E is for Estonia

Taagepera Castle in the south of Estonia dates back to the 15th/16th century but it has been rebuilt and is now a hotel.

Järvamaa is one of the regions or counties of Estonia, pretty much in the centre of the country.

I always post a map card on a Monday if I possibly can, so here we have two cards from Estonia with map inserts.

Estonia is a country whose name I knew, vaguely, until I started exchanging postcards through Postcrossing and through many of these cards I have learned a lot.  The total population is only 1.3 million (compare that with the population of London - 8.3 million) and yet something like 10% of that population are members of Postcrossing.  I suspect only Finland can beat that percentage.

The country has Latvia to the south and Russia to the east.  Over history it has been part of Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and then the USSR.  Now of course it is an independent country and a member of the European Union.

At first it seemed amazing to have to change allegiance so often but of course Britain was invaded by Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Vikings before the French arrived in 1066.