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69-503: He works in his atelier in Tartu, but has a gallery in Tallinn . Navitrolla's uncle is philosopher of science Enn Kasak . This Estonian biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tallinn Tallinn ( / ˈ t æ l ɪ n / ) is the capital and most populous city of Estonia . Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of

138-597: A first layer of argillite followed by first layer of sandstone and siltstone and then another layer of argillite also followed by sandstone and siltstone. In other places of the city, hard sedimentary rock is only to be found beneath Quaternary sediments at depths reaching as much as 120 m below sea level. Underlying the sedimentary rock are the rocks of the Fennoscandian Craton including gneisses and other metamorphic rocks with volcanic rock protoliths and rapakivi granites . These rocks are much older than

207-512: A historical derivation of Taani-linna , meaning "Danish-castle" ( Latin : Castrum Danorum ), conceivably because the Danish invaders built the castle in place of the Estonian stronghold after the 1219 battle of Lyndanisse. The Icelandic Njal's saga —composed after 1270, but describing events between 960 and 1020—mentions an event that occurred somewhere in the area of Tallinn and calls

276-466: A large castle" among the towns of 'Astlanda'. It has been suggested that one possible transcription, 'Qlwn', may have denoted a predecessor of the modern city and may somehow be related to a toponym Kolyvan , which has been discovered from later East Slavic chronicles. However, a number of historians have considered connecting any of al-Idrisi's placenames with modern Tallinn erroneous, unfounded, or speculative. The first archaeological traces of

345-592: A mercantile and military alliance of German-dominated cities in Northern Europe. The king of Denmark sold Reval along with other land possessions in northern Estonia to the Teutonic Knights in 1346. Reval was arguably the most significant medieval port in the Gulf of Finland. Reval enjoyed a strategic position at the crossroads of trade between the rest of western Europe and Novgorod and Muscovy in

414-873: A permanent camp on the Isle of Sheppey in south east England and settling followed from 865, when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless wintered in East Anglia . Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria in 867 and York as well. Danelaw – a special rule of law – was soon established in the settled areas and shaped the local cultures there for centuries. Cultural remains are still noticeable today. The Danes first arrived in Ireland in 795 CE, at Rathlin Island , initiating subsequent raids and fortified trade settlements, so called longphorts . During

483-418: A small hunter-fisherman community's presence in what is now Tallinn's city centre are about 5,000 years old. The comb ceramic pottery found on the site dates to about 3000 BCE and corded ware pottery to around 2500 BCE. Around 1050 AD, a fortress was built in what is now central Tallinn, on the hill of Toompea . As an important port on a major trade route between Novgorod and western Europe, it became

552-588: A target for the expansion of the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Denmark during the period of Northern Crusades in the beginning of the 13th century when Christianity was forcibly imposed on the local population. Danish rule of Tallinn and northern Estonia started in 1219. In 1285, Tallinn, then known more widely as Reval, became the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League  –

621-1187: A year. Snowfall is common during the winters, which are cloudy and characterised by low amounts of sunshine, ranging from only 20.7 hours of sunshine per month in December to 58.8 hours in February. At the winter solstice , daylight lasts for less than 6 hours and 5 minutes. Spring starts out cool, with freezing temperatures common in March and April, but gradually becomes warmer and sunnier in May, when daytime temperatures average 15.4 °C (59.7 °F), although nighttime temperatures still remain cool, averaging −3.7 to 5.2 °C (25.3 to 41.4 °F) from March to May. In early spring, freezing temperatures are common in March and snowfall can occur in April. Summers are warm with daytime temperatures hovering around 19.2 to 22.2 °C (66.6 to 72.0 °F) and nighttime temperatures averaging between 9.8 to 13.1 °C (49.6 to 55.6 °F) from June to August. The warmest month

690-410: Is appointed by the city government. The function of the "district governments", however, is not directly governing, but just limited to providing advice to the city government and the city council on issues related to the administration of respective districts. The districts are administratively further divided into 84 asum (subdistricts or "neighbourhoods" with officially defined borders). The city

759-530: Is governed by the Tallinn City Council which consists of 79 members elected to four year terms via party list. The mayor is elected by the city council. The population of Tallinn on 1 January 2024 was 457,572. It is the primate and most populous city in Estonia, the 3rd most populous city in the three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), as well as the 59th most populous city in

