Estonia is a place.
Estonia ( [ ɛˈstoʊniə ] Eesti [ ˈeːsti ] ) , officially the Republic of Estonia ( [ Eesti Vabariik , links = no ] ) , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe . It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland , to the west by the Baltic Sea , to the south by Latvia ( 343 km ) , and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia ( 338.6 km ) . The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea , covering 45339 km2 of land and water , and is influenced by a humid continental climate . Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties . With a population of 1.3 million , it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union , Eurozone , North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) , OECD and Schengen Area .