The Republic of Estonia lies on the shores of the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 45 228 km2 and a population of 1 356 000 (as of 1 January 2003). Thanks to its geographical location, Estonia forms an important link between east and west. In the east, Estonia's frontier with the Russian Federation runs through Lake Peipsi. To the north and west, Estonia borders on the Baltic Sea, and in the south on the Republic of Latvia. The main landscape regions of Estonia are the North Estonian Plateau, the West Estonian Lowland, the Central Estonian Plain, and the Sakala, Otepää and Haanja Uplands in the south.
Estonia´s history is full of battles, first against the Danes, thereafter against the Teutonic Knights, the Poles, the Swedes and the Russians, who all by turns ruled the country for many centuries. Estonia was declared a Republic in 1918. In 1940, Estonia was incorporated into the former Soviet Union and was part of it until 1991, when it regained its independence in August of that year. According to the Constitution adopted by the referendum on 28 June 1992 Estonia is a unitary state.
Furthermore, the Territory of Estonia Administrative Division Act states that the administrative units of Estonia´s territory are at county, city and rural municipality level. The Republic of Estonia consists of 15 counties with 39 cities and 202 rural municipalities (as of 1 January 2003). The present administrative units were established during the administrative reforms of 1990. The state administration on the regional level is carried out by county governments, while local administration in cities and rural municipalities is handled by local authorities.
Estonia´s administrative division has undergone changes, some cities and rural municipalities have united. In this publication, the five regions of Estonia are purely statistical regions and not administrative ones.
Since the country regained independence, life in Estonia has undergone substantial changes. The former links with the East are quite weak now. The transition from a centrally planned to a market economy caused the closing or restructuring of many big industries on the one hand and the emergence of numerous new enterprises on the other. The most striking feature of Estonia´s regional development is the rapid development of the capital Tallinn in comparison with the rest of Estonia. This difference in development has become more pronounced in recent years, with Tallinn continuously attracting more foreign capital, investment, and tourists than other areas of Estonia. Banks, light industry, trade, and other service industries are concentrated here.
