Tallinn () is the most populous and
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
of
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
. Situated on a
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
in north Estonia, on the shore of the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and ...
of the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022)
and administratively lies in the
Harju ''
maakond
Counties ( et, maakond, plural ') are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands. The government (') of each county is led by a ' (gove ...
'' (
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
). Tallinn is the main financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located northwest of the country's second largest city
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
, however only south of
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, also west of
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
, north of
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...
,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, and east of
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical
name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A persona ...
Reval.
Tallinn received
Lübeck city rights
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the st ...
in 1248,
[,] however the earliest evidence of human population in the area dates back nearly 5,000 years.
The
medieval indigenous population of what is now Tallinn and northern Estonia was one of the last "
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
" civilisations in Europe to adopt
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
following the
Papal
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
-sanctioned Livonian Crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
in the 13th century. The first recorded claim over the place was laid by
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
after a successful
raid in 1219 led by King
Valdemar II
Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241.
Background
He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Soph ...
, followed by a period of alternating
Scandinavian and
Teutonic rulers. Due to the strategic location by the sea, its
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
became a significant
trade hub, especially in the 14–16th centuries, when Tallinn grew in importance as the northernmost member city of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
.
Tallinn Old Town is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
.
Tallinn has the highest number of startup companies per person among all capitals and larger cities in Europe and is the birthplace of many international high-technology companies, including
Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debi ...
,
Bolt and
Wise. The city is home to the headquarters of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
's IT agency,
and to the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
In 2007, Tallinn was listed among the top-10
digital cities in the world,
and in 2022, Tallinn was listed among the top-10 "medium-sized European cities of the future".
Etymology
![Danmarks flag 1219 Lorentzen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Danmarks_flag_1219_Lorentzen.jpg)
In 1154, a town called (''Qlwn'' or ''Quwri''
) was recorded in the description of the world upon the
world map
A world map is a map of most or all of the surface of Earth. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of projection. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of ...
(''
Tabula Rogeriana'') commissioned by the
Norman King
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria i ...
and compiled by
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
cartographer
Muhammad al-Idrisi, who described it as "a small town like a large castle" among the towns of 'Astlanda'. It has been suggested that one possible transcription, 'Qlwn', may have denoted a predecessor of the modern city and may somehow be related to a toponym ''Kolyvan'', which has been discovered from later
East Slavic chronicles. However, a number of modern historians have considered connecting any of al-Idrisi's placenames with modern Tallinn erroneous, unfounded, or speculative.
Henry of Livonia, in his
chronicle
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and ...
(ca. 1229), called the town with the name that is also known to have been used up to the 13th century by Scandinavians: ''Lindanisa'' (or ''Lyndanisse'' in
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
, ''Lindanäs'' in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and ''Ledenets'' in
Old East Slavic
Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...
).
The Icelandic ''
Njal's saga''—composed after 1270, but describing events between 960 and 1020—mentions an event that occurred somewhere in the area of Tallinn and calls the place ''Rafala'' (probably a derivation of ''
Rävala
Revala (also ''Rävälä'', la, Revalia, by Henry of Livonia ''Revele'', by Danish Census Book ''Revælæ'') was an Ancient Estonian county. It was located in northern Estonia, by the Gulf of Finland and corresponded roughly to the present te ...
'', ''Revala'', or some other variant of the Estonian name of the adjacent
medieval Estonian county). Soon after the Danish conquest in 1219, the town became known in the
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
languages as Reval ( la, Revalia). ''Reval'' was in official use in Estonia until 1918.
The name Tallinn(a) is
Estonian. It has been widely considered a historical derivation of ''Taani-linna'', meaning "Danish-castle" ( la,
Castrum Danorum
Toompea castle ( et, Toompea loss) is a medieval castle on Toompea hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. In modern times, it houses the Parliament of Estonia.
History
The Toompea castle's predecessor, an ancient Estonia ...
), conceivably because the
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
invaders built the castle in place of the Estonian stronghold after the 1219 battle of Lyndanisse. The
Finnic element ''-linna'', like
Germanic ''-
burg
The German word Burg means castle. Burg or Bürg may refer to:
Places Placename element
* '' -burg'', a combining form in Dutch, German and English placenames
* Burg, a variant of burh, the fortified towns of Saxon England
Settlements
* Burg, Aa ...
'' and
Slavic ''-
grad'' /''-gorod'', originally meant "fortress", but has been used as a suffix in the formation of town names.
In international use, the English and German-language as well as the Russian analog ''Revel'' () were all gradually replaced by the Estonian name after the country became independent in 1918. At first, both Estonian forms, ''Tallinna'' and ''Tallinn'', were used. ''Tallinna'' in Estonian denotes also the
genitive case
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
of the name, as in ''Tallinna Sadam'' ('the
Port of Tallinn
Port of Tallinn ( et, Tallinna Sadam) is the biggest port authority in Estonia. Taking into account both cargo and passenger traffic, it is one of the largest port enterprises of the Baltic Sea.
Port of Tallinn is a publicly listed company manag ...
').
History
The first archaeological traces of a small hunter-fisherman community's presence
in what is now Tallinn's city centre are about 5,000 years old. The
comb ceramic pottery found on the site dates to about 3000 BCE and
corded ware pottery around 2500 BCE.
![Coat of arms of Tallinn (small)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Coat_of_arms_of_Tallinn_%28small%29.svg)
Around 1050 AD, a fortress was built in what is now central Tallinn, on the hill of
Toompea
Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...
.
As an important port on a major trade route between
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
and western Europe, it became a target for the expansion of the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
and the Kingdom of Denmark during the period of
Northern Crusades
The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianity and colonialism, Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily ...
in the beginning of the 13th century when
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
was forcibly imposed on the local population. Danish rule of Tallinn and northern Estonia started in 1219.
![Toompea loss 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Toompea_loss_2014.jpg)
In 1285, Tallinn, then known more widely as Reval, became the northernmost member of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
– a mercantile and military alliance of German-dominated cities in Northern Europe. The king of Denmark sold Reval along with other land possessions in northern Estonia to the Teutonic Knights in 1346. Reval was arguably the most significant
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
port in the Gulf of Finland, the second-most important port being
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
Reval enjoyed a strategic position at the crossroads of trade between the rest of western Europe and
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
and
Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to:
*Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555
* Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...
in the east. The city, with a population of about 8,000, was very well fortified with
city walls and 66 defence towers.
A
weather vane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
, the figure of an old warrior called
Old Thomas
Old Thomas ( et, Vana Toomas) is one of the symbols and guardians of Tallinn (Reval), the capital of Estonia. A weather vane, the figure of an old warrior called Old Thomas was put on top of the spire of Tallinn Town Hall
The Tallinn Town Hal ...