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828-547: Is home to the headquarters of the European Union 's IT agency, and to the NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence . In 2007, Tallinn was listed among the top-10 digital cities in the world, and in 2022, Tallinn was listed among the top-10 "medium-sized European cities of the future". The name Tallinn(a) Estonian: [ˈtɑlʲːinː] is Estonian . It has been widely considered

897-421: Is mainly due to the location between a more maritime and a more continental climate and the variation in the duration of sunshine as a consequence of its high latitude. Riga and Helsinki took second and third places. . Tallinn is subdivided into eight administrative linnaosa (districts). Each district has a linnaosa valitsus (district government) which is managed by a linnaosavanem (district elder) who

966-509: Is situated on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland , in north-western Estonia. The largest lake in Tallinn is Lake Ülemiste (9.44 km (3.6 sq mi)), which serves as the main source of the city's drinking water. Lake Harku is the second-largest lake within the borders of Tallinn and its area is 1.6 km (0.6 sq mi). The only significant river in Tallinn nowadays

1035-491: Is the Pirita river, in the eponymous Pirita city district. Historically, a smaller river, called Härjapea , flowed from Lake Ülemiste through the town into the sea, but the river was diverted into underground sewerage system in the 1930s and has since completely disappeared from the cityscape. References to it still remain in the street names Jõe (from jõgi , river) and Kivisilla (from kivi sild , stone bridge). The length of

1104-575: Is the only regulated exchange in Estonia. Port of Tallinn is one of the biggest ports in the Baltic sea region, whereas the largest cargo port of Estonia, the Port of Muuga , which is operated by the same business entity, is located in the neighboring town of Maardu . Old City Harbour has been known as a convenient harbour since the medieval times, but nowadays the cargo operations are shifted to Muuga Cargo Port and Paldiski South Harbour . As of 2010, there

1173-424: Is to this day, the most populous district of Tallinn. The official language of Tallinn is Estonian. As of 2011, 50.1% of the city's residents were native speakers of Estonian, whereas 46.7% had Russian as their first language . While English is the most frequently used foreign language by the residents of Tallinn, there are also a significant number of native speakers of Ukrainian and Finnish . The pie chart to

1242-673: Is usually July, with an average of 17.6 °C (63.7 °F). During summer, partly cloudy or clear days are common and it is the sunniest season, ranging from 255.6 hours of sunshine in August to 312.1 hours in July although precipitation is higher during these months. At the summer solstice , daylight lasts for more than 18 hours and 40 minutes. Autumn starts out mild, with a September average daily mean of 12.0 °C (53.6 °F) and increasingly becomes cooler and cloudier in November. In

1311-582: The Governorate of Estonia . The Magistracy of Reval was abolished in 1889. The 19th century brought industrialisation of the city and the port kept its importance. On 24 February 1918, the Estonian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Tallinn. It was followed by Imperial German occupation until the end of World War I in November 1918, after which Tallinn became the capital of independent Estonia. During World War II , Estonia

1380-714: The Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea , Tallinn has a population of about 457,000 (as of 2024) and administratively lies in the Harju maakond (county). Tallinn is the main governmental, financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located 187 km (116 mi) northwest of the country's second largest city, Tartu ; however, only 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki , Finland , also 320 km (200 mi) west of Saint Petersburg , Russia , 300 km (190 mi) north of Riga , Latvia , and 380 km (240 mi) east of Stockholm , Sweden . From

1449-651: The Loire Valley on larger raid expeditions. Many large scale raids followed all across the coasts and in-land rivers of Western Europe in subsequent decades. In the beginning of the 900s, Vikings had established an encampment and base in the lower parts of the Seine river around Rouen . In an effort to stop or reduce the relentless raids, Charles the Simple made a treaty in Saint-Clair-sur-Epte with

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1518-548: The Norse religion . Around 500 CE, many of the gods of the Norse pantheon had lost their previous significance, except a few such as Thor , Odin and Frey who were increasingly worshipped. During the 10th century of the late Viking Age, the Danes officially adopted Christianity , as evidenced by several rune stones, documents and church buildings. The new Christian influences also show in their art, jewellery and burial practices of

1587-484: The Papal -sanctioned Livonian Crusade in the 13th century. The first recorded claim over the place was laid by Denmark after a successful raid in 1219 led by King Valdemar II , followed by a period of alternating Scandinavian and Teutonic rulers. Due to the strategic location by the sea, its medieval port became a significant trade hub , especially in the 14–16th centuries, when Tallinn grew in importance as

