Estonia

The republic of Estonia is one of the Baltic republics in the northeast of Europe with 1,3 million inhabitants. After centuries of foreign rule, the Estonians experienced a national awakening that culminated in independence from the Russian Empire after the First World War.

During World War II, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany a year later and was again annexed by the Soviets in 1944, after which it was reconstituted as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991.

During the Briefmarken-Messe in Essen in May 2017 I left stamped envelopes at almost every foreign postal administration hoping they would send them back when they arrived home. The stamp is a 2017 definitive and the postmark is from Tallinn. The priority label was put there by Eesti Post.

The website of the philately section of Eesti Post: pood.omniva.ee.

Date sent: 11 May 2017

Date postmark: 12 May 2017

Date received: 18 May 2017

Number of days: 7

Envelope in collection: 75