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125-559: 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 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
250-599: A loanword from the North Germanic languages ; " Skaði " is the jötunn stepmother of Freyr and Freyja in Norse mythology . It has been suggested that Skaði to some extent is modelled on a Sámi woman. The name for Skaði's father Þjazi is known in Sámi as Čáhci , "the waterman"; and her son with Odin, Sæmingr , can be interpreted as a descendant of Saam , the Sámi population. Older joik texts give evidence of
375-497: A monarch held his or her court, the selection, relocation, founding, or capture of a modern capital city is a highly symbolic event. For example: The capital city is usually but not always a primary target in a war, as capturing it usually guarantees capture of much of the enemy government, victory for the attacking forces, or at the very least demoralization for the defeated forces. In ancient China , where governments were massive centralized bureaucracies with little flexibility on
500-489: 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 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
625-666: A brief but disastrous war between Denmark and Prussia (supported by Austria). Schleswig-Holstein was conquered by Prussia and after Prussia's success in the Franco-Prussian War a Prussian-led German Empire was created and a new power -balance in the Baltic region was established. The Scandinavian Monetary Union , established in 1873, lasted until World War I . The term Scandinavia (sometimes specified in English as Continental Scandinavia or mainland Scandinavia )
750-445: A compromise between two or more cities or other political divisions, historical reasons, or enough land was needed to deliberately build a new planned city for the capital. The majority of national capitals are also the largest city in their respective countries. Modern examples are Beijing , Berlin , Cairo , London , Madrid , Mexico City , Moscow , Paris , Rome , Jakarta , Metro Manila , Seoul , and Tokyo . Counties in
875-597: 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
1000-470: A matter of convention, and because all or almost all the country's central political institutions, such as government departments, supreme court, legislature, embassies, etc., are located in or near them. Many modern capital cities are located near the centre of the country, so that they are more accessible to its population and have better protection from possible invasions. (See also § Capitals in military strategy ) The location may also be based on
1125-483: A modern and more inclusive demonym . In the ethnic or cultural sense the term Scandinavian traditionally refers to speakers of Scandinavian languages , who are mainly descendants of the peoples historically known as Norsemen , but also to some extent of immigrants and others who have been assimilated into that culture and language. In this sense the term refers primarily to native Danes , Norwegians and Swedes as well as descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as
1250-477: 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 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
1375-554: A territory: Plymouth in Montserrat . There are several countries where, for various reasons, the official capital and seat of government are separated: Some historical examples of similar arrangements, where the recognized capital was not the official seat of government: With the rise of the modern nation-state , the capital city has become a symbol for the state and its government , and imbued with political meaning. Unlike medieval capitals, which were declared wherever
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#17327660591841500-478: 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 a large castle" among the towns of 'Astlanda'. It has been suggested that one possible transcription, 'Qlwn', may have denoted
1625-583: A visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism. In a letter describing the poem to a friend, he wrote: "All at once I understood how related the Swedes, the Danes and the Norwegians are, and with this feeling I wrote the poem immediately after my return: 'We are one people, we are called Scandinavians! ' ". The influence of Scandinavism as a Scandinavist political movement peaked in
1750-1181: 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
1875-704: Is 38.0 °C in Målilla (Sweden). The coldest temperature ever recorded is −52.6 °C in Vuoggatjålme , Arjeplog (Sweden). The coldest month was February 1985 in Vittangi (Sweden) with a mean of −27.2 °C. Southwesterly winds further warmed by foehn wind can give warm temperatures in narrow Norwegian fjords in winter. Tafjord has recorded 17.9 °C in January and Sunndal 18.9 °C in February. The words Scandinavia and Scania ( Skåne ,
2000-584: Is Finnish (usually from the 3rd grade), while for Finnish-speakers it is Swedish (usually from the 3rd, 5th or 7th grade). Finnish speakers constitute a language minority in Sweden and Norway. Meänkieli and Kven are Finnish dialects spoken in Swedish Lapland and Norwegian Lapland . The Sámi languages are indigenous minority languages in Scandinavia. They belong to their own branch of
2125-522: Is a phonotactic structure of alien origin. Although the term Scandinavia used by Pliny the Elder probably originated in the ancient Germanic languages, the modern form Scandinavia does not descend directly from the ancient Germanic term. Rather the word was brought into use in Europe by scholars borrowing the term from ancient sources like Pliny, and was used vaguely for Scania and the southern region of
