stantly appearing and the area of older ones increasing. The coastal sea in Western Estonia and the Gulf of Riga are shallow and full of shoals. Winds and not tides affect sea water levels. The average height of waves is less than 1 meter, but may reach

There are over 1400 natural and manmade lakes in Estonia. The largest lake, Lake Peipsi covering 3,555 square kilometers, and the largest artificial body of water, Narva Reservoir covering 190 square kilometers, are located on the border with the Russian Federation. Both lakes have a maximum depth of 15 meters. The deepest lake is Rouge Suurjarv, which is 38 meters deep. There are 420 rivers in Estonia of over 10 kilometers in length. Only 3 rivers in Estonia have a runoff of over 50 cubic meters per second: Narva (399), Emajogi (72), and Parnu (64).

All of these changes in Estonia's history have left their mark and set the stage for the current economic prosperity. Since Estonia regained its independence in August 1991, radical economic reforms have placed Estonia at the forefront of development and growth in Eastern Europe. Since the Currency reform of 1992, the Kroon (EEK) has been one of the most stable currencies in Europe. Today Finnish, Swedish, Latvian, Russian, And Swiss banking institutions trade it. The value of the Kroon has been set at 8 EEK per German Marks. At the time of this writing the current value of the Kroon was $1 US dollar per 13.412 EEK.

With regard to zonal distribution of vegetation, Estonia belongs to the northern part of the mixed forest zone. In prehistoric times, forests covered the territory. Coniferous trees, pine and spruces as well as ash and maple were predominant. Forests cover approximately 40% of Estonia today. This figure has doubled since the land belonging to private farms (abandoned due to forced collectivization) has been forested and grasslands have been overgrown with alder and birch. The abundance of these woodlands has provided a suitable habitat for game. Present wildlife includes wolves, bears, lynx, wild boars, elk and otters. Estonia currently has 59 plant and 198 animal species under state protection. There is 1 national park (Lahemnaa, 649 square kilometers), 1 water reserve, 5 state nature reserves (630 square kilometers in total) and 57 other nature reserves. The main problems today in preserving nature are the ever in decreasing levels of air and water pollution.

4. Toivo U. Raun, Estonia and the Estonians, second edition, (Hoover Institution Press, September 1997).

Religious freedom is guaranteed by the Estonian constitution. Most Estonians are Lutheran. Russian Orthodox has the second largest number of followers.

s in the winter (about 7 hours of daylight) and longer days in the summer (about 20 hours of daylight in the month of June). Southwestern and western winds prevail. Whirlwinds and heavy storms are rare. The last strong 'storm of the century' hit in western Estonia in the fall of 1967. In general the climate in Estonia is similar to that in central Sweden and southern Finland. In North America, the only area with a similar climate is in the

Some common words found in the essay are:
EEK Privatization, Rouge Suurjarv, Baltic Sea, Rural Estonians, Gulf Riga, Riga Latvia, European Union, Baltic Germans, Celsius Permanent, Estonia Estonians, baltic sea, square kilometers, degrees celsius, network covers, telephone network covers, estonia gulf, 10% total, covers country, russian federation, nature reserves, gulf finland, network covers country, border russian federation,
Approximate Word count = 1933
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)