Estonia is arguably
the most advanced country in the world when it comes to use of the Internet and
related technologies. Estonia is a most improbable success, in that a mere
quarter of a century ago it was still under domination of the Soviet Union as a
very poor backwater on the Baltic Sea. Now it is a developed country and a
member of both the EU and NATO.
Estonia is
a Scandinavia country, having been part of the German-led Hanseatic League, and
was ruled by Denmark, then Sweden, and then Russia beginning in 1721. In
1918, it received its independence, only to be invaded by the Soviet Union in
1940. The Germans kicked out the Soviets in 1941, but then the Soviets
reoccupied Estonia in 1944 until it again achieved its independence
in 1991 after the “singing revolution.” Tallinn is only 43 miles from Helsinki,
Finland, to which it is connected by a high-speed hydrofoil and other ships.
