The Republic of Estonia is one of the three Baltic States of Eastern Europe. It is located in the east coast of the Baltic Sea, the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, neighbors with Riga Bay in the southwest and borders with Latvia and Russia in the south and east respectively. In 1991, it declared its independence following the independence of Lithuania, and its capital is Tallinn.

Estonia’s name (Eesti) may be derived from the crowed known as the Aestii in the ancient Roman historian Tacitus’ book "Germania Annals". Although Estonia is generally poorly-resourced, it still has a small but rich variety of land resources.

The country also has substantial oil shale and limestone as well as forests covering 47 percent of the national territory. Estonia is often referred to as the "Baltic Tiger" because of its fast-growing economy and advanced information technology, and the World Bank lists Estonia among the high-income countries.

Estonia joined NATO in 1994 and joined the European Union in 2004. In 2011 it joined the euro zone.