2250-500: Is a subregion of Northern Europe , with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. Scandinavia most commonly refers to Denmark , Norway , and Sweden . It can sometimes also refer to the Scandinavian Peninsula (which excludes Denmark but includes a part of northern Finland ). In English usage, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for Nordic countries . Iceland and
2375-407: Is also due to the fact that that Swedish was the dominant language when Finland was part of Sweden. Finnish-speakers had to learn Swedish in order to advance to higher positions. Swedish spoken in today's Finland includes a lot of words that are borrowed from Finnish, whereas the written language remains closer to that of Sweden. Finland is officially bilingual, with Finnish and Swedish having mostly
2500-409: 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
2625-585: Is based on the degree of mutual comprehensibility between the languages in the two branches. The populations of the Scandinavian countries, with common Scandinavian roots in language, can—at least with some training—understand each other's standard languages as they appear in print and are heard on radio and television. The reason Danish, Swedish and the two official written versions of Norwegian ( Nynorsk and Bokmål ) are traditionally viewed as different languages, rather than dialects of one common language,
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#17327660591842750-554: Is because they have two official written standards, in addition to the habit of strongly holding on to local dialects. The people of Stockholm , Sweden and Copenhagen , Denmark have the greatest difficulty in understanding other Scandinavian languages. In the Faroe Islands and Iceland, learning Danish is mandatory. This causes Faroese people as well as Icelandic people to become bilingual in two very distinct North Germanic languages, making it relatively easy for them to understand
2875-559: Is different from usage in the Scandinavian languages themselves (which use Scandinavia in the narrow meaning), and by the fact that the question of whether a country belongs to Scandinavia is politicised. People from the Nordic world beyond Norway, Denmark and Sweden may be offended at being either included in or excluded from the category of "Scandinavia". Nordic countries is used unambiguously for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, including their associated territories Greenland,
3000-529: 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
3125-418: 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 the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn
3250-418: 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
3375-471: Is ordinarily used locally for Denmark, Norway and Sweden as a subset of the Nordic countries (known in Norwegian, Danish , and Swedish as Norden ; Finnish : Pohjoismaat , Icelandic : Norðurlöndin , Faroese : Norðurlond ). However, in English usage, the term Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym or near-synonym for what are known locally as Nordic countries . Usage in English
3500-638: Is situated in Hiiu , Nõmme District, in the south-west of the city. A large limestone cliff runs through 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
3625-663: Is still a hotly debated issue, both in scholarly discussions and in the nationalistic discourse of various European countries. The form Scadinavia as the original home of the Langobards appears in Paul the Deacon ' Historia Langobardorum , but in other versions of Historia Langobardorum appear the forms Scadan , Scandanan , Scadanan and Scatenauge . Frankish sources used Sconaowe and Aethelweard , an Anglo-Saxon historian, used Scani . In Beowulf ,
3750-674: Is that each is a well-established standard language in its respective country. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have since medieval times been influenced to varying degrees by Middle Low German and standard German. That influence was due not only to proximity, but also to the rule of Denmark—and later Denmark-Norway—over the German-speaking region of Holstein, and to Sweden's close trade with the Hanseatic League . Norwegians are accustomed to variation and may perceive Danish and Swedish only as slightly more distant dialects. This
3875-582: Is the case with Nanjing by Shanghai , Quebec City by Montreal , and several US state capitals . The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its capital city, as occurred at Babylon and Cahokia . "Political nomadism" was practiced in ancient Near East to increase ties between the ruler and the subjects. Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no such legal designation, including Bern , Edinburgh , Lisbon , London , Paris , and Wellington . They are recognized as capitals as
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4000-574: 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
4125-423: 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
4250-667: 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
4375-541: Is usually not a separate national capital, but rather the capital city of one constituent nation will also be the capital of the state overall, such as London , which is the capital of England and of the United Kingdom. Similarly, each of the autonomous communities of Spain and regions of Italy has a capital city, such as Seville and Naples , while Madrid is the capital of the Community of Madrid and of
4500-523: The Byzantine capital, Constantinople , Byzantine forces were able to regroup in several provinces; provincial noblemen managed to reconquer the capital after 60 years and preserve the empire for another 200 years after that. The British forces sacked various American capitals repeatedly during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 , but American forces could still carry on fighting from
