Geography of Estonia

Between 57.3 and 59.5 latitude and 21.5 and 28.1 longitude, Estonia lies on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea on the level northwestern part of the rising East European Platform.

Oil shale and limestone deposits, along with forests which cover 47% of the land, play key economic roles in this generally resource-poor country.

[2] The country's highest point, Suur Munamägi (Egg Mountain), is in the hilly southeast and reaches 318 m (1,043 ft) above sea level.

[2][3] From 1920 to 1945, Estonia's border with Russia, set by the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty, extended beyond the Narva river in the northeast and beyond the town of Petseri in the southeast.

[2] Across military installations covering more than 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi) of Estonian territory, the army dumped hundreds of thousands of tons of jet fuel into the ground, improperly disposed of toxic chemicals, and discarded outdated explosives and weapons in coastal and inland waters.

[2] The report described the worst damage as having been done to Estonia's topsoil and underground water supply by the systematic dumping of jet fuel at six Soviet army air bases.

[2] The Ministry of Environment assigned a monetary cost of more than 10 billion EEK to the damage to the country's topsoil and water supply.

[2] In a 1992 government report to the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, Estonia detailed other major environmental concerns.

[2] The mining of oil shale in northeastern Estonia has also left large mounds of limestone tailings dotting the region.

[3] Environment – international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling[3] Area:[3] total: 45,228 square kilometres (17,463 sq mi) land: 42,338 square kilometres (16,347 sq mi) water: 2,840 square kilometres (1,100 sq mi) note: includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea Land boundaries:[3] total: 657 km (408 mi) border countries: Latvia 333 km (207 mi), Russia 324 km (201 mi) Coastline: 3,794 km (2,357 mi) Maritime claims:[3] territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) exclusive economic zone: limits as agreed to by Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Sweden, and Russia Elevation extremes:[3] lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Suur Munamägi 318 metres (1,043 ft) Natural resources: oil shale (kukersite), peat, rare earth elements, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud[3] Land use (2018 est.

Map of Estonia
Typical landscape of the Estonian forest in winter
In Laelatu meadow, there have been found 76 species of plants in 1 m 2 . That is the 2nd largest number of species per m 2 in the world.
The Soviet army used the Pakri Islands as sites for aerial bombardment. The collection and destruction of thousands of Soviet explosive devices was mostly complete by 1997.
Hellamaa bay in Hiiumaa .
Forests cover more than half of the territory of Estonia.