1.
Estonian language
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Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken natively by about 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 outside Estonia. It belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family, Estonian belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages, along with Finnish, Karelian, and other nearby languages. The Uralic languages do not belong to the Indo-European languages, Estonian is distantly related to Hungarian and to the Sami languages. Estonian has been influenced by Swedish, German, and Russian, furthermore, the apocope of word-final sounds is extensive and has contributed to a shift from a purely agglutinative to a fusional language. The basic word order is subject–verb–object, modern standard Estonian has evolved on the basis of the dialects of Northern Estonia. The domination of Estonia after the Northern Crusades, from the 13th century to 1918 by Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the oldest written records of the Finnic languages of Estonia date from the 13th century. Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place names, words, the earliest extant samples of connected Estonian are the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528. In 1525 the first book published in the Estonian language was printed, the book was a Lutheran manuscript, which never reached the reader and was destroyed immediately after publication. The first extant Estonian book is a bilingual German-Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism by S. Wanradt and J. Koell dating to 1535, an Estonian grammar book to be used by priests was printed in German in 1637. The New Testament was translated into southern Estonian in 1686, the two languages were united based on northern Estonian by Anton thor Helle. Writings in Estonian became more significant in the 19th century during the Estophile Enlightenment Period, the birth of native Estonian literature was in 1810 to 1820 when the patriotic and philosophical poems by Kristjan Jaak Peterson were published. His birthday on March 14 is celebrated in Estonia as the Mother Tongue Day, a fragment from Petersons poem Kuu expresses the claim reestablishing the birthright of the Estonian language, Kas siis selle maa keel Laulutuules ei või Taevani tõustes üles Igavikku omale otsida. In English, Can the language of this land In the wind of incantation Rising up to the heavens Not seek for eternity. Kristjan Jaak Peterson From 1525 to 191714,503 titles were published in Estonian, in modern times Jaan Kross and Jaan Kaplinski remain as two of Estonias best known and most translated writers. Writings in Estonian became significant only in the 19th century with the spread of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, after the Estonian War of Independence in 1919, the Estonian language became the state language of the newly independent country. In 1945,97. 3% of Estonia considered itself ethnic Estonian, when Estonia was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in World War II, the status of the Estonian language changed to the first of two official languages. As with Latvia many immigrants entered Estonia under Soviet encouragement, in the second half of the 1970s, the pressure of bilingualism intensified, resulting in widespread knowledge of Russian throughout the country. The Russian language was termed as ‘the language of friendship of nations’ and was taught to Estonian children, although teaching Estonian to non-Estonians in schools was compulsory, in practice learning the language was often considered unnecessary
2.
ISO 4217
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The ISO4217 code list is used in banking and business globally. ISO4217 codes are used on tickets and international train tickets to remove any ambiguity about the price. The first two letters of the code are the two letters of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself, so Japans currency code is JPY—JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the dollar, franc, peso and pound being used in dozens of different countries. Also, if a currency is revalued, the currency codes last letter is changed to distinguish it from the old currency. Other changes can be seen, however, the Russian ruble, for example, changed from RUR to RUB and these currency units are denominated as one troy ounce of the specified metal as opposed to USD1 or EUR1. The code XTS is reserved for use in testing, the code XXX is used to denote a transaction involving no currency. There are also codes specifying certain monetary instruments used in international finance, the codes for most supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO. The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU, the use of an initial letter X for these purposes is facilitated by the ISO3166 rule that no official country code beginning with X will ever be assigned. Because of this rule ISO4217 can use X codes without risk of clashing with a country code. ISO3166 country codes beginning with X are used for private custom use, consequently, ISO4217 can use X codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes. The inclusion of EU in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list, the ISO4217 standard includes a crude mechanism for expressing the relationship between a major currency unit and its corresponding minor currency unit. This mechanism is called the exponent and assumes a base of 10. For example, USD is equal to 100 of its currency unit the cent. So the USD has exponent 2, the code JPY is given the exponent 0, because its minor unit, the sen, although nominally valued at 1/100 of a yen, is of such negligible value that it is no longer used. Usually, as with the USD, the currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but in some cases 1/1000 is used. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya equal to 5 khoums, some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all and these are given an exponent of 0, as with currencies whose minor units are unused due to negligible value. There is also a code number assigned to each currency
3.
Cent (currency)
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In many national currencies, the cent, commonly represented by the cent sign is a monetary unit that equals 1⁄100 of the basic monetary unit. Etymologically, the word cent derives from the Latin word centum meaning hundred, cent also refers to a coin worth one cent. In the United States and Canada, the 1¢ coin is known by the nickname penny, alluding to the British coin. In Ireland the 1c coin is sometimes known as a penny in reference to the Irish penny. A cent is commonly represented by the cent sign, a letter c crossed by a diagonal stroke or a vertical line, ¢, or a simple c. Cent amounts from 1 cent to 99 cents can be represented as one or two digits followed by the abbreviation, or as a subdivision of the base unit. The cent sign has not survived the changeover from typewriters to computer keyboards, for the US International keyboard, <Right Alt> <Shift> c. On Macintosh systems, hold ⌥ Option and press 4 on the number row, on Unix/Linux systems with a compose key, Compose+|+C is a typical sequence. The cent sign has Unicode code point, U+00A2 ¢ cent sign, usage of the cent symbol varies from one currency to another. In the United States, Canada and Mexico, the usage ¢ is more common, while in Australia, New Zealand and the eurozone, in South Africa and Ireland, only the c is used. When written in English, the cent sign follows the amount, in contrast with a currency symbol. For example, 2¢ and $0.02, or 2c, greek coins have ΛΕΠΤΟ on the obverse of the one-cent coin and ΛΕΠΤΑ on the obverse of the others. Actual usage varies depending on language, South Korean Won no fractional denomination in circulation, formerly divided into 100 jeon
4.