1656-861: The Viking Age . They founded what became the Kingdom of Denmark . The name of their realm is believed to mean " Danish March ", viz. "the march of the Danes", in Old Norse , referring to their southern border zone between the Eider and Schlei rivers, known as the Danevirke . The origin of the Danes remains undetermined, but several ancient historical documents and texts refer to them and archaeology has revealed and continues to reveal insights into their culture, cultural beliefs, beliefs organization and way of life. The Danes first appear in written history in

1725-514: The 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical name Reval . Tallinn received Lübeck city rights in 1248; however, the earliest evidence of human population in the area dates back nearly 5,000 years. The medieval indigenous population of what is now Tallinn and north Estonia was one of the last " pagan " civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following

1794-651: The 6th century with references in Jordanes' Getica (551 CE), by Procopius , and by Gregory of Tours . In his description of Scandza , Jordanes says that the Dani were of the same stock as the Suetidi ("Swedes") and expelled the Heruli and took their lands. The Old English poems Widsith and Beowulf , as well as works by later Scandinavian writers (notably by Saxo Grammaticus ( c. 1200)), provide some of

1863-754: The Baltic Sea". One of Tallinn's sister cities is the Silicon Valley town of Los Gatos, California . Skype is one of the best-known of several Estonian start-ups originating from Tallinn. Many start-ups have originated from the Institute of Cybernetics . In recent years, Tallinn has gradually been becoming one of the main IT centres of Europe, with the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE) of NATO , eu-LISA ,

1932-662: The Danelaw in England and countryside and newly established towns in Ireland, the Netherlands and northern France. In the early 11th century, King Cnut the Great (died 1035) ruled the extensive North Sea Empire for nearly 20 years, consisting of Denmark, England, Norway, southern Sweden and parts of northern Germany. During the 10th century the royal seat of the Danes was moved from Lejre to Jelling in central Jutland, marking

2001-534: The Danes in the Iron Age. There are several archaeological artefacts in and from Denmark however, made as early as the 500s, depicting Daniel among the lions, so the Danes must have had some knowledge of and influence from Arian cultures. In the Nordic Iron Age, the Danes were based in present-day Zealand and Scania (and neighbouring parts of present-day Sweden). Until around the 6th century, Jutland

2070-477: The EU Digital Agency and the IT development centres of large corporations, such as TeliaSonera and Kuehne + Nagel being based in the city. Tallinn receives 4.3 million visitors annually, a figure that has grown steadily over the past decade. The Finns are especially a common sight in Tallinn; on average, about 20,000–40,000 Finnish tourists visit the city between June and October. Most of

2139-675: The European Union. According to Eurostat , in 2004, Tallinn had one of the largest number of non-EU nationals of all EU member states' capital cities. Ethnic Russians are a significant minority in Tallinn, as around a third of the city's residents are first and second generation immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union; a majority of the Soviet-era immigrants now hold Estonian citizenship. Ethnic Estonians made up over 80% of Tallinn's population before World War II. As of 2022, ethnic Estonians made up over 53% of

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2208-522: The Faroe Islands. Like previous and contemporary people of Scandinavia, the Danes used runes for writing, but did not write much apparently, as they have left no literary legacy except for occasional rune stones and carvings in wood and various items like weapons, utensils and jewellery. As previous and contemporary peoples of Scandinavia (the Vikings), the tribal Danes were practitioners of

2277-849: The German retreat in September 1944, the city was occupied again by the Soviet Union . During the 1980 Summer Olympics , the sailing (then known as yachting) events were held at Pirita , north-east of central Tallinn. Many buildings, such as the Tallinn TV Tower , "Olümpia" hotel, the new Main Post Office building, and the Regatta Centre, were built for the Olympics. In 1991, the independent democratic Estonian nation

2346-516: The Quaternary deposits are valuable as they constitute aquifers , or as in the case of gravels and sands, are used as construction materials. The Quaternary deposits are the fill of valleys that are now buried. The buried valleys of Tallinn are carved into older rock likely by ancient rivers to be later modified by glaciers. While the valley fill is made up of Quaternary sediments the valleys themselves originated from erosion that took place before

2415-488: The Quaternary. The substrate into which the buried valleys were carved is made up of hard sedimentary rock of Ediacaran , Cambrian and Ordovician age. Only the upper layer of Ordovician rocks protrudes from the cover of younger deposits, cropping out in the Baltic Klint at the coast and at a few places inland. The Ordovician rocks are made up from top to bottom of a thick layer of limestone and marlstone , then