, was put on top of the spire of the
Tallinn Town Hall
The Tallinn Town Hall ( et, Tallinna raekoda) is a building in the ''Vanalinn'' ("Old town") of Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, next to the Town Hall Square. The building is located in the south side of the medieval market square and is long. The we ...
in 1530. Old Thomas later became a popular symbol of the city.
In the early years of the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, the city converted to
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
. In 1561, Reval (Tallinn) became a
dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
of Sweden.
During the 1700–1721
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
,
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
-
stricken Tallinn along with Swedish Estonia and Livonia
capitulated to
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I i ...
(Muscovy) in 1710, but the local self-government institutions (
Magistracy
A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings.
Courts
* Magistrates' court (England and Wales)
* Magistrate's Cou ...
of Reval and
Estonian Knighthood
The Estonian Knighthood (german: Estländische Ritterschaft, et, Eestimaa rüütelkond) was a fiefdom that operated in the northern part of modern Estonia. It was formed in 1584 by the Baltic German nobles and disbanded in 1920. Just like other ...
) retained their cultural and economical autonomy within Imperial Russia as the
Governorate of Estonia
The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Governorate of Esthonia (Pre-reformed rus, Эстля́ндская губе́рнія, r=Estlyandskaya guberniya); et, Eestimaa kubermang was a governorate in the Baltic region, along with th ...
. The Magistracy of Reval was abolished in 1889. The 19th century brought industrialisation of the city and the port kept its importance.
On 24 February 1918, the
Estonian Declaration of Independence
__NOTOC__
The Estonian Declaration of Independence, also known as the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia ( et, Manifest Eestimaa rahvastele), is the founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918. It is celebrated on 24 February, the Natio ...
was proclaimed in Tallinn. It was followed by
Imperial German occupation until the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in November 1918, after which Tallinn became the capital of independent Estonia. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Estonia was first
occupied
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...
by the Soviet army and annexed into the USSR in the summer of 1940, then
occupied
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...
by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
from 1941 to 1944. During the German occupation Tallinn suffered from many instances of
aerial bombing
An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, Fighter aircraft, fighters, bomber, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopter ...
by the
Soviet air force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
. During the most destructive Soviet
bombing raid on 9–10 March 1944, over a thousand incendiary bombs were dropped on the town, causing widespread fires, killing 757 people, and leaving over 20,000 residents of Tallinn without shelter. After the German retreat in September 1944, the city was
occupied again by the Soviet Union.
During the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
, the
sailing (then known as yachting) events were held at
Pirita
Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
Pirita occupies a relatively big area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 17,592 (as of 1 November 2014) is relati ...
, north-east of central Tallinn. Many buildings, such as the
Tallinn TV Tower
Tallinn TV tower () is a free-standing structure with an observation deck, built to provide better telecommunication services for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics regatta event (see Sailing at the 1980 Summer Olympics). It is located near the s ...
, "Olümpia" hotel, the new Main Post Office building, and the Regatta Centre, were built for the Olympics.
In 1991, the independent democratic Estonian nation was re-established and a period of quick development as a modern European capital ensued. Tallinn became the capital of a ''de facto'' independent country once again on 20 August 1991. The Old Town became a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 1997, and the city hosted the
2002 Eurovision Song Contest. Tallinn was the 2011
European Capital of Culture, and will be the 2023
European Green Capital Award
The European Green Capital Award is an award for a European city based on its environmental record. The award was launched on 22 May 2008 and the first award was given to Stockholm for the year 2010. The European Commission has long recognised ...
. The city has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and takes pride in its biodiversity and high air quality.
Geography
![Härjapea jõgi, 1889](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/H%C3%A4rjapea_j%C3%B5gi%2C_1889.jpg)
Tallinn is situated on the southern coast of the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and ...
, in north-western Estonia.
The largest lake in Tallinn is
Lake Ülemiste
Lake Ülemiste ( et, Ülemiste järv) is the largest of the lakes surrounding Tallinn, Estonia. Ülemiste is the main part of the Tallinn water supply system, which supplies the city with most of its drinking water. The lake is fed mostly by Kurn ...
(), which serves as the main source of the city's drinking water.
Lake Harku
Harku Lake ( et, Harku järv; also known as ''Haabersti Lake'', ''Loodjärv'' and ''Argo Lake'') is a lake on the western border of Tallinn, Estonia. It has an average depth of and a maximum depth of .
Lake's beach is the only lakeside beach ...
is the second-largest lake within the borders of Tallinn and its area is . The only significant river in Tallinn nowadays is the
Pirita River
The Pirita ( et, Pirita jõgi) is a long river in northern Estonia that drains into Tallinn Bay (part of the Gulf of Finland) in Pirita, Tallinn. The basin area of the Pirita is 799 km2.
For the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, the ...
, in the eponymous
Pirita
Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
Pirita occupies a relatively big area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 17,592 (as of 1 November 2014) is relati ...
city district. Historically, a smaller river, called
Härjapea
Härjapea ( et, Härjapea jõgi, lit. ''oxhead'') was a river in Tallinn, Estonia. The river was a few kilometres in length, flowing from Lake Ülemiste into the Tallinn Bay.
Härjapea was one of the most exploited rivers in Estonia in the Midd ...
, flowed from Lake Ülemiste through the town into the sea, but the river was diverted into underground sewerage system in the 1930s and has since completely disappeared from the cityscape. References to it still remain in the street names Jõe (from ''jõgi'', river) and Kivisilla (from ''kivi sild'', stone bridge).
A
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
cliff runs through the city. It can be seen at Toompea,
Lasnamäe
Lasnamäe is the most populous administrative district of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The district's population is about 119,000, the majority of which is Russian-speaking. Local housing is mostly represented by 5–16 stories high panel blo ...
, and
Astangu
Astangu (Estonian for ''"Terrace"'') is a subdistrict ( et, asum) in the district of Haabersti, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordere ...
. However, Toompea is not a part of the cliff, but a separate hill.
The highest point in Tallinn, at 64 m (about 200 ft) above sea level, is situated in
Hiiu
Hiiu is a subdistrict ( et, asum) in the district of Nõmme, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It covers an area of and has a population of 3,986 (), population density is .
Hiiu has a station on the Elron western route. The first narrow gauge ...
,
Nõmme
Nõmme ( Estonian for ''"Heath"'') is one of the 8 administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 39,422 () and covers an area of , population density is . The district is largely a middle-cla ...
District, in the south-west of the city.
The length of the
coast
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
is . It comprises three bigger
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
s:
Kopli
Kopli (Estonian for ''"Paddock"'') is a subdistrict of the district of Põhja-Tallinn (Northern Tallinn) in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is located on the Kopli Peninsula and is bordered by parts of the Tallinn Bay, the Kopli Bay to the s ...
