commercial structures and the general public, who associate the prospects for economic development with tourism.

Lahemaa - a natural national park in Estonia, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, in the central part of the North Estonian lowland, an area of ​​64.9 thousand hectares. Formed in 1971

The name Lahemaa characterizes the local coastal landscape, where several bays are located between peninsulas extending far into the sea.

Along with the protection of natural ecological systems, the reserve has a general cultural significance and is intended to disseminate ecological and natural knowledge.

The landscape of Lahemaa is notable for its diversity: both dense virgin forests and swamps unaffected by land reclamation, as well as many traces of ancient agriculture and later manor culture, have been preserved here. Lahemaa National Park, more than other parks in Estonia, preserves the historical and cultural continuity. People have lived here continuously for 4000 years.

The predominant part of the national park is occupied by natural landscapes, whose appearance people should not change. Importance has an acquaintance with nature, the most common form of this can be considered educational trips with a leader or independently, as well as overcoming natural training trails. The objective of the national park in the field of culture is to preserve the archaic landscape and semi-natural communities, as well as to store and display numerous archaeological, ethnographic and architectural values.

The northern part of the park is characterized by rocky islands, bays, boulder fields with giant boulders, pine and spruce forests. In the central part there is a vast plain with alvars, waterfalls, karst fields, swamps. In the southern part there are many lakes, rivers with rapids and waterfalls.

Elk, wild boar, roe deer, lynx live in the forests; on reservoirs - waterfowl.

On the territory of the park there are monuments of architecture and culture (ancient settlements, burial grounds). There are cultural landscapes where economic activities (agriculture, fishing, forestry) are carried out in the interests of the park. Traditional crafts are preserved and maintained, individual villages and farms are taken under protection.

The rules of conduct in the national park are simple. We must follow the established signs and follow them. Excursions are educational and recreational in nature.

Lahemaa is an area where nature conservation runs parallel to everyday life and economic activity local residents. Traditional nature protection is combined here with the restoration of ancient architecture and furnishings. Tens of thousands of people visit the park every year, many of them get acquainted with this area for several days. Only the reserves are closed to visitors.

In Lahemaa National Park and the Viitna landscape area nearby, there are several study trails that are suitable for both children and the elderly. Usually the length of the educational trail is 3-5 kilometers (in some places up to 10 kilometers). In the areas where the trails pass, there are several observation platforms. In total, there are about two dozen such observation platforms on educational trails.

For health-improving rest, zones with a boarding house, a motel, a rest house are allocated.

Marked study trails:

• 1. Pikkjärve trail in Viitna. Starts from the northern shore of the lake. The length is 2.5 km.
• 2. Manor park in Palms. The length of the trail is 4 km.
• 3. Nature and culture trail in Altja. The length of the trail is 3 km.
• 4. Käsmu nature and culture trail. Starts at the end of the village at the parking area. The length of the trail is 3.5 km.
• 5. Mayakivi Trail on the Juminda Peninsula. It starts from the village of Virve. The length of the trail is 3 km.
• 6. Viru swamp. It starts at a distance of 1 km from the Tallinn-Narva highway on the right side of the road leading to Loksa. The length of the trail is 3.5 km.
• 7. Nature and culture trail in Muuksi. The length of the trail is 5 km.
• 8. Võsu-Oandu trail. The length of the trail is 9.5 km.
• 9. Kopra trail. The length of the trail is 4.7 km.

Vilsandi - the reserve was organized in 1058 as the Vaika reserve (Kingisepp district).

The area of ​​the reserve is 10689 hectares. It is located on more than 100 offshore rocky islands, which are dolomitized coral reefs of the warm Silurian Sea.

Vegetation is rather sparse, halophytes predominate.

The only habitat in Estonia for the Danish spoonfish. An important object of protection is a colony common eider(about 2000 birds). In addition to the eider, diving and real ducks, mergansers (large and long-tailed) and gray geese, mute swan, slender-billed murre, variegated tern, sandpiper and golden bee-eater nest in the reserve.

The scientific profile of the reserve is the development of protection methods and the study of the species composition, abundance and ecology of birds sea ​​islands as well as animals.

Analysis of visits to nature reserves on the example of Soomaa, Endla and Nigula In order to carry out this analysis, inquiries were made in order to obtain statistical data from various nature reserves in Estonia. Let us consider the dynamics of tourist visits using the Soomaa, Endla and Nigula nature reserves as an example.

Fig.2.

Soomaa. According to the Soomaa National Park, in 2005 the number of registered visitors was 8,980. Of these, 6,810 tourists were from Estonia, 2,170 were foreign tourists. Among foreign tourists, the largest number of tourists were from Germany (812), Finland (302), Great Britain (173), Sweden (96) and Holland (90). The maximum number of tourists was registered in 2004 - their number was 11,176 people. From figure 2 it can be seen that recent times the number of visitors has risen sharply. If in 1994 Soomaa was visited by 80 tourists, then for the last 7 years the average annual number of tourists is 9,518.