2484-524: The Russian analog Revel ( Ревель ) were all gradually replaced by the Estonian name after the country became independent in 1918. At first, both Estonian forms, Tallinna and Tallinn , were used. Tallinna in Estonian denotes also the genitive case of the name, as in Tallinna Sadam ('the Port of Tallinn '). Henry of Livonia , in his chronicle ( c.  1229 ), called the town with

2553-583: The Viking Age, they established many coastal towns including Dublin (Dyflin), Cork , Waterford (Veðrafjǫrðr) and Limerick (Hlymrekr) and Danish settlers followed. There were many small skirmishes and larger battles with the native Irish clans in the following two centuries, with the Danes sometimes siding with allied clans. In 1014 CE, at the Battle of Clontarf , the Vikings were eventually defeated and

2622-422: The award was received on false promises since it won the title with its " 15-minute city " concept, according to which key facilities and services should be accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride but the concept was left out of the green capital program and other parts of the 12 million euro program amount to a collection of temporary and one-off projects without any structural and lasting changes. Tallinn

2691-630: The city. In the early years of the Protestant Reformation , the city converted to Lutheranism . In 1561, Reval (Tallinn) became a dominion of Sweden. During the 1700–1721 Great Northern War , plague - stricken Tallinn along with Swedish Estonia and Livonia capitulated to Tsardom of Russia (Muscovy) in 1710, but the local self-government institutions ( Magistracy of Reval and Estonian Knighthood ) retained their cultural and economical autonomy within Imperial Russia as

2760-477: The city. It can be seen at Toompea, Lasnamäe , and Astangu . However, the hill at Toompea is not geologically part of the larger limestone cliff. The rocks and sediments underneath Tallinn are of different composition and age. Youngest are the Quaternary deposits. The materials of these deposits are till , varved clay , sand, gravel, and pebbles that are of glacial , marine and lacustrine origin. Some of

2829-529: The coast of Aquitaine . Several other smaller skirmishes with aggressive Vikings from primarily Danish territory have been recorded, including the first raid on the Seine in 820, but it was not until the year 834 before Viking activity in France took off on a grand scale. In that year, Danes established a lasting base on Noirmoutier island, a central spot for the European salt trade at the time, and poured into

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2898-512: The country's largest private energy company, Alexela Group , all have their headquarters in Tallinn. Tallinn is the financial centre of Estonia and also an important economic centre in the Baltoscandian region. Many major banks, such as SEB , Swedbank , and Nordea , have their local offices in Tallinn. LHV Pank , an Estonian investment bank, has its corporate headquarters in Tallinn. Tallinn Stock Exchange , part of NASDAQ OMX Group ,

2967-478: The driest months, averaging about 35 to 37 mm (1.4 to 1.5 in), while July and August are the wettest months with 82 to 85 mm (3.2 to 3.3 in) of precipitation. The average humidity is 81%, ranging from a high of 89% to a low of 69% in May. Tallinn has an average windspeed of 3.3 m/s (11 ft/s) with winters being the windiest (around 3.7 m/s (12 ft/s) in January) and summers being

3036-459: The early parts of autumn, temperatures commonly reach 16.1 °C (61.0 °F) and at least one day above 21 °C (70 °F) in September. In late autumn, snowfall can occur in October and freezing temperatures become more common in November. Tallinn receives 700 mm (28 in) of precipitation annually, which is evenly distributed throughout the year although March, April and May are

3105-470: The east. The city, with a population of about 8,000, was very well fortified with city walls and 66 defence towers . The city wall has been described as an outstanding example of German Medieval fortification architecture. A weather vane , the figure of an old warrior called Old Thomas , was put on top of the spire of the Tallinn Town Hall in 1530. Old Thomas later became a popular symbol of

3174-526: The end of the 20th century. It features film and hands-on displays that show how Estonian dwellers lived and survived. Danes (Germanic tribe) The Danes are a North Germanic tribe inhabiting southern Scandinavia , including the area now comprising Denmark proper, northern and eastern England , and the Scanian provinces of modern-day southern Sweden, during the Nordic Iron Age and

3243-629: The first written accounts of Denmark's history, and hence the Danes, his sources are largely surviving legends, folk lore and word of mouth. The royal seat and capital of the Danes was located on Zealand near Lejre and constituted what has later been dubbed the Lejre Kingdom, ruled by the Skjöldung dynasty. Some time around the middle of the First Millennium , both Jutland and Angeln became part of Danish kingdom or kingdoms. So