,
Paljassaare
Paljassaare ( Estonian for ''"Bare Island"'') is the name of the Paljassaare Peninsula in the Tallinn Bay, and the name of a subdistrict ( et, asum) in the district of Põhja-Tallinn (''Northern Tallinn'') in the city of Tallinn, the capital of E ...
, and
Kakumäe
Kakumäe ( Estonian for ''"Owl Hill"'') is a subdistrict ( et, asum) in the district of Haabersti, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is located at the top of the Kakumäe Peninsula, which is part of the Baltic Klint in the Tallinn Bay. Kakumä ...
Peninsulas. The city has a number of public beaches, including those at Pirita, Stroomi, Kakumäe, Harku, and Pikakari.
The geology under the city of Tallinn is made up of rocks and sediments of different composition and age. Youngest are the
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
deposits. The materials of these deposits are
till
image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
,
varve
A varve is an annual layer of sediment or sedimentary rock.
The word 'varve' derives from the Swedish word ''varv'' whose meanings and connotations include 'revolution', 'in layers', and 'circle'. The term first appeared as ''Hvarfig lera'' (var ...
d
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
,
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
,
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
, and
pebble
A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predominant ...
s that are of
glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
, marine and lacustrine origin. Some of the Quaternary deposits are valuable as they constitute
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
s, or as in the case of gravels and sands, are used as construction materials. The Quaternary deposits are the fill of valleys that are now buried. The
buried valley A buried valley is an ancient river or stream valley that has been filled with glacial or unconsolidated sediment. This sediment is made up of predominantly gravel and sand, with some silt and clay. These types of sediments can often store and trans ...
s of Tallinn are carved into older rock likely by ancient rivers to be later modified by glaciers. While the valley fill is made up of Quaternary sediments the valleys themselves originated from erosion that took place before the Quaternary.
[ The substrate into which the buried valleys were carved is made up of hard ]sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
of Ediacaran
The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and th ...
, Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
and Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...
age. Only the upper layer of Ordovician rocks protrudes from the cover of younger deposits, cropping out in the Baltic Klint
The Baltic Klint (Clint, Glint; et, Balti klint, sv, Baltiska klinten, russian: Балтийско-Ладожский уступ, Глинт) is an erosional limestone escarpment and cuesta on several islands of the Baltic Sea, in Estonia, in ...
at the coast and at a few places inland. The Ordovician rocks are made up from top to bottom of a thick layer of limestone and marlstone
Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae.
Marl makes up the lower part ...
, then a first layer of argillite
:''"Argillite" may also refer to Argillite, Kentucky.''
Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts ...
followed by first layer of sandstone and siltstone and then another layer of argillite also followed by sandstone and siltstone. In other places of the city, hard sedimentary rock is only to be found beneath Quaternary sediments at depths reaching as much as 120 m below sea level. Underlying the sedimentary rock are the rocks of the Fennoscandia
__NOTOC__
Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes ...
n Craton including gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
es and other metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
s with volcanic rock protolith
A protolith () is the original, unmetamorphosed rock from which a given metamorphic rock is formed.
For example, the protolith of a slate is a shale or mudstone. Metamorphic rocks can be derived from any other kind of non-metamorphic rock and thu ...
s and rapakivi granite
Rapakivi granite is a hornblende-biotite granite containing large round crystals of orthoclase each with a rim of oligoclase (a variety of plagioclase). The name has come to be used most frequently as a textural term where it implies plagioclase r ...
s. These rocks are much older than the rest (Paleoproterozoic
The Paleoproterozoic Era (;, also spelled Palaeoproterozoic), spanning the time period from (2.5–1.6 Ga), is the first of the three sub-divisions (eras) of the Proterozoic Eon. The Paleoproterozoic is also the longest era of the Earth's ...
age) and do not crop out anywhere in Estonia.
Climate
Tallinn has a humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Dfb'') with mild, rainy summers and cold, snowy winters. Winters are cold, but mild for its latitude, owing to its coastal location. The average temperature in February, the coldest month, is . During the winters, temperatures tend to hover close to freezing, but mild spells of weather can push temperatures above , occasionally reaching above while cold air masses can push temperatures below an average of 6 days a year. Snowfall is common during the winters, which are cloudy and characterised by low amounts of sunshine, ranging from only 20.7 hours of sunshine per month in December to 58.8 hours in February.[
Spring starts out cool, with freezing temperatures common in March and April, but gradually becomes warmer in May, when daytime temperatures average , although nighttime temperatures still remain cool, averaging from March to May.][ Snowfall is common in March and can occur in April.][
Summers are mild with daytime temperatures hovering around and nighttime temperatures averaging between from June to August.][ The warmest month is usually July, with an average of .][ During summer, partly cloudy or clear days are common][ and it is the sunniest season, ranging from 255.6 hours of sunshine in August to 312.1 hours in July although precipitation is higher during these months.][ As a consequence of its high latitude, at the summer solstice, daylight lasts for more than 18 hours and 30 minutes.]
Fall starts out mild, with a September average daily mean of and increasingly becomes cooler and cloudier towards the end of November.[ In the early parts of fall, temperatures commonly reach and at least one day above in September. In late fall, freezing temperatures become more common and snowfall can occur.
Tallinn receives of precipitation annually, which is evenly distributed throughout the year although March, April and May are the driest months, averaging about , while July and August are the wettest months with of precipitation.][ The average humidity is 81%, ranging from a high of 89% to a low of 69% in May.][ Tallinn has an average windspeed of with winters being the windiest (around in January) and summers being the least windy at around in August.][ Extremes range from on 10 January 1987 to on 30 July 1994.][
According to a 2021 study commissioned by the British price comparison site Uswitch.com, Tallinn is the most unpredictable of European capitals in terms of weather conditions, with a total score of 69/100; the high score is mainly due to the high number of rainy days in the city and the variation in the duration of sunshine. ]Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...
and Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
took second and third places.
Administrative districts
Tallinn is subdivided into eight administrative districts ( et, linnaosad, singular ''linnaosa''). The district governments are city institutions that fulfill, in the territory of their district, the functions assigned to them by Tallinn legislation and statutes.
Each district government is managed by an elder ( et, linnaosavanem). They are appointed by the city government on the nomination of the mayor and after having heard the opinion of the administrative councils. The function of the administrative councils is to recommend to the city government and commissions of the city council how the districts should be administered.
The administrative districts are further divided into subdistricts or neighbourhoods ( et, asum). Their names and borders are officially defined. There are 84 subdistricts in Tallinn.
Demographics
Tallinn is the List of cities and towns in Estonia, most populous, primate city, primate, and capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
of Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
.
The population of Tallinn on 1 January 2021 was 438,341. It is the List of cities and towns in Estonia, most populous and primate city of Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
, and the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 59th most populated city in the EU.
According to Eurostat, in 2004, Tallinn had one of the largest number of non-EU nationals of all EU member states' capital cities. Ethnic Russians are a significant minority in Tallinn, as around a third of the city's residents are first and second generation immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union; a majority of the Soviet-era immigrants now hold Estonian citizenship.
