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Baltic states
From Wikitravel
Contents
The Baltic states are three countries of Europe, with a long history and diverse culture between regions. All three countries are currently members of European Union and NATO.
[edit] Countries
North to South:
| Estonia |
| Latvia |
| Lithuania |
[edit] Other destinations
- Kaliningrad Oblast - a small exclave of Russia, between Lithuania and Poland. You need to get visa for Russia to enter Kaliningrad Oblast and proceed through customs.
[edit] Understand
Despite the three nations' similarities in culture and history, their languages belong to two distinct language families. The Latvian and Lithuanian languages make up the group of Baltic languages which belongs to the Indo-European language family. The Estonian language, on the other hand, is a non-Indo-European language and instead belongs to the Baltic-Finnic subgroup of the Finno-Ugric languages, sharing close cultural and historical ties with the Finnish language and culture.
The peoples of the Baltic countries also belong to different Christian denominations. Believers in Latvia and Estonia are mostly Lutheran (except for Eastern part of Latvia, which is Catholic). Lithuania is principally Catholic.
[edit] Talk
Each of the three Baltic countries has the language of their respective titular nationality as an official language. Russian is spoken by the majority of the population in all three countries, and English is increasingly spoken as well, especially by the younger generations. Any attempt to speak the native language will be greatly appreciated. German is also spoken by some in all three countries; Finnish is understood in Estonia due to the similarity of Finnish and Estonian, and some Polish is also spoken in Lithuania.
Note on Russian: as the status of the Russian language has been a contentious issue since the collapse of the USSR, and due to heated anti-Russian sentiment, it is advised that if you speak Russian, you attempt to first communicate in the native language, at least to issue greetings and ask if the person speaks Russian. The greatest hostility towards Russian tends to be found in Estonia and Latvia, while Lithuania seems to have the least anti-Russian language sentiment. In the cities, especially Riga, many people may be native speakers of Russian, but in rural areas Russian will be spoken much less.
[edit] Get in
[edit] Get around
[edit] By bicycle
The international bicycle project, BaltiCCycle [1] may provide you with a lot of information and help.
[edit][add listing] See
[edit] Itineraries
- Via Baltica - goes from the Estonian capital Tallinn through Riga, Latvia and Kaunas, Lithuania and continues to Warsaw, Poland.
[edit][add listing] Do
[edit][add listing] Eat
[edit][add listing] Drink
[edit] Stay safe
[edit] Get out
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