Estonia - Tallinn4

Tallinn (historically known by the German and Swedish name Reval, among other names) is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It lies on the northern coast of Estonia, along the Gulf of Finland. The city is an important industrial, political and cultural center, and seaport.

Etymology

In 1219 Valdemar II of Denmark, leading the Danish Fleet in connection with the Northern Crusades, landed in an Estonian town of Lindanisse [1] at (Latin) Revelia (Estonian) Revala or Rävala, the adjacent ancient Estonian county. The Danish Army defeated the Estonians at the Battle of Lyndanisse. The German and Swedish name Reval (Latin: Revalia) originated from the ancient Estonian name of the county. The origin of the name "Tallinn(a)" is certain to be Estonian, although the original meaning of the name is debated. It is usually thought to be derived from "Taani-linn(a)" (meaning "Danish-castle/town"; Latin: Castrum Danorum) after the Danes built the castle in place of the Estonian stronghold at Lindanisse. However, it could also have come from "tali-linna" ("winter-castle/town"), or "talu-linna" ("house/farmstead-castle/town"). The element -linna, like Germanic -burg and Slavic -grad / -gorod, originally meant "fortress" but is used as a suffix in the formation of town names.

Tallinna replaced the previously used official German name Reval (help·info) (Russian: Ревель) in 1918, when Estonia became independent. In the early 1920s, the official spelling of the city name was changed from Tallinna to Tallinn, making the new name notable since Estonian-language place names generally end with a vowel (denoting the genitive case). However, somewhat confusingly to non-Estonian speakers, the word Tallinna still appears in modern Tallinn as the -a suffix can denote the genitive case (thus Tallinna Lennujaam translates literally as Tallinn's

Geography

Tallinn is situated on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, in north central Estonia.

The largest lake in Tallinn is Lake Ülemiste (covers 9.6 km²). It is the main source of the city's drinking water. Lake Harku is the second largest lake within the borders of Tallinn and its area is 1.6 km². Unlike many other large towns, the only significant river in Tallinn is located in Pirita (a city district counted as a suburb). The river valley is a protected area because of its natural beauty.

A limestone cliff runs through the city. It is exposed, for instance, at Toompea and Lasnamäe. However, Toompea is not a part of the cliff, but a separate hill.

The highest point of Tallinn, at 64 meters above the sea level, is situated in the district of Nõmme, in the south-west of the city.

The length of the coastline is 46 kilometres. It comprises 3 bigger peninsulas: Kopli peninsula, Paljassaare peninsula and Kakumäe peninsula.