Paper
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Paper is a thin material produced by pressing together moist fibres of cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets. It is a material with many uses, including writing, printing, packaging, cleaning. The modern pulp and paper industry is global, with China leading its production, the oldest known archaeological fragments of the immediate precursor to modern paper, date to the 2nd century BC in China. The pulp papermaking process is ascribed to Cai Lun, a 2nd-century AD Han court eunuch, with paper as an effective substitute for silk in many applications, China could export silk in greater quantity, contributing to a Golden Age. Because of papers introduction to the West through the city of Baghdad, in the 19th century, industrial manufacture greatly lowered its cost, enabling mass exchange of information and contributing to significant cultural shifts. In 1844, the Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty and the German F. G. Keller independently developed processes for pulping wood fibres, before the industrialisation of the paper production the most common fibre source was recycled fibres from used textiles, called rags. The rags were from hemp, linen and cotton, a process for removing printing inks from recycled paper was invented by German jurist Justus Claproth in 1774. Today this method is called deinking and it was not until the introduction of wood pulp in 1843 that paper production was not dependent on recycled materials from ragpickers. The word paper is etymologically derived from Latin papyrus, which comes from the Greek πάπυρος, although the word paper is etymologically derived from papyrus, the two are produced very differently and the development of the first is distinct from the development of the second. Papyrus is a lamination of natural plant fibres, while paper is manufactured from fibres whose properties have changed by maceration. To make pulp from wood, a chemical pulping process separates lignin from cellulose fibres and this is accomplished by dissolving lignin in a cooking liquor, so that it may be washed from the cellulose, this preserves the length of the cellulose fibres. Paper made from chemical pulps are also known as wood-free papers–not to be confused with paper, this is because they do not contain lignin. The pulp can also be bleached to produce paper, but this consumes 5% of the fibres, chemical pulping processes are not used to make paper made from cotton. There are three main chemical pulping processes, the process dates back to the 1840s and it was the dominant method extent before the second world war. Most pulping operations using the process are net contributors to the electricity grid or use the electricity to run an adjacent paper mill. Another advantage is that this process recovers and reuses all inorganic chemical reagents, soda pulping is another specialty process used to pulp straws, bagasse and hardwoods with high silicate content. There are two major mechanical pulps, thermomechanical pulp and groundwood pulp, in the TMP process, wood is chipped and then fed into steam heated refiners, where the chips are squeezed and converted to fibres between two steel discs. In the groundwood process, debarked logs are fed into grinders where they are pressed against rotating stones to be made into fibres
5.
2 krooni
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The 2 krooni banknote is a denomination of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. Karl Ernst von Baer, who was an Estonian anthropologist, naturalist, the 2 krooni bill is called sometimes a kahene meaning a two. A view of Tartu University which was founded in 1632 is featured on the reverse, before the replacement of the EEK by the euro, the 2 krooni banknote was the smallest denomination most commonly used by Estonian residents on an everyday basis. It can be exchanged indefinitely at the museum of Eesti Pank for €0.13. The paper of the banknotes contains security fibres of different colour, each note contains a security strip. Each banknote has a serial number printed in black. Dark security thread with transparent text 2 EEK EESTI PANK, uV-fluorescent rectangle with the denomination 2. Currencies related to the euro Estonian euro coins Currency board Estonian mark Economy of Estonia Global Financial Data data series - Estonia Kroon The Global History of Currencies - Estonia
6.
5 krooni
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The 5 krooni banknote is a denomination of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. Paul Keres, who was a world-famous Estonian chess player, international Grandmaster, the reverse features Hermann Castle founded in 1256 by the Danes and Ivangorod Fortress established by Ivan III in 1492. The 5 krooni banknote was issued shortly after the reestablishment of the Estonian state in 1991. A5 krooni coin was also minted but the banknote was commonly found in circulation. The note can be exchanged indefinitely at the museum of Eesti Pank for €0.32. The watermark is in two parts on the edges of the note, each note contains a security thread. The portraits are printed in the colour of the note. Each note has a serial number. The horizontal number on the left is printed in black and the number on the right is printed in a different colour on each denomination. When the note is held at an angle to the light,1994 New colour tints have been used in these areas. Silver ink has been incorporated into the note, a new style serial number appears on the right-hand side, in a different colour for each denomination. When the note is held up to the light, printed areas on the back of the fill the unprinted areas on the front of the note. Currencies related to the euro Estonian euro coins Currency board Estonian mark Economy of Estonia Global Financial Data data series - Estonia Kroon The Global History of Currencies - Estonia
7.
10 krooni
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The 10 krooni banknote is a denomination of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. The 10 krooni bill is called a Hurt. A view of the Tamme-Lauri oak tree at Urvaste is featured on the reverse, the EEK has been withdrawn and replaced by the euro, but the 10 krooni can be exchanged indefinitely at the currency museum of Eesti Pank for €0.64. The watermark is in two parts on the edges of the note, each note contains a security thread. The portraits are printed in the colour of the note. Each note has a serial number. The horizontal number on the left is printed in black and the number on the right is printed in a different colour on each denomination. When the note is held at an angle to the light,1994 New colour tints have been used in these areas. Silver ink has been incorporated into the note, a new style serial number appears on the right-hand side, in a different colour for each denomination. When the note is held up to the light, printed areas on the back of the fill the unprinted areas on the front of the note. Dark security thread with the transparent text 10 EEK EESTI PANK, tactile marks for the visually impaired. When the note is held against the light, the areas on the back of the note fill the unprinted areas on the front of the note. UV-fluorescent rectangle with the denomination 10 inside, Currencies related to the euro Estonian euro coins Currency board Estonian mark Economy of Estonia Global Financial Data data series - Estonia Kroon The Global History of Currencies - Estonia
8.