4625-556: 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 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
4750-518: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . A key ancient description of Scandinavia was provided by Pliny the Elder , though his mentions of Scatinavia and surrounding areas are not always easy to decipher. Writing in the capacity of a Roman admiral, he introduces the northern region by declaring to his Roman readers that there are 23 islands "Romanis armis cognitae" ("known to Roman arms") in this area. According to Pliny,
4875-632: 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 a historical derivation of Taani-linna , meaning "Danish-castle" ( Latin : Castrum Danorum ), conceivably because
5000-486: The Faroe Islands are sometimes included in Scandinavia for their ethnolinguistic relations with Sweden, Norway and Denmark. While Finland differs from other Nordic countries in this respect, some authors call it Scandinavian due to its economic and cultural similarities. The geography of the region is varied, from the Norwegian fjords in the west and Scandinavian mountains covering parts of Norway and Sweden, to
5125-413: 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 is home to the headquarters of
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5250-639: The Icelanders and the Faroese . The term is also used in this ethnic sense, to refer to the modern descendants of the Norse, in studies of linguistics and culture. Additionally the term Scandinavian is used demonymically to refer to all modern inhabitants or citizens of Scandinavian countries. Within Scandinavia the demonymic term primarily refers to inhabitants or citizens of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In English usage inhabitants or citizens of Iceland,
5375-695: The Kingdom of Spain as a whole and Rome is the capital of Italy and of the region of Lazio . In the Federal Republic of Germany , each of its constituent states (or Länder , plural of Land ) has its own capital city, such as Dresden , Wiesbaden , Mainz , Düsseldorf , Stuttgart , and Munich , as do all of the republics of the Russian Federation . The national capitals of Germany and Russia (the Stadtstaat of Berlin and
5500-573: The Republic and the Empire , and later as the centre of the Catholic Church . In several English-speaking states , the terms county town and county seat are also used in lower administrative divisions . In some unitary states , subnational capitals may be known as 'administrative centres'. The capital is often the largest city of its constituent, though not always . Historically,
5625-578: The Scandinavian Peninsula since prehistory—the North Germanic languages (Scandinavian languages) and the Uralic languages , Sámi and Finnish . Most people in Scandinavia today speak Scandinavian languages that evolved from Old Norse , originally spoken by ancient Germanic tribes in southern Scandinavia. The Continental Scandinavian languages— Danish , Norwegian and Swedish —form a dialect continuum and are considered mutually intelligible. The Insular Scandinavian languages— Faroese and Icelandic —on
5750-739: 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 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
5875-705: The Sámi people in northern Scandinavia. The North Germanic languages of Scandinavia are traditionally divided into an East Scandinavian branch (Danish and Swedish) and a West Scandinavian branch (Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese), but because of changes appearing in the languages since 1600 the East Scandinavian and West Scandinavian branches are now usually reconfigured into Insular Scandinavian ( ö-nordisk / øy-nordisk ) featuring Icelandic and Faroese and Continental Scandinavian ( Skandinavisk ), comprising Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The modern division
6000-662: 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 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
6125-537: The United Kingdom have historic county towns, which are often not the largest settlement within the county and often are no longer administrative centres, as many historical counties are now only ceremonial, and administrative boundaries are different. The number of new capitals in the world increased substantially since the Renaissance period, especially with the founding of independent nation-states since
6250-431: The Uralic language family and are unrelated to the North Germanic languages other than by limited grammatical (particularly lexical) characteristics resulting from prolonged contact. Sámi is divided into several languages or dialects. Consonant gradation is a feature in both Finnish and northern Sámi dialects, but it is not present in southern Sámi, which is considered to have a different language history. According to
6375-462: The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Naypyidaw was founded in Burma 's interior as the former capital, Rangoon , was claimed to be overcrowded. A few nation-states have multiple capitals, and there are also several states that have no capital. Some have a city as the capital but with most government agencies elsewhere. There is also a ghost town which is currently the de jure capital of
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#17327660591846500-492: The federal city of Moscow ) are also constituent states of both countries in their own right. Each of the states of Austria and cantons of Switzerland also have their own capital cities. Vienna , the national capital of Austria , is also one of the states, while Bern is the ( de facto ) capital of both Switzerland and of the Canton of Bern . Governing entities sometimes plan, design and build new capital cities to house