Ethnic Estonians made up over 80% of Tallinn's population before World War II. As of 2020, ethnic Estonians made up over 52% of the population. Tallinn was one of the urban areas with industrial and military significance in northern Estonia that during the period of Occupation of the Baltic states, Soviet occupation underwent extensive russification of its ethnic composition due to large influx of immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former USSR. Whole new city districts were built where the main intent of the then Soviet authorities was to accommodate Russian-speaking immigrants: Mustamäe, Väike-Õismäe, Pelguranna, and most notably, Lasnamäe, which in 1980s became, and is to this day, the most populous district of Tallinn.
The official language of Tallinn is Estonian. As of 2011, 50.1% of the city's residents were native speakers of Estonian, whereas 46.7% had Russian as their first language. While English is the most frequently used foreign language by the residents Tallinn, there are also a significant number of native speakers of Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and Finnish language, Finnish.
Economy
Tallinn has a highly diversified economy with particular strengths in information technology, tourism and logistics. Over half of the Estonian GDP is created in Tallinn. In 2008, the GDP per capita of Tallinn stood at 172% of the Estonian average.
In addition to longtime functions as seaport and capital city, Tallinn has seen development of an information technology sector; in its 13 December 2005, edition, ''The New York Times'' characterised Estonia as "a sort of Silicon Valley on the Baltic Sea". One of Tallinn's sister cities is the Silicon Valley town of Los Gatos, California. Skype is one of the best-known of several Estonian start-ups originating from Tallinn. Many start-ups have originated from the Tallinn University of Technology, Institute of Cybernetics. In recent years, Tallinn has gradually been becoming one of the main IT centres of Europe, with the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE) of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
, eu-LISA, the EU Digital Agency and the IT development centres of large corporations, such as TeliaSonera and Kuehne + Nagel being based in the city. Smaller start-up incubators like Garage48 and Game Founders have helped to provide support to teams from Estonia and around the world looking for support, development and networking opportunities.
Tallinn receives 4.3 million visitors annually, a figure that has grown steadily over the past decade. The Finns are especially a common sight in Tallinn; on average, about 20,000–40,000 Finnish tourists visit the city between June and October.[ERR: Finnish tourist numbers on the rise – new generations traveling to Estonia](_blank)
/ref> Most of the visitors come from Europe, though Tallinn has also become increasingly visited by tourists from the Asia-Pacific region.
Tallinn Passenger Port is one of the busiest cruise destinations on the Baltic Sea, serving more than 520,000 cruise passengers in 2013. From year 2011 regular cruise turnarounds in cooperation with Tallinn Airport are organised.
Eesti Energia, a large oil shale to energy company, has its headquarters in Tallinn. The city also hosts the headquarters of Elering, a national electric power transmission system operator and member of ENTSO-E, the Estonian natural gas company Eesti Gaas and energy holding company Alexela Energia, part of Alexela Group. Nord Pool Spot, the largest market for electrical energy in the world, established its local office in Tallinn.
Tallinn is the financial centre of Estonia and also a strong economic centre in the Scandinavian-Baltic region. Many major banks, such as Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, SEB, Swedbank, and Nordea, have their local offices in Tallinn. LHV Pank, an Estonian investment bank, has its corporate headquarters in Tallinn. Two crypto-currencies exchanges officially recognized by the Estonian government, CoinMetro and DX.Exchange have their headquarters in Tallinn. Tallinn Stock Exchange, part of NASDAQ OMX Group, is the only regulated exchange in Estonia.
Port of Tallinn
Port of Tallinn ( et, Tallinna Sadam) is the biggest port authority in Estonia. Taking into account both cargo and passenger traffic, it is one of the largest port enterprises of the Baltic Sea.
Port of Tallinn is a publicly listed company manag ...
is one of the biggest ports in the Baltic sea region, and the largest cargo port of Estonia, the Port of Muuga, which belongs to the same entity, is located in the neighboring town of Maardu. Old City Harbour has been known as a convenient harbour since the medieval times, but nowadays the cargo operations are shifted to Muuga Cargo Port and Paldiski Southern Port. There is a small fleet of Fish processing vessel, oceangoing trawlers that operate out of Tallinn.
Tallinn's industries include shipbuilding, machine building, metal processing, electronics, textile manufacturing. BLRT Grupp has its headquarters and some subsidiaries in Tallinn. Air Maintenance Estonia and Panaviatic, AS Panaviatic Maintenance, both based in Tallinn Airport, provide Maintenance, repair, and operations, MRO services for aircraft, largely expanding their operations in recent years.
Liviko, the maker of Vana Tallinn liqueur, strongly associated with the city, is based in Tallinn. The headquarters of Kalev (confectioner), Kalev, a confectionery company and part of the industrial conglomerate Orkla Group, is located in Lehmja, southeast of Tallinn.
Estonia is ranked third in Europe in terms of shopping centre space per inhabitant, ahead of Sweden and being surpassed only by Norway and Luxembourg.
Notable headquarters
Among others:
*NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE)
*eu-LISA, the European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice is based in Tallinn.
*Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debi ...
has its software development centre located in Tallinn.
*Telia Company has its IT development centre located in Tallinn.
*Kuehne + Nagel has its IT centre located in Tallinn.
*Arvato Financial Solutions has its global IT development and innovation centre located in Tallinn.
*Ericsson has one of its biggest production facilities in Europe located in Tallinn, focusing on the production of 4G communication devices.
*Equinor has announced moving the group's financial centre to Tallinn.
* Bolt
*Alexela
*LHV Pank, LHV
Education
Institutions of higher education and science include:
* Baltic Film and Media School
* Estonian Academy of Arts
* Estonian Academy of Security Sciences
* Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
* Estonian Business School
* Estonian Maritime Academy
* Institute of Theology of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
* National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics
* Tallinn University
* Tallinn University of Technology
* Tallinn University of Applied Sciences
Culture
Tallinn was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
, Finland.
Museums
Tallinn is home to more than 60 museums and galleries. Most of them are located in Kesklinn, Tallinn, Kesklinn, the central district of the city, and cover Tallinn's rich history.
One of the most visited historical museums in Tallinn is the Estonian History Museum, located in Great Guild Hall at Vanalinn, the old part of the city. It covers Estonia's history from prehistoric times up until the end of the 20th century. It features film and hands-on displays that show how Estonian dwellers lived and survived.
The Estonian Maritime Museum provides a detailed overview of nation's seafaring past. This museum in also located in city's Old Town, where it occupies one of Tallinn's former defensive structures – Fat Margaret's Tower. Another historical museum that can be found at city's Old Town, just behind the Town Hall Square, Tallinn, Town Hall, is Tallinn City Museum. It covers Tallinn's history from pre-history until 1991, when Estonia regained its independence. Tallinn City Museum owns nine more departments and museums around the city, one of which is Tallinn's Museum of Photography, also located just behind the Town Hall Square, Tallinn, Town Hall. It features permanent exhibition that covers 100 years of photography in Estonia.