25 krooni
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The 25 krooni banknote is a denomination of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. A view of Vargamäe is featured on the side of the banknote. Before the replacement of the EEK by the euro, the 25 krooni was frequently used in everyday transactions and it can be exchanged indefinitely at the currency museum of Eesti Pank for €1.60. The watermark is in two parts on the edges of the note, each note contains a security thread. The portraits are printed in the colour of the note. Each note has a serial number. The horizontal number on the left is printed in black and the number on the right is printed in a different colour on each denomination. When the note is held at an angle to the light, holographic foil stripe with microtext border. Dark security thread with transparent text 25EEK EESTI PANK, microprint, repeated 25 within denomination numerals. Signatures, President, Chairman of the Board, recognition sign for the visually handicapped. Number 25 appears when the note is held up to the light, uV-fluorescent motif of boggy landscape and security thread. Currencies related to the euro Estonian euro coins Currency board Estonian mark Economy of Estonia Global Financial Data data series - Estonia Kroon The Global History of Currencies - Estonia
9.
50 krooni
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The 50 krooni banknote is a denomination of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. A portrait of Rudolf Tobias, a famous Estonian composer, is engraved on the front side of the bill along with the organ of the Käina church. The vignette on the features the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn. The only printing of the 50 krooni banknote took place in 1994, fewer 50 krooni notes were ordered by the Bank of Estonia than any other denominations. A medium size banknote, it was one of the most rarely used denominations and it can be exchanged indefinitely at the currency museum of Eesti Pank for €3.20. The watermark is in two parts on the edges of the note, each note contains a security thread. The portrait is printed in the colour of the note. Each note has a serial number. The horizontal number on the left and the novel style vertical number on the right are printed in black, silver ink has been incorporated into the note. When the note is held at an angle to the light, Currencies related to the euro Estonian euro coins Currency board Estonian mark Economy of Estonia Global Financial Data data series - Estonia Kroon The Global History of Currencies - Estonia
10.
100 krooni
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The 100 krooni banknote is a denomination of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. Lydia Koidula, who was an Estonian poet and playwright, is featured on the front side of the banknote, a view of the north Estonian limestone shore is featured on the reverse side of the banknote. It can be exchanged indefinitely at the museum of Eesti Pank for €6.39. The watermark is in two parts on the edges of the note, each note contains a security thread. The portraits are printed in the colour of the note. Each note has a serial number. The horizontal number on the left is printed in black and the number on the right is printed in a different colour on each denomination. When the note is held at an angle to the light,1994 New colour tints have been used in these areas. Silver ink has been incorporated into the note, a new style serial number appears on the right-hand side, in a different colour for each denomination. When the note is held up to the light, printed areas on the back of the fill the unprinted areas on the front of the note. The image of the nightingale and the figure 100 can be seen in area as the viewing angle is altered. 1999 A 3-dimensional watermark representing the portrait of Lydia Koidula is located at the right hand area of the note. A vertically oriented denomination number electrotype watermark denomination number 100 is located in the right corner of the banknote. A holographic foil stripe runs from the top to the close to the left edge of the note. The foil stripe depicts two seals of the Bank of Estonia, both surrounded by two coat of arms lions oriented towards the seal, one pair of lions is shown in a positive form while the other pair in a negative form of holographic artwork. Pump effect dynamics of the structure surrounding the lions appears if the note is tilted with respect to the light. The wavy left border of the stripe is surrounded by a repeated microtext EESTI PANK100. The foil stripe is partially intaglio and offset overprinted, a dark security thread, placed about 45 mm from the right edge of the note with the transparent text 100 EEK EESTI PANK in all four possible orientations, is fully embedded into the banknote paper
11.
500 krooni
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The 500 krooni banknote is a denomination of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. A barn swallow in flight on a background is featured on the reverse side of the banknote. Before the replacement of the EEK by the euro, the 500 krooni banknote was commonly dispensed by ATMs in Estonia as well as the primary banknote used for withdrawals or cashing checks and it can be exchanged indefinitely at the currency museum of Eesti Pank for €31.96. The watermark is in two parts on the edges of the note, each note contains a security thread. The portraits are printed in the colour of the note. Each note has a serial number. The horizontal number on the left is printed in black and the number on the right is printed in a different colour on each denomination. When the note is held at an angle to the light,1994 New colour tints have been used in these areas. Silver ink has been incorporated into the note, a new style serial number appears on the right-hand side. When the note is held up to the light, printed areas on the back of the fill the unprinted areas on the front of the note. The colour of the ink in this area changes when the note is viewed from different angles,1996 Hologram featuring a swallow and the value 500. A new hand-engraved portrait of Carl Robert Jakobson, a windowed thread with small text reading 500/EP. The thread appears as a row of small silver dashes on the front surface of the note, when the note is held up to the light, printed areas on the back of the note fill unprinted areas on the front of the note to form the value 500. Silver ink has been incorporated into the note, New colour tints have been used in these areas. Dark security thread with transparent text 500EEK EESTI PANK, microprint, repeated text CARL ROBERT JAKOBSON. Microprint, repeated 500 within denomination numerals, three lions printed with silver ink. Recognition sign for the visually handicapped, number 500 appears when the note is held up to the light. Variable ink element with magenta-to-green color shift, hidden image, visible through a special lens
12.
1 kroon
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The 1 kroon is the smallest valued banknote of the Estonian kroon, the former currency of Estonia. Kristjan Raud, an Estonian painter, teacher, and cultural historian, is featured with a portrait on the obverse, a view of Toompea Castle in Tallinn appears on the reverse. The 1 kroon was only issued once and had been going out of circulation since a coin of the same value was also issued. At the time of replacement by the euro, it was rarely found in use on an everyday basis. It can be exchanged indefinitely at the museum of Eesti Pank for €0.06. The paper of the banknotes contains security fibres of different colour, each note contains a security strip. Each banknote has a serial number printed in black. Estonian kroon Bank of Estonia Economy of Estonia Global Financial Data data series - Estonia Kroon The Global History of Currencies - Estonia
13.
