Though with a population of a little more than one million, Estonia still boasts a rich history of art, literature, cinema and theatre. The Estonian language and culture are the main vehicles for maintaining Estonian identity, and the people of Estonia have always revered their cultural treasures.
Estonia has a long, indented and diverse coastline of 3,794 km. In western Estonia, rising land slowly and steadily creates new coastal wetlands, which appear as shallow bays and inlets, coastal lagoons and marshes, or coastal meadows and mud flats.
The Republic of Estonia is divided into fifteen counties (Maakonnad), which are the administrative subdivisions of the country. The first documented mentioning of Estonian political and administrative subdivisions comes from the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, written in the 13th century during the Northern Crusades.