21 Facts About Baltic countries

Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

All three Baltic countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD.

All three Baltic countries are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain a very high Human Development Index.

Areas of what are now the independent Baltic countries have seen different regional and imperial affiliations during their existence.

Large parts of the Baltic countries were controlled by the Russian Empire until the final stages of World War I in 1918, when Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gained their sovereignty.

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In 1940, all three Baltic countries were invaded, occupied and annexed by the Stalinist Soviet Union.

All three Baltic countries experienced a period of authoritarian rule by a head of state who had come to power after a bloodless coup: Antanas Smetona in Lithuania, Karlis Ulmanis in Latvia, and Konstantin Pats during the "era of silence" in Estonia, respectively.

Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries was interrupted by Nazi German invasion of the region in 1941.

The German occupation lasted until late 1944, when the Baltic countries were reoccupied by the Red Army and Soviet rule was re-established, with the passive agreement of the United States and Britain .

In 2002, the Baltic countries governments applied to join the European Union and become members of NATO.

The Baltic countries were more interested in gaining access to the rest of the European market.

Currently, the governments of the Baltic countries states cooperate in multiple ways, including cooperation among presidents, parliament speakers, heads of government, and foreign ministers.

All three Baltic countries are members of the New Hanseatic League, an informal group of northern EU states formed to advocate a common fiscal position.

All three Baltic countries are member states of the European Union, and the Eurozone.

Populations of each Baltic countries country belong to several Christian denominations, a reflection of historical circumstances.

Baltic countries states have historically been in many different spheres of influence, from Danish over Swedish and Polish–Lithuanian, to German, and before independence in the Russian sphere of influence.

Baltic countries states are inhabited by several ethnic minorities: in Latvia: 33.

Three countries had been independent nations prior to their occupation by the Soviet Union, there was a strong feeling of national identity and popular resentment towards the imposed Soviet rule in the three countries, in combination with Soviet cultural policy, which employed superficial multiculturalism in limits allowed by the communist "internationalist" ideology and under tight control of the Communist Party .

Since the Middle Ages, the Baltic countries Sea has appeared on maps in Germanic languages as the equivalent of 'East Sea': German: Ostsee, Danish: Østersøen, Dutch: Oostzee, Swedish: Ostersjon, etc.

Terms related to modern name Baltic countries appear in ancient texts, but had fallen into disuse until reappearing as the adjective in German, from which it was adopted in other languages.

Term Baltic countries was, until the early 20th century, used in the context of countries neighbouring the Baltic Sea: Sweden and Denmark, sometimes Germany and the Russian Empire.