Estonia
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Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 of land and water, and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, in 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Estonia is a parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn, with a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OECD and Schengen Area. Estonia is a country with an advanced, high-income economy that is among the fastest growing in the EU. Its Human Development Index ranks very highly, and it performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, the 2015 PISA test places Estonian high school students 3rd in the world, behind Singapore and Japan. Citizens of Estonia are provided with health care, free education. Since independence the country has developed its IT sector, becoming one of the worlds most digitally advanced societies. In 2005 Estonia became the first nation to hold elections over the Internet, in the Estonian language, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians was maarahvas, meaning country people or people of the land. The land inhabited by Estonians was called Maavald meaning Country Parish or Land Parish, one hypothesis regarding the modern name of Estonia is that it originated from the Aesti, a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his Germania. The historic Aesti were allegedly Baltic people, whereas the modern Estonians are Finno-Ugric, the geographical areas between Aesti and Estonia do not match, with Aesti being further down south. Ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland, as the country is called in Icelandic. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia, esthonia was a common alternative English spelling prior to 1921. Human settlement in Estonia became possible 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, the oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which was on the banks of the river Pärnu, near the town of Sindi, in south-western Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating it was settled around 11,000 years ago, the earliest human inhabitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to Kunda culture, which is named after the town of Kunda in northern Estonia. At that time the country was covered with forests, and people lived in communities near bodies of water
14.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
15.
Bank of Estonia
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The Bank of Estonia is the central bank of Estonia as well as a member of the Eurosystem organisation of euro area central banks. The Bank of Estonia also belongs to the European System of Central Banks, until 2010, the bank issued the former Estonian currency, the kroon. The Governor of the Bank of Estonia, currently Ardo Hansson, is a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, TALIBOR was published daily by the Bank of Estonia, together with TALIBID. The bank was established on 24 February 1919 by the government of Estonia following the independence of Estonia. Two years later, Eesti Pank became a bank and responsible for issuing the Estonian mark. A new version of the Statutes was approved in 1927, according to which Eesti Pank became an independent note-issuing central bank with limited functions. The main tasks of the bank remained to guarantee the value of the money through currency circulation and through the arrangement, through the sale of government securities, the bank became a true joint-stock bank. A foreign loan of GBP1.35 million supplemented the foreign currency reserves, the gold and foreign currency reserves of the State Treasury were also transferred to the central bank. The fixed capital of the bank was increased from 2.5 million kroon to 5 million kroon, the sizes of the issues in relation to the reserves backing the kroon were determined. Long-term loans that had become illiquid were transferred to the Long Term Loan Bank, upon the Soviet invasion of 1940, Eesti Pank was nationalized as the Estonian Republican Office of the State Bank of the Soviet Union. With the nationalization and the introduction of the Russian ruble as legal tender, Eesti Pank recommenced operations on 1 January 1990 after an interval of 50 years, though not yet as the central bank of an independent country. The fact that it was possible to restore the central bank in spite of the fact that Estonia was not yet independent was a paradox of that time, the Statutes of Eesti Pank were confirmed in March 1990, and 400 million rubles were allocated for the statutory fund. According to the Statutes, Eesti Pank was an independent public organisation, Eesti Pank took over the Tallinn branch of the Foreign Trade Bank of the Soviet Union, re-organising it into the Foreign Currency Operations Centre of Eesti Pank. At the same time it was necessary to begin transforming Eesti Pank into an actual regulator of the Estonian banking sector, at that time, settlements were performed through Moscow, the local Clearing Centre being subordinate to Moscow. In the first years, Eesti Pank was not yet able to regulate, the formation of reserves backing the kroon was commenced. The restoration of the membership of Eesti Pank in the Bank for International Settlements was accompanied by the restoration of its rights to the gold and other assets deposited there. Reserve felling areas from the State Forest Fund worth 150 million dollars were also included in the sheet of Eesti Pank as an additional foreign currency reserve. The new banknotes reached Estonia in April 1992, the Estonian kroon was pegged to the German Deutschmark to ensure stability
16.
European Exchange Rate Mechanism
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After the adoption of the euro, policy changed to linking currencies of EU countries outside the eurozone to the euro. The goal was to improve the stability of those currencies, as well as to gain an evaluation mechanism for potential eurozone members and this mechanism is known as ERM II and has superseded ERM. Currently there is just one currency in the ERM II, the Danish krone, the ERM is based on the concept of fixed currency exchange rate margins, but with exchange rates variable within those margins. This is also known as a semi-pegged system, determined intervention and loan arrangements protected the participating currencies from greater exchange rate fluctuations. The euro replaced the ECU1,1 at the exchange rate markets, between 1979 and 1999 the D-Mark functioned as a de facto anchor for the ECU, meaning there was only a minor difference between pegging a currency against the ECU and pegging it against the D-mark. The first enlargement of the eurozone, to Greece, took place on 1 January 2001, all new EU members having joined the bloc after the signing of the Maastricht treaty in 1992 are obliged to adopt the euro under the terms of their accession treaties. However, the last of the five convergence criteria, which need to be complied with in order to qualify for euro adoption, is the exchange rate stability criterion. This requires having been a member of the ERM for a minimum of two years without the presence of severe tensions for the exchange rate. The continued parity between the Irish pound and the pound sterling would have taken the Irish pound outside its agreed band, to fulfil the ERM conditions, the Irish government was required to break the parity of the Irish pound with the pound sterling. The ensuing crash of 16 September 1992 was subsequently dubbed Black Wednesday, there has been some revision of attitude towards this event given the UKs strong economic performance after 1992, with some commentators dubbing it White Wednesday. Some commentators, following Norman Tebbit, took to referring to ERM as an Eternal Recession Mechanism, in August 1993, the margin was expanded to 15% to accommodate speculation against the French franc and other currencies. On 31 December 1998, the European Currency Unit exchange rates of the countries were frozen and the value of the euro. In 1999, ERM II replaced the original ERM, the Greek and Danish currencies were part of the new mechanism, but when Greece joined the euro in 2001, the Danish krone was left at that time as the only participant member. A currency in ERM II is allowed to float within a range of ±15% with respect to a central rate against the euro. In the case of the krone, Danmarks Nationalbank keeps the exchange rate within the range of ±2. 25% against the central rate of EUR1 = DKK7.46038. EU countries that have not adopted the euro are expected to participate for at least two years in the ERM II before joining the eurozone, on 1 May 2004, the ten national central banks of the new member countries became party to the ERM II Central Bank Agreement. The national currencies themselves were to part of the ERM II at dates to be agreed. These states have all joined the eurozone, and hence left ERM II, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia
17.
Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
18.
Currency symbol
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A currency symbol is a graphic symbol used as a shorthand for a currencys name, especially in reference to amounts of money. The European Commission considers the global recognition of the euro sign € part of its success, in 2009, India launched a public competition to replace the ₨ ligature it shared with neighbouring countries. It finalised its new symbol, ₹ on 15 July 2010. It is a blend of the Latin letter R with the Devanagari letter र, when writing currency amounts the location of the symbol varies by currency. Many currencies in the English-speaking world and Latin America, place it before the amount, the Cape Verdean escudo places its symbol in the decimal separator position. The usage of many European countries, such as France, Germany, the decimal separator also follows local countries standards. For instance, the United Kingdom often uses an interpunct as the point on price stickers. Commas or decimal points are common separators used in other countries, see decimal separator for information on international standards. Older currency symbols have evolved slowly, often from previous currencies, the dollar and peso symbols originated from the mark employed to denote the Spanish real de a ocho, whereas the pound and lira symbols evolved from an L standing for libra, a Roman pound of silver. Newly invented currencies and currencies adopting new symbols have symbolism closer to their adopter, the added center bar in the real sign is meant to symbolize stability. The new Indian rupee symbol, ₹, is a combination of Latin. There are also considerations, such as the perception of the business community. For a new symbol to be used, software to render it needs to be promulgated, the EU was criticized for not considering how the euro symbol would need to be customized to work in different fonts. The original design was exceptionally wide. These two factors have led to most typefaces employing customized, font-specific versions, usually with reduced width, List of currencies List of circulating currencies Currency Symbols
19.
Currency
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A currency in the most specific use of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money in common use, under this definition, US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, and European euros are examples of currency. These various currencies are recognized stores of value and are traded between nations in exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are defined by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance, other definitions of the term currency are discussed in their respective synonymous articles banknote, coin, and money. The latter definition, pertaining to the systems of nations, is the topic of this article. Currencies can be classified into two systems, fiat money and commodity money, depending on what guarantees the value. Some currencies are legal tender in certain jurisdictions, which means they cannot be refused as payment for debt. Others are simply traded for their economic value, digital currency has arisen with the popularity of computers and the Internet. Currency evolved from two basic innovations, both of which had occurred by 2000 BC, originally money was a form of receipt, representing grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, then Ancient Egypt. In this first stage of currency, metals were used as symbols to represent value stored in the form of commodities and this formed the basis of trade in the Fertile Crescent for over 1500 years. Trade could only reach as far as the credibility of that military and it is not known what was used as a currency for these exchanges, but it is thought that ox-hide shaped ingots of copper, produced in Cyprus, may have functioned as a currency. It is thought that the increase in piracy and raiding associated with the Bronze Age collapse, possibly produced by the Peoples of the Sea, brought the trading system of oxhide ingots to an end. In Africa, many forms of value store have been used, including beads, ingots, ivory, various forms of weapons, livestock, the manilla currency, the manilla rings of West Africa were one of the currencies used from the 15th century onwards to sell slaves. African currency is still notable for its variety, and in many various forms of barter still apply. These factors led to the metal itself being the store of value, first silver, now we have copper coins and other non-precious metals as coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins and this was to assure the individual taking the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but they created a new unit of account. Most major economies using coinage had several tiers of coins, using a mix of copper, silver, gold coins were used for large purchases, payment of the military and backing of state activities, they were more often used as measures of account than physical coins
20.
Nordic countries
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The Nordic countries or Nordics are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, where they are most commonly known as Norden. They consist of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the population of the Nordic countries are mainly Scandinavian or Finnish, with Greenlandic Inuit and the Sami people as minorities. Of todays native languages, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, the non-Germanic languages spoken are Finnish, Greenlandic and several Sami languages. The main religion is Lutheran Christianity, the Nordic countries have much in common in their way of life, history, their use of Scandinavian languages and social structure. Politically, Nordic countries do not form an entity. Especially in English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries, Scandinavian Peninsula on the other hand covers mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northernmost part of Finland. At 3,425,804 square kilometers, the area of the Nordic countries would form the 7th-largest country in the world. Uninhabitable icecaps and glaciers comprise about half of area, mostly in Greenland. In January 2013, the region had a population of around 26 million people, the Nordic countries cluster near the top in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated groups, the common linguistic heritage is one of the factors making up the Nordic identity. The North Germanic languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are considered mutually intelligible and these languages are taught in school throughout the Nordic countries. Swedish, for example, is a subject in Finnish schools. Danish is mandatory in Faroese and Greenlandic schools, as these states are a part of the Danish Realm. Iceland also teaches Danish, since Iceland too was a part of the Danish Realm until 1918, there is a high degree of income redistribution and little social unrest. The Nordic countries consists of historical territories of the Scandinavian countries, areas that share a common history and it is meant unambiguously to refer to this larger group, since the term Scandinavia is narrower and sometimes ambiguous. The Nordic countries are considered to unambiguously refer to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The term is derived indirectly from the local term Norden, used in the Scandinavian languages, unlike the Nordic countries, the term Norden is in the singular. The demonym is nordbo, literally meaning northern dweller, especially outside of the Nordic region the term Scandinavia is often used incorrectly as a synonym for the Nordic countries
21.
