View source for Baltic states

{{Infobox country
|conventional_long_name = Baltic states
<!--|native_name        = ''Balti riigid''{{spaces|2}}{{resize|75%|([[Estonian language|Estonian]])}}<br />''Baltijas valstis''{{spaces|2}}{{resize|75%|([[Latvian language|Latvian]])}}<br />''Baltijos valstybės''{{spaces|2}}{{resize|75%|([[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]])}}-->
|image_map          = Baltic states.png
|map_caption        = {{map caption|location_color=dark green|region=Europe|region_color=dark grey|legend=Baltic states.png}}
|membership         = {{Flag|Estonia}}<br/> {{flag|Latvia}}<br/> {{flag|Lithuania}}
|admin_center_type  = [[Capital (political)|Capitals]]
|admin_center       = [[Tallinn]]; [[Riga]]; [[Vilnius]]
|languages_type     = [[Official language]]s
|languages          = [[Estonian language|Estonian]]; [[Latvian language|Latvian]]; [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]
|area_rank                   = 91st
|area_magnitude              =
|area_km2                    = 175015
|area_sq_mi                  = 67523
|percent_water               = 2.23 % (3,909 km²)
|Failed state index          =
|Gini                        =
|Gini_year                   =
|Gini_category               =
|HDI                         =
|HDI_rank                    =
|HDI_year                    =
|HDI_category                =
|currency                    =
|currency_code               =
|time_zone                   =
|utc_offset                  =
|footnotes                   =
|footnote1                   =
|footnote2                   =
|footnote7                   =
}}

The '''Baltic states''' or '''Baltic countries''', sometimes the '''Baltics''', are three [[European Union member state|member states]] of the [[European Union]] <ref>[http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/index_en.htm European countries at europa.eu]</ref>: the [[List of sovereign states|sovereign states]] of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]], located in [[Northern Europe]]. All three countries are also members of the New Hanseatic League (established in February 2018), an informal group of northern EU states formed to advocate a common fiscal position. 

==History==
[[File:Teutonic Order in 14th century.png|thumb|260px|This map depicts "German rule of [[North Sea|North]] and [[Baltic Sea]] in 14th and early 15th century during the height of the [[Teutonic Order]] (and the [[Hanseatic League]])"]]
[[Estonians]] and the [[Livonian people]] in Latvia are descended from the [[Finnic peoples]], sharing closely related languages and a common cultural ancestry. The [[Latvians]] and [[Lithuanians]], linguistically and culturally related to each other, are descended from the [[Balts]], an [[Indo-European]] [[people]] and [[culture]]. The peoples comprising the Baltic states have together inhabited the eastern Baltic coast for millennia, although not always peacefully in ancient times, over which period their populations: Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, have remained remarkably stable within the approximate territorial boundaries of the current Baltic states. While separate peoples with their own customs and traditions, historical factors have introduced cultural commonalities across and differences within them.

Latvia's capital city Riga, founded in 1201 by [[Germans]] at the mouth of the Daugava, became a strategic base in a papally-sanctioned conquest of the area by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. The powerful [[German]] [[Teutonic Knights]] gained control over most of the southern and eastern shore of the [[Baltic Sea]], while fighting the Poles, the Danes, the Swedes, the Russians of ancient Novgorod, and the Lithuanians (the last [[Europeans]] to convert to [[Christianity]]).  Riga was to be the first major city of the southern Baltic and, after 1282, a principal trading centre in the Hanseatic League. Tallinn (Reval) was given the [[Lübeck]] [[Rights]] in 1248 and joined the [[Hanseatic League]] at the end of the 13th century. Despite local rebellions and Muscovian invasions in 1481 and 1558, the local [[German language|Low German-speaking]] upper class continued to rule the Baltics. By the end of the [[Middle Ages]], these Baltic Germans ([https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Baltendeutsche ''Baltendeutsche'']) had established themselves as the governing elite, both as traders and the urban middle-class in the cities, and as landowners in the countryside, through a network of manorial estates. The Baltic states became independent in the aftermath of [[World War I]] in 1918.

The term "Baltic republics" can sometimes refer in historic context to the Baltic republics of the [[Soviet Union]]. At the same [[time]] the three countries were considered under the [[Occupation of Baltic states|Soviet occupation]] by the Western democracies: e.g. the USA <ref [[name]]="USA">[http://web.archive.org/web/20070611074645/http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rm/86539.htm U.S.-Baltic Relations: Celebrating 85 Years of Friendship] at state.gov </ref> and the UK.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030731063641/http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1019233911509 Country Profiles: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania] at UK Foreign Office</ref> After the collapse of the Soviet Union the Baltic States' [[struggle]] for [[independence]] came to a conclusion. The sovereignties of the countries were restored in 1991 and the last Russian troops withdrew from the Baltic States in August 1994.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/vo-baltic.htm Baltic Military District] globalsecurity.org</ref>  
===21st century===
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been members of the [[European Union]] and [[NATO]] since 2004. Today the three countries are [[liberal democracy|liberal democracies]] and their [[market economy|market economies]] have in recent years undergone [[Baltic Tiger|rapid expansion]]. 

==See also==
* [[Baltic Baron]]
==External links== 

=== Encyclopedias ===
*[https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltic-states Encyclopedia Britannica: Baltic states]
*[https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/commonwealth-independent-states-and-baltic-nations/cis-and-baltic-political-geography/baltic-states Encyclopedia.com: Baltic States]
===In German===
*    [https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Baltenkreuz ''Baltenkreuz'']
*    [https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Baltikumk%C3%A4mpfer ''Baltikumkämpfer'']
*    [https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Baltische_Landeswehr ''Baltische Landeswehr'']

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Pages with broken file links]]
[[Category:Europe]]