6625-466: The "clarissima" ("most famous") of the region's islands is Scatinavia , of unknown size. There live the Hilleviones . The belief that Scandinavia was an island became widespread among classical authors during the 1st century and dominated descriptions of Scandinavia in classical texts during the centuries that followed. Pliny begins his description of the route to Scatinavia by referring to
6750-495: 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 – 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
6875-416: 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 the northernmost member city of
7000-513: 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 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,
7125-752: 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 ,
7250-572: 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 the Russian analog Revel ( Ревель ) were all gradually replaced by the Estonian name after
7375-473: 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
7500-674: 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
7625-523: The Faroe Islands and Finland are sometimes included as well. English general dictionaries often define the noun Scandinavian demonymically as meaning any inhabitant of Scandinavia (which might be narrowly conceived or broadly conceived). There is a certain ambiguity and political contestation as to which peoples should be referred to as Scandinavian in this broader sense. Sámi people who live in Norway and Sweden are generally included as Scandinavians in
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#17327660591847750-693: The Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands. The geological term Fennoscandia (sometimes Fennoscandinavia ) refers to the Fennoscandian Shield (or Baltic Shield ), which includes the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland and Karelia , and excludes Denmark and other parts of the wider Nordic world. The terms Fennoscandia and Fennoscandinavia are sometimes used in a political sense to refer to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. The term Scandinavian may be used with two principal meanings, in an ethnic or cultural sense and as
7875-416: The Finnish population. The coastal province of Ostrobothnia has a Swedish-speaking majority, whereas plenty of areas on this coastline are nearly unilingually Finnish, like the region of Satakunta . Åland, an autonomous province of Finland situated in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden, are entirely Swedish-speaking. Children are taught the other official language at school: for Swedish-speakers this
8000-457: 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
8125-427: 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
8250-446: The Russian Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 and Norway ( de jure in union with Denmark since 1387, although de facto treated as a province) becoming independent in 1814, but thereafter swiftly forced to accept a personal union with Sweden. The dependent territories Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, historically part of Norway, remained with Denmark in accordance with the Treaty of Kiel . Sweden and Norway were thus united under
8375-447: The Swedish king Gustav I led Sweden to independence. It also saw numerous wars between the nations, which shaped the modern borders. The most recent union was the union between Sweden and Norway , which ended in 1905. In modern times the region has prospered, with the economies of the countries being amongst the strongest in Europe. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Finland all maintain welfare systems considered to be generous, with
8500-485: The Swedish monarch, but Finland's inclusion in the Russian Empire excluded any possibility for a political union between Finland and any of the other Nordic countries. The end of the Scandinavian political movement came when Denmark was denied the military support promised from Sweden and Norway to annex the (Danish) Duchy of Schleswig , which together with the (German) Duchy of Holstein had been in personal union with Denmark. The Second war of Schleswig followed in 1864,
8625-533: The Sámi Information Centre of the Sámi Parliament of Sweden , southern Sámi may have originated in an earlier migration from the south into the Scandinavian Peninsula. German is a recognized minority language in Denmark. Recent migrations has added even more languages. Apart from the Sámi languages and the languages of minority groups speaking a variant of the majority language of a neighboring state, Yiddish , Romani Chib/Romanes, Scandoromani and Karelian are amongst those protected in parts of Scandinavia under
8750-483: 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 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 ,
8875-482: The capital has been changed for geopolitical reasons; Finland 's first city, Turku , which had served as the country's capital since the Middle Ages under the Swedish rule, lost its position during the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, when Helsinki was made the current capital of Finland by the Russian Empire. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal. Traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals as
9000-491: 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 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
9125-694: 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 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,