Swedish krona
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The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code SEK and currency sign kr are in use, the former precedes or follows the value. In English, the currency is referred to as the Swedish crown. The Swedish krona was the 11th most traded currency in the world by value in April 2013, one krona is subdivided into 100 öre. However, all öre coins have been discontinued as of 30 September 2010, goods can still be priced in öre, but all sums are rounded to the nearest krona when paying with cash. The introduction of the krona, which replaced at par the riksdaler, was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which came into effect in 1876 and lasted until the beginning of World War I. The parties to the union were the Scandinavian countries, where the name was krona in Sweden and krone in Denmark and Norway, the three currencies were on the gold standard, with the krona/krone defined as 1⁄2480 of a kilogram of pure gold. After dissolution of the union in August 1914, Sweden, Denmark. On 11 September 2012, the Riksbank announced a new series of coins with new sizes to replace the 1 and 5 kronor coins which arrived in October 2016. The design of the coins follows the theme of singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestads song, Sol, vind och vatten and this also included the reintroduction of the 2 kronor coin, while the current 10 kronor coin remained the same. The new coins also have a new portrait of the king in the design, one of the reasons for a new series of coins is to end the use of nickel. It is expected that vending machines and parking meters will to a high degree stop accepting coins. Cash is already used in Sweden, with many young people avoiding cash as much as possible. Between 1873 and 1876, coins in denominations of 1,2,5,10,25, and 50 öre and 1,2,10, and 20 kronor were introduced. The 1,2 and 5 öre were in bronze, the 10,25,50 öre and 1 krona and 2 kronor were in silver, gold 5 kronor coins were added in 1881. In 1873 the Scandinavian Monetary Union currency was fixed so that 248,000 öre purchased 1 kg of gold, in 2017 the price of gold is 365,289 kronor per kg. So one öre in 1873 bought as much gold as 1.47 krona in 2017, so if it is reasonable to have the smallest denomination coin 1 krona today, in 1873 a reasonable smallest denomination coin was 1 öre. A10 kr gold coin weighed 4.4803 grams with 900 finess so that the weight was 4.03327 grams or exactly 1/248th of a kilogram
22.
Danish krone
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The krone is the official currency of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code DKK and currency sign kr. are in use, the former precedes the value. The currency is referred to as the Danish crown in English. Historically, krone coins have been minted in Denmark since the 17th century, one krone is subdivided into 100 øre, the name øre possibly deriving from Latin aureus meaning gold coin. Altogether there are eleven denominations of the krone, with the smallest being the 50 øre coin, formerly there were more øre coins, but those were discontinued due to inflation. The krone is pegged to the euro via the ERM II, the oldest known Danish coin is a penny struck AD 825–840, but the earliest systematic minting produced the so-called korsmønter or cross coins minted by Harald Bluetooth in the late 10th century. Organised minting in Denmark was introduced on a larger scale by Canute the Great in the 1020s, for almost 1,000 years, Danish kings – with a few exceptions – have issued coins with their name, monogram and/or portrait. Taxes were sometimes imposed via the coinage, e. g. by the substitution of coins handed in by new coins handed out with a lower silver content. Danish coinage was based on the Carolingian silver standard. Periodically, the value of the minted coins was reduced. This was mainly done to generate income for the monarch and/or the state, as a result of the debasement, the public started to lose trust in the respective coins. Danish currency was overhauled several times in attempts to restore public trust in the coins, in 1619 a new currency was introduced in Denmark, the krone. One krone had the value of 1 1/2 Danish Rigsdaler Species accounting for 96 Kroneskillinger, later for 144 common Skillings, until the late 18th century, the krone was a denomination equal to 8 mark, a subunit of the Danish rigsdaler. A new krone was introduced as the currency of Denmark in January 1875 and it replaced the rigsdaler at a rate of 2 kroner =1 rigsdaler. This placed the krone on the standard at a rate of 2480 kroner =1 kilogram fine gold. The latter part of the 18th century and much of the 19th century saw expanding economic activity, consequently, banknotes were increasingly used instead of coins. The introduction of the new krone was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, the parties to the union were the three Scandinavian countries, where the name was krone in Denmark and Norway and krona in Sweden, a word which in all three languages literally means crown. The three currencies were on the standard, with the krone/krona defined as 1⁄2480 of a kilogram of pure gold
23.
Norwegian krone
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The krone, plural kroner, is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. It is subdivided into 100 øre, which exist only electronically since 2012, the name translates into English as crown. The krone was the thirteenth most traded currency in the world by value in April 2010, the krone was introduced in 1875, replacing the Norwegian speciedaler/spesidaler at a rate of 4 kroner =1 speciedaler. In doing so, Norway joined the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which had established in 1873. After its dissolution, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all decided to keep the names of their respective, within the Scandinavian Monetary Union, the krone was on a gold standard of 2,480 kroner =1 kilogram of pure gold. This gold standard was restored between 1916 and 1920 and again in 1928 and it was suspended permanently in 1931, when a peg to the British pound of 19.9 kroner =1 pound was established. In 1939, Norway pegged the krone temporarily to the U. S. dollar at a rate of 4.4 kroner =1 dollar, nonetheless, Norway would continue to hold the Kingdoms gold reserves. During the German occupation in the Second World War, the krone was initially pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate of 1 krone =0.6 Reichsmark, after the war, a rate of 20 kroner =1 pound was established. The rate to the pound was maintained in 1949, when the pound devalued relative to the U. S. dollar, in 1875, coins were introduced in denominations of 10 and 50 øre and 1 and 10 kroner. These coins also bore the denomination in the currency, as 3,15. Between 1875 and 1878, the new coinage was introduced in full, in denominations of 1,2,5,10,25, and 50 øre and 1,2, and 10 kroner. The 1,2, and 5 øre were struck in bronze, the 10,25, and 50 øre and 1 and 2 kroner, in silver, the last gold coins were issued in 1910, silver was replaced by cupro-nickel from 1920. Between 1917 and 1921, iron replaced bronze. 1917 also saw the last issuance of 2 kroner coins, during the German occupation in the Second World War, zinc was used in place of cupro-nickel in 10,25, and 50 øre coins, and production of the 1 krone piece was suspended. In 1963,5 kroner coins were introduced, production of 1 and 2 øre coins ceased in 1972. The following year, the size of the 5 øre coin was reduced, production of the denomination ceased in 1982, ten-kroner coins were introduced in 1983. In 1992, the last 10 øre coins were minted, between 1994 and 1998, a new coinage was introduced, consisting of 50 øre,1,5,10, and 20 kroner. These are the coins which are currently legal tender, with the exception of the 50-øre coin which was withdrawn on 1 May 2012
24.