3312-463: The foundation and consolidation of the Kingdom of Denmark. In the British Isles , Danes landed three Viking ships at the isle of Portland, Dorset in 786 CE, where they met and killed a local reeve and his men. In 793 CE, a Viking raid and plunder of the monastery at Lindisfarne took place, but no further activity in England followed until 835 CE. In that year, the Danes raided and built

3381-463: The largest settlement in Scandinavia and remained so until its eventual destruction in the later half of the 11th century. From around 800 CE, the Danes began a long era of well-organised raids across the coasts and rivers of Europe. Some of the raids were followed by a gradual succession of Danish settlers and during this epoch, large areas outside Scandinavia were settled by the Danes, including

3450-404: The late Viking Age, but the transition was not rapid and definitive and older customs from the Norse religion remained to be practised to various degrees. Some sources, such as the Beowulf , point to a very early Arianism in Denmark, but it has been a matter of intense academic debate for many years whether these sources reflect later adjustments or an actual early Germanic Christianity among

3519-408: The least windy at around 2.7 m/s (8.9 ft/s) in August. Extremes range from −32.2 °C (−26.0 °F) on 31 December 1978 to 34.3 °C (93.7 °F) on 30 July 1994. According to a 2021 study commissioned by the British price comparison site Uswitch.com, Tallinn is the most unpredictable of European capitals in terms of weather conditions, with a total score of 69/100; the high score

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3588-486: The maker of the internationally-known Vana Tallinn liqueur, is similarly based in Tallinn. The headquarters of Kalev , a confectionery company and part of the industrial conglomerate Orkla Group , is located in Lehmja , near the city's southeastern boundary. Estonia is ranked third in Europe in terms of shopping centre space per inhabitant, ahead of Sweden and being surpassed only by Norway and Luxembourg . Institutions of higher education and science include: Tallinn

3657-488: The name that is also known to have been used up to the 13th century by Scandinavians: Lindanisa (or Lyndanisse in Danish , Lindanäs in Swedish and Ledenets in Old East Slavic ). In 1154, a town called قلون ( Qlwn or Quwri ) was recorded in the description of the world on the world map ( Tabula Rogeriana ) commissioned by the Norman King Roger II of Sicily and compiled by Arab cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi , who described it as "a small town like

3726-419: The northernmost member city of the Hanseatic League . Tallinn Old Town is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In 2012, Tallinn had the highest number of startup companies per person among all capitals and larger cities in Europe. Tallinn is the birthplace of many international high-technology companies, including Skype and Wise . The city

3795-403: The original written references to the Danes. According to the 12th-century author Sven Aggesen , the mythical King Dan gave his name to the Danes. The Danes spoke Proto-Norse which gradually evolved into the Old Norse language by the beginning of the Viking Age . They spoke dǫnsk tunga (Danish tongue), which the Danes shared with the people in Norway and Sweden and later in Iceland and

3864-478: The place Rafala (probably a derivation of Rävala , Revala , or some other variant of the Estonian name of the adjacent medieval Estonian county ). Soon after the Danish conquest in 1219, the town became known in the Scandinavian and German languages as Reval ( Latin : Revalia ). Reval was in official use in Estonia until 1918. In international use, the English and German-language ( Reval ; German: [ˈʁeːval] ) as well as

3933-522: The population. Tallinn was one of the urban areas with industrial and military significance in northern Estonia that during the period of Soviet occupation underwent extensive changes in its ethnic composition due to large influx of immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former USSR. Whole new city districts were built where the main intent of the then Soviet authorities was to accommodate Russian-speaking immigrants: Mustamäe, Väike-Õismäe, Pelguranna, and most notably, Lasnamäe, which in 1980s became, and

4002-408: The remaining Danish settlers gradually assimilated with the Irish population. The first Vikings appeared in Frisia , now part of the Netherlands and Germany, in 800 CE, when Danes plundered coastal settlements and later the trade town of Dorestad became a frequent target of raids. During this time, Frisia was ruled by the Franks and in the mid-9th century, the Danish chieftain of Roric received

