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The Baltic states (Estonian: Balti riigid, Latvian: Baltijas valstis, Lithuanian: Baltijos valstybės), Baltic Nations or Baltic countries are three countries in Northern Europe, all members of the European Union: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. After centuries of foreign domination the Baltic countries reemerged as independent nations in the aftermath of World War I in 1918-1920.

Estonians and the nearly linguistically extinct Livonian people in Latvia are descended from the Baltic Finns, sharing closely related languages and a common cultural ancestry. The Latvians and Lithuanians, linguistically and culturally related to each other, are descended from the Balts, an Indo-European people and culture. The peoples comprising the Baltic states have together inhabited the eastern Baltic coast for millennia, although not always peacefully in ancient times, over which period their populations: Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, have remained remarkably stable within the approximate territorial boundaries of the current Baltic states. While separate peoples with their own customs and traditions, historical factors have introduced cultural commonalities across and differences within them.

The term \"Baltic republics\" can sometimes refer in historic context to the Baltic republics of the Soviet Union. At the same time the three countries were considered under Soviet occupation by the Western democracies: for example the USA and the UK. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the Baltic States' struggle for independence came to a conclusion. The sovereignties of the countries were restored in 1991 and the last Russian troops withdrew from the Baltic States in August 1994.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been members of the European Union and NATO since 2004. Today the three countries are liberal democracies and their market economies have in recent years undergone rapid expansion.

Etymology and usage of the term

The term Baltic stems from the name of the Baltic Sea. Usage of Baltic and similar terms to denote the region east from the sea started only in 19th century. At first it was used to refer to Baltic governorates of Courland, Livonia and Estonia known also by German term Balticum as these lands were under German hegemony, Lithuania was usually excluded from this division. The Russian term \"Прибалтика\" (Pribaltika \"Near Baltic\") was used to refer to all of the lands bordering the Baltic sea's Eastern shore, a more narrow term \"Прибалтийские страны\" (Pribaltijskie strany \"Near Baltic states\") used to refer to the governorates that appeared around 1859. The Latvian and Lithuanian term \"Baltija\" most likely originates from Russian and was first used in Latvia around 1868. In the 1920s, the newly established countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were referred to as the Baltic states, and during that period Finland too was sometimes considered to be a Baltic state though it sought more co-operation with the Scandinavian countries than the former countries. While annexed by the USSR during and after World War II, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were known as the Baltic Soviet Republics until all three countries regained their independence when the Soviet Union collapsed. The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names defines a Baltic Division .

Read more at Wikipedia.org