Estonian mark
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The Estonian mark was the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927. It was initially equivalent to the German ostmark, which had been circulating alongside the Russian ruble since the German occupation and it was divided into 100 penns. It was replaced in 1928 by the Estonian kroon at a rate of 1 kroon =100 marka, until 1919 there were also Russian rubles, German ostrubles and Finnish marks in circulation. Coins were issued in denominations of 1,3,5 and 10 marka between 1922 and 1926, the 1922 issues were struck in cupro-nickel whilst the later issues were in nickel-bronze. In 1919, treasury notes were issued in denominations of 5,10,20 and 50 penni,1,3,5,10,25 and 100 marka along with 50 marka banknotes. Later, treasury notes were issued in denominations up to 1000 marka, exchange notes were also issued, in 1922, in denominations of 10 and 25 marka
25.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
26.
Soviet ruble
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The Soviet ruble was the currency of the Soviet Union. One ruble was divided into 100 kopeks, many of the ruble designs were created by Ivan Dubasov. In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Soviet ruble continued to be used in the Post-Soviet states, forming a ruble zone, the word ruble is derived from the Slavic verb рубить, rubit, i. e. to chop. Historically, ruble was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot, the word kopek, kopeck, copeck, or kopeyka is a diminutive form of the Russian kopyo — a spear. The Soviet currency had its own name in all Soviet languages, sometimes different from its Russian designation. All banknotes had the name and their nominal printed in the languages of every Soviet Republic. This naming is preserved in modern Russia, for example, Tatar for ruble and kopek are sum, the current names of several currencies of Central Asia are simply the local names of the ruble. Finnish last appeared on 1947 banknotes since the Karelo-Finnish SSR was dissolved in 1956, moldovan has switched to Latin and is once again referred to as Romanian. The first ruble issued for the Socialist government was an issue still based on the previous issue of the ruble prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. They are all in form and started their issue in 1919. At this time other issues were made by the white Russian government and other governing bodies. Denominations are as follows,1,2,3,5,10,15,25,50,60,100,250,500,1,000,5,000,10,000,25,000,50,000,100,000. Short term treasury certificate were also issued to supplement banknote issue in 1 million,5 million,10 million rubles. These issue was printed in various fashions, as inflation crept up the security features were few and some were printed on one side, as was the case for the German inflationary notes. In 1918, state notes were introduced by the R. S. F. S. R. for 1,3,5,10,25,50,100,250,500,1,000,5,000 and 10,000 rubles. These were followed in 1919 by currency notes for 1,2,3,15,20,60,100,250,500,1000,5000 and 10,000 rubles. In 1921, currency note denominations of 5,50,25,000,50,000,100,000,1,000,000,5,000,000 and 10,000,000 rubles were added. In 1922, the first of several redenominations took place, at a rate of 1 new ruble for 10,000 old rubles, the chervonets was also introduced in 1922
27.
Gold standard
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A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. Three types can be distinguished, specie, bullion, and exchange, the gold bullion standard is a system in which gold coins do not circulate, but the authorities agree to sell gold bullion on demand at a fixed price in exchange for the circulating currency. The gold exchange standard usually does not involve the circulation of gold coins. This creates a de facto standard, where the value of the means of exchange has a fixed external value in terms of gold that is independent of the inherent value of the means of exchange itself. Most nations abandoned the standard as the basis of their monetary systems at some point in the 20th century. An estimated total of 174,100 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history and this is roughly equivalent to 5.6 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about 9,261 cubic metres, or a cube 21 metres on a side. There are varying estimates of the volume of gold mined. One reason for the variance is that gold has been mined for thousands of years, another reason is that some nations are not particularly open about how much gold is being mined. In addition, it is difficult to account for the output in illegal mining activities. World production for 2011 was at 2,700 tonnes, since the 1950s, annual gold output growth has approximately kept pace with world population growth of around 2x, although far less than world economic growth of some 8x, or some 4x since 1980. The gold specie standard arose from the acceptance of gold as currency. Various commodities have been used as money, typically, the one that loses the least value over time becomes the accepted form, the use of gold as money began thousands of years ago in Asia Minor. During the early and high Middle Ages, the Byzantine gold solidus, commonly known as the bezant, was used widely throughout Europe, however, as the Byzantine Empires economic influence declined, so too did the use of the bezant. In its place, European territories chose silver as its currency over gold, Silver pennies based on the Roman denarius became the staple coin of Mercia in Great Britain around the time of King Offa, circa CE 757–796. Similar coins, including Italian denari, French deniers, and Spanish dineros circulated in Europe, Spanish explorers discovered silver deposits in Mexico in 1522 and at Potosí in Bolivia in 1545. International trade came to depend on such as the Spanish dollar, the Maria Theresa thaler, and later. In modern times, the British West Indies was one of the first regions to adopt a gold specie standard, following Queen Annes proclamation of 1704, the British West Indies gold standard was a de facto gold standard based on the Spanish gold doubloon. A formal gold specie standard was first established in 1821, when Britain adopted it following the introduction of the sovereign by the new Royal Mint at Tower Hill in 1816
28.
