Portal:Estonia/Featured article/2006 archive
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This is an archive of article summaries that have appeared in the Selected article section of Portal:Estonia in 2006. For past archives, see the complete archive page.
The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Öresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt. The Kattegat continues through the Skagerrak into the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Baltic Sea is linked to the White Sea by the White Sea Canal and to the North Sea by the Kiel Canal.
The origin of the name is speculative. The first to mention "Mare Balticum" was Adam of Bremen in the 11th century. He may have alluded to the mythical North European island of Baltia mentioned by Xenophon. Another possibly is connected to the Germanic word belt, a name used for some of the Danish straits, while others claim it to be derived from Latin balteus (belt).
The Baltic sea is about 1610 km (1000 miles) long, an average of 193 km (120 mi) wide, and an average of 55 m (180 ft, 30 fathoms) deep. The maximum depth is 459 m (1506 ft), on the Swedish side of the center. The surface area is about 377,000 km² (145,522 sq mi) and the volume is about 21,000 cubic km (3129 cubic miles). The periphery amounts to about 8000 km (4968 miles) of coastline.
Tallinn (recent historical name: Reval) is the capital city and main seaport of Estonia. It is located on Estonia's north coast to the Baltic Sea, 80 kilometres south of Helsinki. Already in 1154 Tallinn was marked on the world map of the Arab cartographer al-Idrisi.
The largest lake in Tallinn is Lake Ülemiste (covers 9,6 km²). It is the main source of the city's drinking water. Unlike many of the large towns, the only significant river in Tallinn is located in Pirita (city district counted as a suburb). The river valley is a protected area because of its natural beauty. During the 1980 Summer Olympics a regatta was held at Pirita. Many buildings, like the hotel "Olümpia", the new Main Post Office building, and the Regatta Center, were built for the Olympics.
The main attractions are in the two old towns (Lower Town and Toompea) which are both easily explored on foot. Toompea was once the home of the nobility and bishops of Estonia, occupying an easily defensible site overlooking the surrounding districts. The major attractions are the walls and various bastions, the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (built during the period of Russification by the Tsarist Russian government) and the Lutheran Cathedral (Toomkirik).
The Great Northern War was the war fought between a coalition of Russia, Denmark-Norway, and Saxony-Poland (from 1715 also Prussia and Hanover) on one side and Sweden with some help from the Ottoman Empire on the other side from 1700 to 1721. It started by a coordinated attack on Sweden by the coalition in 1700, and ended in 1721 with the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystad, and the Stockholm treaties. A result of the war was the end of the Swedish Empire. Russia supplanted Sweden as the dominant Power on the Baltic Sea and became a major player in European politics.
Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the folk heritage of Estonians.
Not much is known about authentic pre-Christian Estonian mythology, as it was a purely oral tradition and systematic recording of folk heritage started in only in the 19th century, by which time the old myths were all but extinct.
One should also have in mind that in the different development stages of the Estonian mythology it would be more correct to talk about Baltic-Finnic or even Finno-Ugric mythology. The social organization of these tribes was rather homogenous; there was no organized religion, no professional priests, no scripture and indeed no written tradition at all. Similarly there was no complex pantheon or advanced system of myths.
This was perceived as a shortcoming by 19th century Estonian and Baltic-German literati who started to create a "proper" mythological basis for an emerging nation, following the Herderian lines of national romanticism. Today it is difficult to tell how much of Estonian mythology as we know it today was actually constructed in the 19th and early 20th century. One should also note that some constructed elements are loans from Finnish mythology and may date back to the common Baltic-Finnic heritage.
Tartu (historical name: Dorpat) is the second largest city of Estonia, with a population of 101,297 (as of 2004) and an area of 38.8 km². In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural centre, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, Tartu is the centre of Southern Estonia. The Emajõgi River, which connects the two largest lakes of Estonia, crosses the city for a length of 10 km.
Archaeological evidence of first permanent settlement on the site of modern Tartu dates to as early as the 5th century AD. By the 7th century, the local inhabitants had built a wooden fortification on the east side of Toome Hill (Toomemägi).
The first documented record of the place was made in 1030 by chroniclers of Kievan Rus. Yaroslav the Wise, Prince of Kiev, raided Tartu that year, built his own fort there, and named it Yuryev (literally "Yury's" - Yury being Yaroslav's Christian name). Kievan rulers then collected tribute from the surrounding ancient Estonian county of Ugaunia, possibly until 1061, when, according to chronicles, Yurev was burned down by another tribe of Chudes (Sosols).