Estonia's Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom is yet another historical museum located in Tallinn's Kesklinn, Tallinn, central district. It covers the 52 years when Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Not far away is another museum related to the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the KGB Museum, which occupies the 23rd floor of Sokos Hotel Viru. It features equipment, uniforms, and documents of Russian Secret Service agents.
Tallinn is also home to two major natural science museums – Estonian Museum of Natural History and Estonian Health Care Museum, both located in Old Town. The Estonian Museum of Natural Science features several seasonal and temporary themed exhibitions that provide an overview of wildlife in Estonia and around the world. The Estonian Health Care Museum features permanent exhibitions on anatomy and health care; its collections and displays cover the history of medicine in Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
.
Tallinn is home to several art and design museums. The Art Museum of Estonia, Estonian Art Museum, the largest art museum in Estonia, consists of four branches – Kumu Art Museum, Kadriorg Palace, Kadriorg Art Museum, Mikkel Museum, and St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn, Niguliste Museum. Kumu Art Museum features the country's largest collection of contemporary and modern art. It also displays Estonian art starting from the early 18th century. Those who are interested in Western European and Russian art may enjoy Kadriorg Art Museum collections, located in Kadriorg Palace, a beautiful Baroque building erected by Peter the Great. It stores and displays about 9,000 works of art from the 16th to 20th centuries. The Mikkel Museum, in Kadriorg Park, displays a collection of mainly Western art – ceramics and Chinese porcelain donated by Johannes Mikkel in 1994. The Niguliste Museum occupies former St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn, St. Nicholas' Church; it displays collections of historical ecclesiastical art spanning nearly seven centuries from the Middle Ages to post-Reformation art.
Those that are interested in design and applied art may enjoy the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design collection of Estonian contemporary designs. It displays up to 15.000 pieces of work made of textile art, ceramics, porcelain, leather, glass, jewellery, metalwork, furniture, and product design. To experience more relaxed, culture-oriented exhibits, one may turn to Museum of Estonian Drinking Culture. This museum showcases the historic Luscher & Matiesen Distillery as well as the history of Estonian alcohol production.
Lauluväljak
The Estonian Song Festival (in Estonian: ''Laulupidu'') is one of the largest choral events in the world, listed by the UNESCO as a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It is held every five years in July on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds (''Lauluväljak'') simultaneously with the Estonian Dance Festival.[Estonian Song and Dance Celebrations]
Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation The joint choir has comprised more than 30,000 singers performing to an audience of 80,000.
Estonians have one of the biggest collections of folk songs in the world, with written records of about 133,000 folk songs. From 1987, a cycle of mass Demonstration (people), demonstrations featuring spontaneous singing of national songs and hymns that were strictly forbidden during the years of the Soviet occupation to peacefully resist the oppression. In September 1988, a record 300,000 people, more than a quarter of all Estonians, gathered in Tallinn for a song festival.
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Estonian: Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival, or PÖFF), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is the only festival in the Nordic and Baltic region with a FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Association) accreditation for holding an international competition programme in the Nordic and Baltic region with 14 other non-specialised festivals, such as Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin, Venice Film Festival, Venice. With over 250 feature films screened each year and over 77500 attendances (2014), PÖFF is one of the largest film events of Northern Europe and cultural events in Estonia in the winter season. During its 19th edition in 2015 the festival screened more than 600 films (including 250+ feature-length films from 80 countries), bringing over 900 screenings to an audience of over 80, 000 people as well as over 700 accredited guests and journalists from 50 countries. In 2010 the festival held the European Film Awards ceremony in Tallinn.
Cuisine
The traditional cuisine of Tallinn reflects culinary traditions of north Estonia, the role of the city as a fishing port, and historical German influences. Numerous cafés have played a major role in a social life of the city since the 19th century, as have bars, especially in the Kesklinn district.
The ''marzipan, martsipan'' industry in Tallinn has a very long history. The production of ''martsipan'' started in the Middle Ages, almost simultaneously in Tallinn (Reval) and Lübeck, both member cities of the Hanseatic League. In 1695, ''marzipan'' was mentioned as a medicine, under the designation of ''Panis Martius,'' in the price lists of the Raeapteek, Tallinn Town Hall Pharmacy. The modern era of ''martsipan'' in Tallinn began in 1806, when the Swiss confectioner Lorenz Caviezel set up his confectionery on Pikk Street. In 1864, it was bought and expanded by Georg Stude and now is known as the Maiasmokk café. In the late 19th century ''martsipan'' figurines made by Tallinn's confectioners were supplied to the Russian imperial family.
Arguably, the most symbolic seafood dish of Tallinn is ''vürtsikilu'' ("spicy sprat") – salted European sprat, sprats pickled with a distinctive set of spices including black pepper, allspice and cloves. The making of traditional ''vürtsikilu'' is thought to have originated from the city's outskirts. In 1826, the merchants of Tallinn exported 40,000 cans of ''vürtsikilu'' to Saint Petersburg. A closely associated dish is ''kiluvõileib'' ("sprat-butter-bread") – a traditional rye bread open sandwich covered with a layer of butter and ''vürtsikilu'' as the topping. Boiled egg slices and culinary herbs are optional extra toppings. Alcoholic beverages produced in the city include beer, vodka, and liqueurs (such as the eponymous Vana Tallinn). The number of Microbrewery#Craft brewery, craft beer breweries has expanded sharply in Tallinn over the last decade, entering local and regional markets.
Tourism
What can arguably be considered to be Tallinn's main attractions are located in the Tallinn Old Town (divided into a "lower town" and Toompea
Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...
hill) which is easily explored on foot. The eastern parts of the city, notably Pirita
Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
Pirita occupies a relatively big area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 17,592 (as of 1 November 2014) is relati ...
(with Pirita Convent) and Kadriorg (with Kadriorg Palace) districts, are also popular destinations, and the Estonian Open Air Museum in Rocca al Mare, west of the city, preserves aspects of Estonian rural culture and architecture. The historical wooden suburbs like Kalamaja, Pelgulinn, Kassisaba and Kelmiküla and revitalized industrial areas like Rotermanni Quarter, Noblessner and Dvigatel are also unique places to visit.