Solve the examples and determine which numbers should replace the asterisks.

*** - probably disappeared(found in nature has not been confirmed in the last 50 years).

*** - endangered(the number of individuals has decreased to a critical level or the number of their locations has been reduced so much that they may disappear in the near future).

*** - declining in numbers and/or distribution.

*** - rare(natural low abundance, found in a limited area).

*** - indeterminate status(belong to one of the previous categories, but there is not enough information about their state in nature at the present time).

*** - recoverable and recoverable(the number and area of ​​distribution have begun to recover and are approaching a state where they will not need special conservation and restoration measures).

What numbers should replace the asterisks?

A) 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 B) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

C) 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 D) 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25

The picture shows a national park in Estonia, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. It was founded on July 1, 1971 to protect the unique landscapes of the coast. This is the first national park in the USSR. There are many interesting objects here, it is a center of mass tourism and recreation.

To find out the name of this national park, write out the letters using the hint provided. BUT! Take not exactly the “indicated” letter, but the one next to it on the left.

27.08.2010 09:32

State flag of Estonia

The national flag of Estonia is also the national flag. It is a rectangle consisting of three equal horizontal colored stripes. Top band of blue color, middle - black and bottom - white color. The ratio of the width of the flag to its length is 7:11, the standard size of the flag is 105 by 165 centimeters.

For the first time, the blue-black-and-white flag was consecrated and blessed as the flag of the Estonian student society in Otepää on June 4, 1884. In the following decades, the blue-black-and-white flag became the Estonian national flag. The first decree on the Estonian national flag was adopted by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Estonia on November 21, 1918. In June 1922, the Riigikogu officially approved the blue-black-and-white flag as the state flag. After the forcible annexation of the Republic of Estonia to Soviet Union in 1940, the use of the former flag was banned.

The Estonian national colors reappeared openly in 1987-1988, when the movement for the liberation and restoration of Estonian independence began. The tricolor was again raised over the Long German tower on February 24, 1989, and by a law adopted in August 1990, it was decided to start using the blue-black-and-white flag as the state flag again. The Estonian Flag Law was promulgated on April 5, 2005.

State Emblem of Estonia

The national emblem of Estonia exists in two formats: the large national emblem (pictured) and the small national emblem. The large state emblem on a golden shield depicts three blue lions marching with their eyes fixed on the viewer (passant gardant). On the sides and bottom, the shield is bordered by a wreath of two crossed oak branches of golden color, crossing at the bottom of the shield. The small coat of arms is identical, but there are no oak branches on it.

The motif of the Estonian state emblem dates back to the 13th century, when the Danish king Valdemar II granted the city of Tallinn a coat of arms with three lions, similar to the coat of arms of the Danish kingdom. The same motif was later transferred to the coat of arms of the Estland province, approved by Empress Catherine II on October 4, 1788.

The Riigikogu approved the Estonian national emblem on June 19, 1925. After the forced annexation of the Republic of Estonia to the Soviet Union in 1940, the use of the former emblem was prohibited. The historical coat of arms of the Estonian state was again accepted for use on August 7, 1990. The Law on the State Emblem was promulgated on July 3, 2001.

National anthem of Estonia

Estonian national anthem, MP3 (3.2 MB; 256kbps)
Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm ("Fatherland, my happiness and my joy") music - Fredrik Paciusslova - Johann Voldemar Jannsen

1. Fatherland, my happiness and joy,
How beautiful you are!
I will never find
all over the world,
what would be nicer than you
my motherland!

2. You gave me life,
and raised me!
I will forever be grateful to you
and faithful to the hour of death!
You are dearest to me
my dear motherland!

3. May the Lord keep you,
my dear motherland!
May he be your intercessor
and bless you
in all your affairs,
my dear motherland!

The national anthem of the Republic of Estonia is the chorale "Fatherland, my happiness and my joy", created in 1848 by German-born Finnish composer Fredrik Pacius. The Estonian text was written by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. The work was first performed at the first Song Festival in 1869. The popularity of the melody grew along with the growth of the national movement and national consciousness. In Finland, at first it was a well-known student song, but soon it began to be performed in wider circles. When Estonia and Finland gained independence after the First World War, this melody became the national anthem in both countries, but played at different tempos and to different lyrics.

During the Soviet occupation of Estonia, this melody was strictly prohibited. The performance of the anthem entailed severe repression, but the melody was not forgotten. Together with the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991, the Estonian national anthem was again revived.