9250-512: 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 ,
9375-530: The countryside, where they enjoyed support from local governments and the traditionally independent civilian frontiersmen. Exceptions to these generalizations include highly centralized states such as France , whose centralized bureaucracies could effectively coordinate far-flung resources, giving the state a powerful advantage over less coherent rivals, but risking utter ruin if the capital were taken. Scandinavia Nordic territories that are not part of Scandinavia: Chronological history Scandinavia
9500-408: The demonymic sense; the Sámi of Finland may be included in English usage, but usually not in local usage; the Sámi of Russia are not included. However, the use of the term "Scandinavian" with reference to the Sámi is complicated by the historical attempts by Scandinavian majority peoples and governments in Norway and Sweden to assimilate the Sámi people into the Scandinavian culture and languages, making
9625-476: 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
9750-459: 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
9875-685: The economic and social policies of the countries being dubbed the " Nordic model ". The geography of Scandinavia is extremely varied. Notable are the Norwegian fjords , the Scandinavian Mountains covering much of Norway and parts of Sweden, the flat, low areas in Denmark and the archipelagos of Finland, Norway and Sweden. Finland and Sweden have many lakes and moraines , legacies of the ice age , which ended about ten millennia ago. The southern regions of Scandinavia, which are also
10000-484: The eighteenth century. In Canada , there is a federal capital , while the ten provinces and three territories each have capital cities. The states of such countries as Mexico , Brazil (including the famous cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo , capitals of their respective states), and Australia also each have capital cities. For example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide , Brisbane , Hobart , Melbourne , Perth , and Sydney . In Australia,
10125-412: The end of the 20th century. It features film and hands-on displays that show how Estonian dwellers lived and survived. Capital city A capital city or just capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country , state , province , department , or other subnational division , usually as its seat of the government . A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses
10250-627: 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 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
10375-546: The first Europeans to reach North America. These exploits saw the establishment of the North Sea Empire which comprised large parts of Scandinavia and Great Britain, though it was relatively short-lived. Scandinavia was eventually Christianized , and the coming centuries saw various unions of Scandinavian nations, most notably the Kalmar Union of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, which lasted for over 100 years until
10500-644: The forms Scedenige and Scedeland are used while the Alfredian translation of Orosius and Wulfstan 's travel accounts used the Old English Sconeg . The earliest Sámi joik texts written down refer to the world as Skadesi-suolu in Northern Sámi and Skađsuâl in Skolt Sámi , meaning " Skaði 's island". Svennung considers the Sámi name to have been introduced as
10625-401: The goddess Skaði may have once been a personification of the geographical region of Scandinavia or associated with the underworld. Another possibility is that all or part of the segments of the name came from the pre-Germanic Mesolithic people inhabiting the region. In modernity, Scandinavia is a peninsula, but between approximately 10,300 and 9,500 years ago the southern part of Scandinavia
10750-464: The government's offices and meeting places; the status as capital is often designated by its law or constitution . In some jurisdictions , including several countries, different branches of government are in different settlements, sometimes meaning multiple official capitals. In some cases, a distinction is made between the official ( constitutional ) capital and the seat of government, which is in another place . English-language news media often use
10875-545: The great crisis of Japanese invasion . National capitals were arguably less important as military objectives in other parts of the world, including the West, because of socioeconomic trends toward localized authority, a strategic modus operandi especially popular after the development of feudalism and reaffirmed by the development of democratic and capitalistic philosophies. In 1204, after the Latin Crusaders captured
11000-402: The head'). The Latin phrase Roma Caput Mundi meaning 'Rome capital of the world' ( lit. ' head of the world ' ) was already used by the poet Ovid in 1st century BC . It originates out of a classical European understanding of the known world : Europe , North Africa , and Southwest Asia . The phrase is related to the enduring power of the city first as the capital of
11125-470: The inclusion of the Sámi as "Scandinavians" controversial among many Sámi. Modern Sámi politicians and organizations often stress the status of the Sámi as a people separate from and equal to the Scandinavians, with their own language and culture, and are apprehensive about being included as "Scandinavians" in light of earlier Scandinavian assimilation policies. Two language groups have coexisted on