Toompea – Upper Town
This area was once an almost separate town, heavily fortified, and has always been the seat of whatever power that has ruled Estonia. The hill occupies an easily defensible site overlooking the surrounding districts. The major attractions are the medieval Toompea Castle (today housing the Estonian Parliament, the ''Riigikogu''), the Lutheran St Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn, St Mary's Cathedral, also known as the Dome Church ( et, Toomkirik), and the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
All-linn – Lower Town
This area is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe and the authorities are continuing its rehabilitation. Major sights include the Town Hall Square, Tallinn, Town Hall square ( et, Raekoja plats ), the Walls of Tallinn, city wall and towers (notably "Estonian Maritime Museum#Fat Margaret, Fat Margaret" and "Kiek in de Kök, Tallinn, Kiek in de Kök") as well as a number of medieval churches, including St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn, St Olaf's, St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn, St. Nicholas' and the Church of the Holy Ghost, Tallinn, Church of the Holy Ghost. The Catholic St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral, Tallinn, Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul is also in the Lower Town.
Kadriorg
Kadriorg is east of the city centre and is served by buses and trams. Kadriorg Palace, the former palace of Peter the Great, built just after the Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
, now houses the foreign art department of the Art Museum of Estonia, the presidential residence and the surrounding grounds include formal gardens and woodland.
The main building of the Art Museum of Estonia, KUMU (museum), Kumu ( et, Kunstimuuseum, Art Museum), was built in 2006 and lies in Kadriorg park. It houses an encyclopaedic collection of Estonian art, including paintings by Carl Timoleon von Neff, Johann Köler, Eduard Ole, Jaan Koort, Konrad Mägi, Eduard Wiiralt, Henn Roode and Adamson-Eric, among others.
Pirita
This coastal district is a further 2 kilometres north-east of Kadriorg. The marina was built for the 1980 Summer Olympics, Moscow Olympics of 1980, and boats can be hired on the Pirita River
The Pirita ( et, Pirita jõgi) is a long river in northern Estonia that drains into Tallinn Bay (part of the Gulf of Finland) in Pirita, Tallinn. The basin area of the Pirita is 799 km2.
For the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, the ...
. Two kilometres inland are the Tallinn Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens and the Tallinn TV Tower
Tallinn TV tower () is a free-standing structure with an observation deck, built to provide better telecommunication services for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics regatta event (see Sailing at the 1980 Summer Olympics). It is located near the s ...
.
Transport
City transport
The city operates a system of bus (73 lines), tram (4 lines) and trolley-bus (4 lines) routes to all districts; the long Trams in Tallinn, tram system is the only tram network in Estonia. A flat-fare system is used. The ticket-system is based on prepaid RFID cards available in kiosks and post offices. In January 2013, Tallinn became the first European capital to offer a Free public transport, fare-free service on buses, trams and trolleybuses within the city limits. This service is available to residents who register with the municipality.
Air
The Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is about from Town Hall Square, Tallinn, Town Hall square (). There is a tram (Line Number: 4) and local bus connection between the airport and the edge of the city centre (bus no. 2). The nearest railway station Ülemiste is only from the airport. The construction of the new section of the airport began in 2007 and was finished in summer 2008.
Ferry
Several ferry operators, Viking Line, Tallink and Eckerö Line, connect Tallinn to Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Mariehamn, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg. Passenger lines connect Tallinn to Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
( north of Tallinn) in approximately 2–3.5 hours by Baltic Sea cruiseferries, cruiseferries.
Railroad
The Elron (rail transit), Elron railway company operates train services from Tallinn to Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
, Valga, Estonia, Valga, Türi, Viljandi, Tapa, Estonia, Tapa, Narva, Koidula, Võru County, Koidula. Buses are also available to all these and various other destinations in Estonia, as well as to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in Russia and Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...
, Latvia. The Russian railways company operates a daily international sleeper train service between Tallinn – Moscow.
Tallinn also has a commuter rail service running from Tallinn's Balti jaam, main rail station in two main directions: east (Aegviidu) and to several western destinations (Pääsküla, Keila, Riisipere, Turba, Paldiski, and Kloogaranna). These are electrified lines and are used by the Elron (rail transit), Elron railroad company. Stadler FLIRT EMU and DMU units are in service since July 2013. The first electrified train service in Tallinn was opened in 1924 from Tallinn to Pääsküla, a distance of .
The Rail Baltica project, which will link Tallinn with Warsaw via Latvia and Lithuania, will connect Tallinn with the rest of the European rail network. A Helsinki to Tallinn Tunnel, undersea tunnel has been proposed between Tallinn and Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, though it remains at a planning phase.
Roads
The Via Baltica motorway (part of European route E67 from Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
to Prague) connects Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border through Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
. Frequent and affordable long-distance bus routes connect Tallinn with other parts of Estonia.
Notable people
Pre-1900
* Michael Sittow (ca. 1469–1525), Estonian-born painter, trained in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting, significant Flemish painter of the era
* Count Jacob De la Gardie (1583–1652), statesman and a field marshal of Sweden
* Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1622–1686), a Swedish statesman and military man.
* Jacob Johan Hastfer (1647–1695), officer and governor of the Swedish Livonia, Livonia province between 1687 and 1695
* Otto von Kotzebue (1787–1846) a Russian officer and navigator in the Imperial Russian Navy; explored Oceania.
* Alexander Friedrich von Hueck (1802–1842), professor of anatomy at University of Tartu, a notable estophile
* Franz Anton Schiefner (1817–1879) a Baltic Germans, Baltic German linguist and Tibetology, tibetologist.
* Julius Iversen, Julius Gottlieb Iversen (1823–1900), Phaleristics, phalerist & professor of Greek and Latin.
