Baltic region

Countries surrounding the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea Region, alternatively the Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states, refers to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, including parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Unlike the "Baltic states", the Baltic region includes all countries that border the sea.

Etymology

The first to name it the Baltic Sea (Template:Langx) was 11th century German chronicler Adam of Bremen.

Denotation

Depending on the context the Baltic Sea Region might stand for:

• The countries that have shorelines along the Baltic Sea: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
• The group of countries that are members of the inter-governmental Baltic Assembly and Baltic Council of Ministers,<ref name="Unity">Template:Cite book</ref> and generally referred to by the shorthand, Baltic states:<ref name="EB-Baltic">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="LatviaFA">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="EstoniaFA">Template:Cite web</ref> Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, exclaved from the remainder of Russia.<ref name="GSEn_ПЭР">«The Baltic region includes the Baltic republics and the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR "» — Template:GSEn</ref>
• Historic East Prussia and the historical lands of Livonia, Courland and Estonia (Swedish Estonia and Russian Estonia).Template:Citation needed
• The former Baltic governorates of Imperial Russia: Today's Estonia and Latvia (excluding parts of modern Eastern Latvia that were part of Vitebsk Governorate).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• The countries on the historical British trade route through the Baltic Sea, i.e. including the Scandinavian Peninsula (Sweden and Norway).Template:Citation needed
• The negotiating members of the Grand Baltic Entente also known as the Baltic League: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS),<ref name="ecCBSS">Template:Cite web</ref> are the countriesTemplate:Efn with shorelines along the Baltic Sea, in addition to Norway, Iceland and the European Commission.
• The islands of the Euroregion B7 Baltic Islands Network, which includes the islands and archipelagos Åland (autonomous region of Finland), Bornholm (Denmark), Gotland (Sweden), Hiiumaa (Estonia), Öland (Sweden), Rügen (Germany), and Saaremaa (Estonia).<ref name="b7charter">Template:Cite news</ref>
• On historic Scandinavian and German maps, the Balticum sometimes includes only the historically or culturally German-dominated lands, or provinces, of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Latgale (corresponding to modern Estonia and Latvia), East Prussia, Samogitia (corresponding to modern Western Lithuania) as well as sometimes Pomerania, Kashubia, while the historically less-Germanized Eastern Lithuania is occasionally excluded.Template:Citation needed
• In geology, the Baltic Shield includes Fennoscandia, parts of northwestern Russia and the northern Baltic Sea.<ref name="EB2004">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Beck2008">Template:Cite journal</ref>

See also

• Baltia (Roman mythology)
• Baltic states
• Baltoscandia
• Council of the Baltic Sea States
• List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Northern Europe
• Nordic identity in Estonia
• Northern Dimension
• North Sea Region

Further reading

• Norbert Götz. "Spatial Politics and Fuzzy Regionalism: The Case of the Baltic Sea Area." Baltic Worlds 9 (2016) 3: 54–67.
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Oweb of the Council of the Baltic Sea States
• The Baltic Sea Information Centre (archived 8 February 2008)
• EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy (EUSBSR) – a strategy aiming to accelerate the integration of the region
• The Baltic University Programme – a university network focused on a sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region (archived 10 June 2010)
• Baltic Sea Region Spatial Planning Initiative VASAB
• Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007–2013 Template:Webarchive
• Vifanord – a digital library that provides scientific information on the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as the Baltic region as a whole.