Baltic region

Etymology

Denotation

• The countries that have shorelines along the Baltic Sea: Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
• The group of countries presently referred to by the shorthand Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, exclaved from the remainder of Russia.
• Historic East Prussia and the historical lands of Livonia, Courland and Estonia.
• The former Baltic governorates of Imperial Russia: Today's Estonia and Latvia.
• The countries on the historical British trade route through the Baltic Sea, i.e. including the Scandinavian Peninsula.
• The Council of the Baltic Sea States, comprised by the countries with shorelines along the Baltic Sea, in addition to Norway, Iceland and the rest of European Union.
• The islands of the Euroregion B7 Baltic Islands Network, which includes the islands and archipelagos Åland, Bornholm, Gotland, Hiiumaa, Öland, Rügen, and Saaremaa.
• 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, as well as sometimes Pomerania, Kashubia and East Prussia, while the historically less-Germanized Lithuania is occasionally excluded.
• In geology, the Baltic Shield includes Fennoscandia, parts of northwestern Russia and the northern Baltic Sea.

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