Estonia has shrunk by 4 km2, but gained 95 new islands

Teksti Mark Taylor
Photo Ojārs Balceraitis / Unsplash

A new map completed by the Estonian Land Board has found that although the country has 95 more islands than previously believed, the land area of the country has shrunk by 4 km².

Every eight years the Estonian Land Board maps the country’s coastline, which is changing as a result of erosion and post-glacial rebound. The results of the latest study, which uses aerial images, found that the number of islands in Estonian waters has risen from 2222, to 2317 – an increase of 95. However, the overall size of the country had shrunk by 4 km², to 45,335 km².

“The shoreline of the Baltic Sea is constantly changing. The shoreline is affected by post-ice age land uplift, as a result of which the ground surface rises, as well as by continuous coastal erosion and accretion processes, which are particularly intense with storms,” explained Lea Pauts, Head of the Land Board’s Spatial Data Department to ERR. 

Paut added that the difference in both the size of Estonia and the number of new islands can be explained by better data and more accurate mapping techniques.

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Coastal Erosion Estonian Islands Estonia Number of Islands Estonia Size Land Board Lea Pauts Size of Estonia