4071-667: The rest ( Paleoproterozoic age) and do not crop out anywhere in Estonia. Tallinn has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfb ) with warm, rainy summers and cold, snowy winters. Winters are cold, but mild for its latitude, owing to its coastal location. The average temperature in February, the coldest month, is −3.6 °C (25.5 °F). During the winters, temperatures tend to hover close to freezing, but mild spells of weather can push temperatures above 0 °C (32 °F), occasionally reaching above 5 °C (41 °F) while cold air masses can push temperatures below −18 °C (0 °F) an average of 6 days

4140-598: The right shows the distribution of religion in Tallinn as of 2021. Religion in Tallinn (2021) [1] Tallinn has a highly diversified economy with particular strengths in information technology, tourism and logistics. More than half of Estonia's GDP is created in Tallinn. In 2008, the GDP per capita of Tallinn stood at 172% of the Estonian average. In addition to longtime functions as seaport and capital city, Tallinn has seen development of an information technology sector; in its 13 December 2005, edition, The New York Times characterised Estonia as "a sort of Silicon Valley on

4209-419: The seaside coast is 46 km (29 mi), comprising three larger ( Kopli , Paljassaare , and Kakumäe ) peninsulas . The city has a number of public beaches, including those at Pirita, Stroomi, Kakumäe, Harku, and Pikakari. The highest point in Tallinn, at 64 m (about 200 ft) above sea level, is situated in Hiiu , Nõmme District, in the south-west of the city. A large limestone cliff runs through

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4278-433: The visitors come from Europe, though Tallinn has also become increasingly visited by tourists from the Asia-Pacific region. Tallinn Passenger Port is one of the busiest cruise destinations on the Baltic Sea, it served more than 520,000 cruise passengers in 2013. The state-owned energy company Eesti Energia , the nationwide electric power transmission system operator Elering , the natural gas distributor Eesti Gaas , and

4347-402: The western parts of the Netherlands as a fief and established here. The Danes were probably involved in Frisia much earlier as Gregory of Tours (c. 538–594 CE) mentions a Danish king Chlochilaichus who was killed there while invading Frankish territory in the early 6th century. The first known Viking raid in what now constitutes France, commenced in 799, when an attack was fought off on

4416-461: Was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku , Finland. Tallinn is home to more than 60 museums and galleries. Most of them are located in Kesklinn , the central district of the city, and cover Tallinn's rich history. One of the most visited historical museums in Tallinn is the Estonian History Museum , located in Great Guild Hall at Vanalinn , the old part of the city. It covers Estonia's history from prehistoric times up until

4485-497: Was first occupied by the Soviet army and annexed into the USSR in the summer of 1940, then occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. During the German occupation Tallinn suffered from many instances of aerial bombing by the Soviet air force . During the most destructive Soviet bombing raid on 9–10 March 1944 , over a thousand incendiary bombs were dropped on the town, causing widespread fires, killing 757 people, and leaving over 20,000 residents of Tallinn without shelter. After

4554-554: Was restored and a period of quick development as a modern European capital ensued. Tallinn became the capital of a de facto independent country once again on 20 August 1991. The Old Town became a World Heritage Site in 1997, and the city hosted the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest . Tallinn was the 2011 European Capital of Culture , and is the recipient of the 2023 European Green Capital Award . The city has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and takes pride in its biodiversity and high air quality. But critics say that

4623-492: Was southern Schleswig (now the northernmost part of Germany) – the site of Danevirke , a large set of fortifications reportedly built by Danes to mark the southern border of their realm. It was extended several times in later centuries. Beginning in the 8th century, the Danes initiated the construction of trading towns across their realm, including Hedeby , Ribe , Aarhus and Viborg and expanded existing settlements such as Odense and Aalborg . Hedeby quickly grew to become

4692-452: Was still a small fleet of oceangoing trawlers that operated out of Tallinn. Tallinn's industries include shipbuilding, machine building, metal processing, electronics, textile manufacturing. BLRT Grupp has its headquarters and some subsidiaries in Tallinn. Air Maintenance Estonia and AS Panaviatic Maintenance , both based in Tallinn Airport, provide MRO services for aircraft, largely expanding their operations in recent years. Liviko ,

4761-459: Was the homeland of two other Germanic tribes: the Jutes in what is now North Jutland, and the Angles in South Jutland (especially Angeln ). The Widsith mentions two semi-mythical kings in relation to the Danes of the Iron Age. Sigar who ruled the "Sea-Danes" and Offa who ruled both Danes and Angles . Centuries later, Saxo lists for the first time the Danes entire lineage of semi-mythical kings, starting from King Dan. As Saxo's texts are

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