Showing posts with label republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label republic. Show all posts

Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Estonia



Estonia is a sovereign state 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). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia covers 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi), and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The Estonians are a Finnic people, and the official language, Estonian, is a Finno-Ugric language closely related to Finnish, and distantly to Hungarian and to the Sami languages.
Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties, with its capital and largest city being Tallinn. Estonia's population of 1.3 million makes it one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A developed country with an advanced, high-income economy, Estonia is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Estonia ranks high in the Human Development Index, and performs favourably in measurements of press freedom (third in the world in 2012), economic freedom, civil liberties and education. Estonia is often described as one of the most wired countries in Europe, and is recognised as a leader in e-government.


Andorra



Andorra is a landlocked microstate in Southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 85,000 in 2012. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft) above sea level.The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.
Created under a charter in A.D. 988, the present Principality was formed in A.D. 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a monarchy headed by two Co-Princes – the Spanish/Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell and the President of France/President of the French Republic.
Andorra is a prosperous country mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and because of its status as a tax haven, although it is in the process of reforming its tax regime. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993. The people of Andorra have the 3rd highest human life expectancy at birth in the world – 84 years.