11250-538: The language of the church and law courts remained Icelandic. The Scandinavian languages are (as a language family) unrelated to Finnish and the Sámi languages , which as Uralic languages are distantly related each other. Owing to the close proximity, there is still a great deal of borrowing from the Swedish and Norwegian languages in Finnish and the Sámi. The long history of linguistic influence of Swedish on Finnish
11375-461: 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
11500-620: The local self-government institutions ( Magistracy of Reval and Estonian Knighthood ) retained their cultural and economical autonomy within Imperial Russia as 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
11625-521: The low and flat areas of Denmark in the south, as well as archipelagos and lakes in the east. Most of the population in the region live in the more temperate southern regions, with the northern parts having long, cold winters. The region became notable during the Viking Age , when Scandinavian peoples participated in large-scale raiding, conquest, colonization and trading mostly throughout Europe. They also used their longships for exploration, becoming
11750-499: 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 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
11875-417: The major economic centre of a state or region has often become the focal point of political power, and became a capital through conquest or federation . Historical examples are ancient Babylon , ancient Athens , ancient Rome , Abbasid Baghdad , Constantinople , Chang'an , and ancient Cusco . The modern capital city has not always existed: in medieval Western Europe, an itinerant (wandering) government
12000-537: 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
12125-682: The middle of the 19th century, between the First Schleswig War (1848–1850) and the Second Schleswig War (1864). The Swedish king also proposed a unification of Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a single united kingdom. The background for the proposal was the tumultuous events during the Napoleonic Wars in the beginning of the century. This war resulted in Finland (formerly the eastern third of Sweden) becoming
12250-520: The most populous regions, have a temperate climate . Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle , but has relatively mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream . Many of the Scandinavian mountains have an alpine tundra climate. The climate varies from north to south and from west to east: a marine west coast climate ( Cfb ) typical of western Europe dominates in Denmark,
12375-604: The mountain of Saevo ( mons Saevo ibi ), the Codanus Bay ("Codanus sinus") and the Cimbrian promontory. The geographical features have been identified in various ways. By some scholars, Saevo is thought to be the mountainous Norwegian coast at the entrance to Skagerrak and the Cimbrian peninsula is thought to be Skagen , the north tip of Jutland , Denmark. As described, Saevo and Scatinavia can also be
12500-558: The name of the capital city as an alternative name for the government of the country of which it is the capital, as a form of metonymy . For example, the "relations between London and Washington " refers to the " relations between the United Kingdom and the United States ". The word capital derives from the Latin word caput (genitive capitis ), meaning ' head ', later borrowed from Medieval Latin capitālis ('of
12625-598: The northwestern coast. A small area along the northern coast east of the North Cape has tundra climate (Et) as a result of a lack of summer warmth. The Scandinavian Mountains block the mild and moist air coming from the southwest, thus northern Sweden and the Finnmarksvidda plateau in Norway receive little precipitation and have cold winters. Large areas in the Scandinavian mountains have alpine tundra climate. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Scandinavia
12750-415: The old Sámi belief about living on an island and state that the wolf is known as suolu gievra , meaning "the strong one on the island". The Sámi place name Sulliidčielbma means "the island's threshold" and Suoločielgi means "the island's back". In recent substrate studies, Sámi linguists have examined the initial cluster sk - in words used in the Sámi languages and concluded that sk -
12875-490: The other are only partially intelligible to speakers of the continental Scandinavian languages. The Uralic languages are linguistically unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Finnish is the majority language in Finland, and a recognized minority language in Sweden. Meänkieli and Kven , sometimes considered as dialects of Finnish, are recognized minority languages in Sweden and Norway, respectively. The Sámi languages are indigenous minority languages in Scandinavia, spoken by
13000-529: The other two Mainland Scandinavian languages. Although Iceland was under the political control of Denmark until a much later date (1918), very little influence and borrowing from Danish has occurred in the Icelandic language. Icelandic remained the preferred language among the ruling classes in Iceland. Danish was not used for official communications, most of the royal officials were of Icelandic descent and
13125-428: The peninsula. The term was popularised by the linguistic and cultural Scandinavist movement , which asserted the common heritage and cultural unity of the Scandinavian countries and rose to prominence in the 1830s. The popular usage of the term in Sweden, Denmark and Norway as a unifying concept became established in the 19th century through poems such as Hans Christian Andersen 's "I am a Scandinavian" of 1839. After
13250-522: 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
