GEOGRAPHY A

ND

CLIM

ATE O

F ES

TONIA

Carolina Kristina KoplimetsEeva-Brita UustalAnni-Teele Värav

THE BASICS: GEORGAPHY

Area: 45226 km² (5,3 times smaller than Romania) Highest point: Suur Munamägi, 318 m Biggest lake: Peipsi-Pihkva, 3555 km² Coastline: 3794 km Islands and islets: approx. 1500 Biggest islands: Saaremaa, Hiiumaa Longest river: Võhandu, 162 km Forests and woodland: 50,3%

Typical forest in Estonia

THE FIFTH SEASON

There are 3 different areas in Estonia that get flooded annually. Soomaa is the most famous of them, mainly because it has the biggest population of these three. Soomaa area gets flooded every spring and people call it "the fifth season". In the older times, people (especially youngsters) used to celebrate and look forward to the fifth season as it was a holiday. No one had to work (because no one simply could) so everyone came together, sang and played music. One of the latest and biggest floods that Soomaa has seen was in year 2010. The highway going through Soomaa was covered in water for about 5 km. The maximum water level in 2010 was 4 m and 94 cm.

THE FIFTH SEASON

The Fifth Season

THE FIFTH SEASON

The flood affected the area of total 142 square kilometers, although this was still only the fourth biggest flood in 100 years. The absolute biggest was in 1931 and the maximum water level was 5.53 m. The water level also went past the 5 m in 1951 and 1956. Soomaa actually means "Swamp Land" in Estonian.

ESTONIAN CLIMATE

Estonia has four seasons of near-equal length.

Estonia is continuously warmed by maritime air, and because of that, it has a milder climate despite its northern latitude.

The average temperature in July, which is considered the warmest month of the year, is 16.4 °C.

The average temperature in February, the coldest month of the year, is −5.7 °C.

Snow cover, which is deepest in the south-eastern part of Estonia, usually lasts from mid-December to late March.

The highest measured airtemperature, which was 35,6 °C, was registred in in Võru and the lowest, -43,2 °C, in Jõgeva.

Winter in Estonia

SOURCES Map of Estonia:

http://www.telegram.ee/eesti/aastal-2017-muutub-eesti-kaart-oluliselt#.Unar3lOimXF (Estonian map will change appreciably in year 2017)

Photo of Estonian forest: http://www.telegram.ee/eesti/metsapealinn-2013-on-elva-linn#.UnasrlOimXE (Elva - the forestcapital of 2013)

The Fifth season: http://nagi.ee/contest/29/picture/9565/ http://www.romanpurga.com/

Winter in Estonia: http://pilt.delfi.ee/picture/10207475/

Estonian climate: http://www.estonica.org/et/Loodus/Asend_ja_looduslikud_tingimused/Kliima/