* Carl Hiekisch, Carl Wilhelm Hiekisch (1840–1901), geographer
* Edmund Russow, Edmund August Friedrich Russow (1841–1897), biologist, researcher of plant anatomy and histology
* A. H. Tammsaare, Anton Hansen (pseudonym A. H. Tammsaare) (1878–1940), writer, his pentalogy ''Truth and Justice'' (''Tõde ja õigus'') is considered "The Estonian Novel"
* Marie Under (1883–1980), poet, nominated for the Nobel prize in literature multiple times
* Alfred Rosenberg (1893–1946), leading Nazi Germany, Nazi German ideologue, head of Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, executed for war crimes
1900 to 1930
* Ants Oras (1900–1982), translator and writer, studied pause patterns in English Renaissance dramatic blank verse
* Vidrik Rootare, Vidrik "Frits" Rootare (1906–1981), chess player
* Andrus Johani (1906–1941), painter
* Miliza Korjus (1909-1980), Polish-Estonian-American opera singer, Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood film actress, nominee for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1938
* Edmund S. Valtman (1914–2005), Estonian-American cartoonist, won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning
* Evald Okas (1915–2011), painter, probably best known for his portraits of nudes
* Evi Rauer (1915–2004), stage, film and television actress and television director
* Paul Kuusberg (1916–2003), writer, particularly of novellas
* Ellen Liiger (1918–1987), stage, TV, radio and film actress and theatre teacher
* Udo Kasemets (1919–2014), Estonian-born Canadian composer of orchestral, vocal, piano and electroacoustic works
* Jaan Kross (1920–2007), novelist, nominated for the Nobel prize in literature multiple times
* Vincent Zigas (1920–1983), medical officer in Papua New Guinea during the 1950s
* Harry Männil (1920–2010), Estonian-Venezuelan businessman, art collector
* Kaljo Raid (1921–2005), composer, cellist and pastor
* Vello Viisimaa (1928–1991), opera singer and stage actor, appeared mostly in operettas
* Olaf von Wrangel (1928-2009), German journalist (NDR) and politician, member of German Bundestag
* Lennart Georg Meri (1929–2006), politician, writer, film director, statesman, President of Estonia#Presidents of Estonia, second President of Estonia, 1992 to 2001
* Eino Tamberg (1930–2010), composer, promoter of neoclassicism in Estonian music
1930 to 1950
* Uno Loop (1930–2021), singer, musician, athlete, actor, and educator
* Vladimir-Georg Karassev-Orgusaar (1931–2015), film director and member of the Congress of Estonia
* Martin Puhvel (1933–2016), literature researcher, professor emeritus at McGill University for old and medieval English literature
* Ingrid Rüütel (born 1935) folklorist and philologist, wife of former president Arnold Rüütel
* Peter P. Silvester, Peter Peet Silvester (1935–1996), electrical engineer, particularly numerical analysis of electromagnetic fields
* Jüri Arrak (born 1936), artist and painter
* Enn Vetemaa (1936–2017), writer, master of the Estonian Modernist short novel
* Arvo Mets, Arvo Antonovich Mets, (1937–1997) Russian poet, master of Russian free verse
* Mikk Mikiver (1937–2006), stage and film actor and theater director
* Linnart Mäll (1938–2010), historian, orientalist, translator and politician.
* Ene Riisna (born 1938), Estonian-born American television producer, known for her work on the American news show 20/20 (U.S. TV series), 20/20.
* Andres Tarand (born 1940), politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia and Member of the European Parliament
* Leila Säälik (born 1941), stage, film and radio actress
* Paul-Eerik Rummo (born 1942), poet and politician
* Eili Sild (born 1942), stage, film, television and radio actress
* Kalle Lasn (born 1942), Estonian-Canadian film maker, author, magazine editor and activist
* Urjo Kareda (1944–2001), Canadian theatre and music critic, dramaturge and stage director
* Mari Lill (born 1945), stage, film and TV actress
* Sulev Mäeltsemees (born 1947), public administration and local government scholar
* Siiri Oviir (born 1947), politician and former Member of the European Parliament
* Lepo Sumera (1950–2000), composer, teacher and politician
1950 to 1970
* Urmas Alender (1953–1994), singer and musician, the vocalist of Ruja and Propeller (band), Propeller
* Ivo Lill (1953–2019), Studio glass, glass artist
* Ain Lutsepp (born 1954), actor and politician.
* Kalle Randalu (born 1956), pianist
* Alexander Goldstein (writer), Alexander Leonidovich Goldstein, (1957–2006), Russian writer and essayist, resident of Tel-Aviv from 1991
* Peeter Järvelaid (born 1957), legal scholar, historian and University of Tallinn, university professor
* Doris Kareva (born 1958), poet and head of Estonian National Commission in UNESCO
* Anu Lamp (born 1958), stage, film, TV and voice actress and stage director
* Tõnu Õnnepalu (born 1962), pen names ''Emil Tode'' and ''Anton Nigov'', poet and author
* Tõnis Lukas (born 1962), politician, Vice-chairman of the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica
* Marina Kaljurand (born 1962), politician, former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Estonia), Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Kiiri Tamm (born 1962), stage, television and film actress and stage manager
* Tõnu Trubetsky (born 1963), punk rock/glam punk musician, film and music video director and individualist anarchist
* Ivo Uukkivi (born 1965), stage, film, radio, TV actor and producer, founder and singer with the punk band Velikije Luki
* Liina Tennosaar (born 1965), stage, film and television actress
* Juhan Parts (born 1966), politician, Prime Minister of Estonia from 2003 to 2005
* Mart Sander (born 1967), singer, actor, director, author, artist, and television host
* Indrek Sirel (born 1970), general of the Estonian Defence Forces
1970 to date
* Jaan Tallinn (born 1972), programmer, investor, and entrepreneur known for involvement in Skype and other projects.
* Jan Uuspõld (born 1973), stage, television, radio and film actor and musician.
* Urmas Paet (born 1974), politician and Member of the European Parliament
* Ken-Marti Vaher (born 1974), politician, Ministry of Justice (Estonia), Minister of Justice 2003–2005 and Ministry of the Interior (Estonia), Minister of the Interior 2011–2014
* Urmas Reinsalu (born 1975), politician, Minister of Defence (Estonia), Minister of Defence from 2012 to 2014, Ministry of Justice (Estonia), Minister of Justice since 2015
* Kristen Michal (born 1975), politician, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure (Estonia), Minister of economic affairs 2015 to 2016 and Ministry of Justice (Estonia), Minister of Justice from 2011 to 2012
* Mailis Reps (born 1975), politician, Minister of Education and Research (Estonia), Minister of Education and Research 2002/03 and 2005/07
* Harriet Toompere (born 1975), stage, television, film actress and writer of children's books
* Tanel Ingi (born 1976), stage and film actor, performs primarily at the Ugala theatre
* Katrin Pärn (born 1977), stage, film and television actress and singer
* Johann Urb (born 1977), Estonian-born American actor, producer and model
* Carmen Kass (born 1978), supermodel, ran for European Parliament in 2004, president of the Estonian Chess Federation from 2004 to 2011
* Lauri Lagle (born 1981), stage and film actor, screenwriter, director and playwright
* Ursula Ratasepp (born 1982), stage, film and television actress
* Ott Sepp (born 1982), actor, singer, writer and television presenter
* Katrin Siska (born 1983), musician, member of pop-rock band Vanilla Ninja