13375-466: The provincial level, a dynasty could easily be toppled with the fall of its capital. In the Three Kingdoms period, both Shu and Wu fell when their respective capitals of Chengdu and Jianye fell. The Ming dynasty relocated its capital from Nanjing to Beijing , where they could more effectively control the generals and troops guarding the borders from Mongols and Manchus . The Ming
13500-578: The region can also be found in Pytheas , Pomponius Mela , Tacitus , Ptolemy , Procopius and Jordanes , usually in the form of Scandza . It is believed that the name used by Pliny may be of West Germanic origin, originally denoting Scania. According to some scholars, the Germanic stem can be reconstructed as * skaðan- , meaning "danger" or "damage". The second segment of the name has been reconstructed as * awjō , meaning "land on
13625-665: 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
13750-645: 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
13875-570: The same status at national level. Finland's majority population are Finns , whose mother tongue is either Finnish (approximately 95%), Swedish or both. The Swedish-speakers live mainly on the coastline starting from approximately the city of Porvoo (Sw: Borgå) (in the Gulf of Finland) up to the city of Kokkola (Sw: Karleby) (in the Bay of Bothnia). The Swedish-speaking population is spread out in pockets in this coastal stretch and constitutes approximately 5% of
14000-424: The seat of government of a polity or of a subdivision. Deliberately planned and designed capitals include: These cities satisfy one or both of the following criteria: Some examples of the second situation (compromise locations) are: Changes in a nation's political regime sometimes result in the designation of a new capital. Akmola (renamed Astana in 1998) became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, following
14125-531: 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 a target for the expansion of the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Denmark during the period of Northern Crusades in the beginning of
14250-406: The southernmost part of Sweden and along the west coast of Norway reaching north to 65°N, with orographic lift giving more mm/year precipitation (<5000 mm) in some areas in western Norway. The central part – from Oslo to Stockholm – has a humid continental climate (Dfb), which gradually gives way to subarctic climate (Dfc) further north and cool marine west coast climate (Cfc) along
14375-651: The southernmost province of Sweden) are both thought to go back to the Proto-Germanic compound * Skaðin-awjō (the ð represented in Latin by t or d ), which appears later in Old English as Scedenig and in Old Norse as Skáney . The earliest identified source for the name Scandinavia is Pliny the Elder 's Natural History , dated to the 1st century AD. Various references to
14500-677: The term "capital cities" is regularly used to refer to those six state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra , and Darwin , the capital of the Northern Territory . Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and also of the United Arab Emirates overall. In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent nations, such as the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Denmark , each will usually have its own capital city. Unlike in federations , there
14625-492: 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
14750-579: The water" or "island". The name Scandinavia would then mean "dangerous island", which is considered to refer to the treacherous sandbanks surrounding Scania. Skanör in Scania, with its long Falsterbo reef, has the same stem ( skan ) combined with - ör , which means "sandbanks". Alternatively, Sca(n)dinavia and Skáney , along with the Old Norse goddess name Skaði , may be related to Proto-Germanic * skaðwa- (meaning "shadow"). John McKinnell comments that this etymology suggests that
14875-656: 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
15000-563: Was an island separated from the northern peninsula, with water exiting the Baltic Sea through the area where Stockholm is now located. The Latin names in Pliny's text gave rise to different forms in medieval Germanic texts. In Jordanes' history of the Goths (AD 551), the form Scandza is the name used for their original home, separated by sea from the land of Europe (chapter 1, 4). Where Jordanes meant to locate this quasi-legendary island
15125-820: Was common. The capital city attracts politically motivated people and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of national or imperial governments, such as lawyers , political scientists , bankers , journalists , and public policy makers . Some of these cities are or were also religious centres , e.g. Constantinople (more than one religion), Rome / Vatican City (the Roman Catholic Church ), Jerusalem (more than one religion), Babylon, Moscow (the Russian Orthodox Church ), Belgrade (the Serbian Orthodox Church ), Paris, and Beijing. In some countries,
15250-632: Was destroyed when Li Zicheng took their seat of power, and this pattern repeats itself in Chinese history, until the fall of the traditional Confucian monarchy in the 20th century. After the Qing dynasty 's collapse, decentralization of authority and improved transportation and communication technologies allowed both the Chinese Nationalists and Chinese Communists to rapidly relocate capitals and keep their leadership structures intact during
15375-524: 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 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
15500-489: 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 the Papal -sanctioned Livonian Crusade in
15625-516: 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 ,
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