* Priit Loog (born 1984), stage, television and film actor
* Tiiu Kuik (born 1987), supermodel
* Pääru Oja (born 1989), stage, film, voice, and television actor
* Klaudia Tiitsmaa (born 1990), stage, television and film actress
Architects and conductors
* Valve Pormeister (1922–2002), architect, the first women to influence the development of Estonian architecture
* Allan Murdmaa (1934–2009), architect, designed Tehumardi war memorial
* Neeme Järvi (born 1937), Estonian-American conductor
* Eri Klas (1939–2016), conductor, leader of the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra
* Tõnu Kaljuste (born 1953), conductor, conducted with the Estonian National Opera between 1978 and 1995
* Andres Mustonen (born 1953), conductor and violinist, artistic director of ''Mustonenfest Tallinn Tel Aviv Festival''
* Andres Siim (born 1962), architect, designer of the Nissan Center building in Tallinn
* Paavo Järvi (born 1962), conductor, son of Neeme Järvi
* Margit Mutso (born 1966), architect, designer of the bus station of Rakvere
* Elmo Tiisvald (born 1967), conductor, conductor of Opera Studio at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
* Kaisa Roose (born 1969), music conductor with Malmö Opera and Music Theatre
* Siiri Vallner (born 1972), architect, designer of the Museum of Occupations in Tallinn
* Anu Tali (born 1972), conductor, music director of the Sarasota Orchestra
* Eero Endjärv (born 1973), architect, designed the villa in Otepää in Southern Estonia
* Katrin Koov (born 1973), architect, designer of the Concert Hall of Pärnu
* Mikk Murdvee (born 1980), Estonian-Finnish conductor and violinist, lives in Helsinki
Sport
* Albert Kusnets (1902–1942), middleweight Greco-Roman wrestler, competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics, 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics
* Valter Palm (1905–1994), welterweight professional boxer, competed in 1924 Summer Olympics, 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics
* Toomas Krõm (born 1971), footballer, 11 caps for Estonia national football team, Estonia
* Gert Kullamäe (born 1971), professional basketball player
* Toomas Kallaste (born 1971), footballer, 42 international caps for Estonia national football team, Estonia
* Indrek Pertelson (born 1971) judoka, won bronze at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics
* Mart Poom (born 1972), footballer and coach, goalkeeping coach of the Estonia national football team, national team
* Martin Müürsepp (born 1974), basketball player and coach
* Sergei Pareiko (born 1977), goalkeeper, 65 appearances for Estonia national football team, Estonia
* Andres Oper (born 1977), footballer and coach, assistant manager of the Estonia national football team, national team
* Kristen Viikmäe (born 1979), footballer, played for JK Nõmme Kalju
* Irina Embrich (born 1980), épée fencer
* Joel Lindpere (born 1981), footballer, made 107 appearances for Estonia national football team, Estonia
* Anett Kontaveit (born 1995), tennis player, highest-ranked Estonian singles player
* Ralf Aron (born 1998), race car driver
* Jüri Vips (born 2000), race car driver, competitor in the FIA Formula 2 Championship
* Paul Aron (born 2004), race car driver
Twin towns – sister cities
Tallinn is Sister city, twinned with:
* Annapolis, Maryland, Annapolis, United States
* Dartford, United Kingdom
* Ghent, Belgium
* Groningen, Netherlands
* Kiel, Germany
* Kyiv, Ukraine
* Kotka, Finland
* Malmö Municipality, Malmö, Sweden
* Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...
, Latvia
* Schwerin, Germany
* Venice, Italy
* Vilnius, Lithuania
Gallery
File:Revals segl.svg, Seal of Reval, 1340
File:Tallinn Vana Toomas 1530 (2009).JPG, Old Thomas
Old Thomas ( et, Vana Toomas) is one of the symbols and guardians of Tallinn (Reval), the capital of Estonia. A weather vane, the figure of an old warrior called Old Thomas was put on top of the spire of Tallinn Town Hall
The Tallinn Town Hal ...
weather vane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
on top of Tallinn Town Hall
The Tallinn Town Hall ( et, Tallinna raekoda) is a building in the ''Vanalinn'' ("Old town") of Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, next to the Town Hall Square. The building is located in the south side of the medieval market square and is long. The we ...
since 1530 is the city's symbolic guardian
File:Ayuntamiento, vistas panorámicas desde Toompea, Tallin, Estonia, 2012-08-05, DD 21.JPG, Night view of Tallinn's city center in August 2012
File:Iglesia de San Nicolás, Tallinn, Estonia, 2012-08-05, DD 06.JPG, St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn, St. Nicholas' Church, built 1230–1275
File:Estonia 1479 - Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.jpg, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in 1894–1900
File:MustpeadeVennaskonnaHooned.Tallinn.jpg, House of the Blackheads (Tallinn), House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads
File:Viru väravad 1.jpg, Viru Gate, entrance to the Old Town. Two remaining towers that were part of a larger 14th-century gate system
File:Farmacia del Ayuntamiento, Tallin, Estonia, 2012-08-05, DD 02.JPG, The Raeapteek, built in 1422, is one of the oldest continuously running pharmacies in Europe
File:07-06-21-tallinn-by-RalfR-144.jpg, Kiek in de Kök, Tallinn, Kiek in de Kök defence tower
File:Plaza de la Torre, Tallinn, Estonia, 2012-08-05, DD 02.JPG, Walls of Tallinn, City wall with temporary garden exhibition
File:Pikk Hermann, Tallin, Estonia, 2012-08-11, DD 13.JPG, Pikk Hermann (Toompea)
File:Kadrioru loss a*.jpg, Kadriorg Palace
File:Pirita kloostri varemed kalmistuga.jpg, The ruins of Pirita Convent
File:Nordica_Canadair_CRJ-900ER.jpg, A Nordica (airline), Nordica aircraft landing at Tallinn Airport
File:Tallinn-Tornimae.jpg, Tornimäe business area
File:Musée de plein air (Tallinn) (7644656256).jpg, Estonian Open Air Museum
File:Tallinn Glehn Castle.jpg, Glehn Castle
See also
* Legends of Tallinn
* Revaltoppe
* Tallinn Marathon
* Walls of Tallinn
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and articles
* Burch, Stuart. "An unfolding signifier: London's Baltic exchange in Tallinn." ''Journal of Baltic Studies'' 39.4 (2008): 451–473.
* Hallas, Karin, ed.''20th Century Architecture in Tallinn'' (Tallinn, The Museum of Estonian Architecture, 2000)
*
* Kattago, Siobhan. "War memorials and the politics of memory: The Soviet war memorial in Tallinn." ''Constellations '' 16.1 (2009): 150–166
online
* Naum, Magdalena. "Multi-ethnicity and material exchanges in Late Medieval Tallinn." ''European Journal of Archaeology'' 17.4 (2014): 656–677
online
* Õunapuu, Piret. "The Tallinn department of the Estonian National museum: History and developments." ''Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore'' 48 (2011): 163–196.
* Pullat, Raimo. ''Brief history of Tallinn'' (Estopol, 1999).
*
Travel guides
*
*
*
*
External links
*
The Website of the City of Tallinn
(official)
Visit Tallinn official city guide
Panoramas of Tallinn Old Town
3D model of Tallinn Old Town
Historical footage of Tallinn, 1920
archive
, filmportal.de
*
{{Authority control
Tallinn,
Capitals in Europe
Cities and towns in Estonia
Populated coastal places in Estonia
Municipalities of Estonia
Populated places in Harju County
Port cities and towns in Estonia
Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea
Viking Age populated places
Members of the Hanseatic League
World Heritage Sites in Estonia