Government bond
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A government bond is a bond issued by a national government, generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date. Government bonds are denominated in the countrys own currency. Government bonds are referred to as sovereign bonds. If a government or sovereign is close to default on its debt the media often refer to this as a debt crisis. The terms on which a government can sell bonds depend on how creditworthy the market considers it to be, international credit rating agencies will provide ratings for the bonds, but market participants will make up their own minds about this. The first general government bonds were issued in the Netherlands in 1517, because the Netherlands did not exist at that time, the bonds issued by the city of Amsterdam are considered their predecessor which later merged into Netherlands government bonds. The average interest rate at that time fluctuated around 20%, the first ever bond issued by a national government was issued by the Bank of England in 1694 to raise money to fund a war against France. It was in the form of a tontine, later, governments in Europe started issuing perpetual bonds to fund wars and other government spending. The use of perpetual bonds ceased in the 20th century, a Government bond in a countrys own currency is strictly speaking a risk-free bond, because the government can if necessary create additional currency in order to redeem the bond at maturity. There have however been instances where a government has chosen to default on its domestic currency debt, currency risk is the risk that the value of the currency a bond pays out will decline compared to the holders reference currency. A bond paying in a currency that does not have a history of keeping its value may not be a deal even if a high interest rate is offered. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of the currency a bond pays out will decline over time, investors expect some amount of inflation, so the risk is that the inflation rate will be higher than expected. Many governments issue inflation-indexed bonds, which protect investors against inflation risk by linking both interest payments and maturity payments to a consumer prices index. If a central bank purchases a government security, such as a bond or treasury bill, it increases the money supply, in the UK, government bonds are called gilts. Older issues have names such as Treasury Stock and newer issues are called Treasury Gilt, inflation-indexed gilts are called Index-linked gilts
29.
Great Depression
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The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, in most countries it started in 1929 and it was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the economy can decline. The depression originated in the United States, after a fall in stock prices that began around September 4,1929. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%, by comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s, however, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in both rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%, unemployment in the U. S. rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries, farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as mining and logging suffered the most. Even after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 optimism persisted for some time, john D. Rockefeller said These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come, prosperity has always returned and will again. The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April and this was still almost 30% below the peak of September 1929. Together, government and business spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the period of the previous year. On the other hand, consumers, many of whom had suffered losses in the stock market the previous year. In addition, beginning in the mid-1930s, a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the U. S, by mid-1930, interest rates had dropped to low levels, but expected deflation and the continuing reluctance of people to borrow meant that consumer spending and investment were depressed. By May 1930, automobile sales had declined to below the levels of 1928, prices in general began to decline, although wages held steady in 1930
30.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
31.
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
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The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Estonia or Estonia was a republic of the Soviet Union, administered by a subordinate of the Government of the Soviet Union. The Estonian SSR was subsequently incorporated into the USSR on August 9,1940, the territory was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. Most countries did not recognise the incorporation of Estonia de jure, a number of these countries continued to recognize Estonian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in the name of their former government. This policy of non-recognition gave rise to the principle of legal continuity, on 16 November 1988, the Estonian SSR became the first republic within the Soviet sphere of influence to declare state sovereignty from Moscow. On 30 March 1990, the Estonian SSR declared that Estonia had been occupied since 1940, the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed as the Republic of Estonia on May 8,1990. As part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Estonia came within the Soviet sphere of interest and was incorporated into the Soviet Union as a Soviet Socialist Republic, the history of Soviet Estonia formally begins with the establishment of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1941. The Secret Additional Protocol of the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact signed on August 23,1939, on September 24,1939, warships of the Soviet Navy appeared off Estonian ports and Soviet bombers began patrolling over the area around Tallinn. Moscow demanded that Estonia allow the USSR to establish Soviet military bases, the government of Estonia accepted the ultimatum, signing the corresponding mutual assistance agreement on September 28,1939. On June 12,1940, according to the director of the Russian State Archive of the Naval Department Pavel Petrov, on June 14, the Soviet military blockade of Estonia went into effect while the world’s attention was focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany. Two Soviet bombers downed a Finnish passenger airplane Kaleva flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U. S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki, on June 16, Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Estonia. The Estonian government decided, according to the Kellogg–Briand Pact, to not respond to the Soviet ultimatums by military means, given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the country, the order was given not to resist in order to avoid bloodshed and open war. Most of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League surrendered according to the orders and were disarmed by the Red Army, only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed at Raua Street in Tallinn showed resistance. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, there was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed, by June 18, military operations of the occupation of the Baltic States were complete. Thereafter, state administrations were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres, time magazine reported on June 24, that Half a million men and countless tanks of the Soviet Red Army moved to safeguard frontier against conquest-drunk Germany, one week before the Fall of France. On June 21,1940, the Soviet occupation of the Republic of Estonia was complete, the Flag of Estonia was replaced with a Red flag on Pikk Hermann tower. On July 14–15, rigged, extraordinary, single-party parliamentary elections were held, only peoples enemies stay at home on election day. Each ballot carried only the Soviet-assigned candidates name, with the way to register opposition being to strike out that name on the ballot
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Coat of arms of Estonia
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The current coat of arms of Estonia is a golden shield which includes a picture of three blue lions with red tongues in the middle, with golden oak branches placed on both sides of the shield. The insignia derive from the coat of arms of Denmark, which ruled northern Estonia in the thirteenth century. The coat of arms of Estonia depicts a shield, which includes three slim blue lions passant gardant with red tongues in the middle and golden oak branches along both sides of the shield. The lesser coat of arms lacks these oak branches, the three lions derive from the arms of Danish king Valdemar II who had conquered northern Estonia in 1219. The lions became part of the coat of arms of Tallinn, the centre of Danish government in Estonia. In 1346, Denmark sold its Estonian dominion to the Teutonic Order after its power had been weakened during the St. Georges Night Uprising of 1343-1346. The three lions, however, remained the central element of the coat of arms of Tallinn. In later centuries, the motif of the three lions transferred to the coat of arms of the Duchy of Estonia, the Ritterschaft of Estland, the Riigikogu of the independent Republic of Estonia officially adopted the coat of arms on June 19,1925. Soviet officials persecuted and jailed anyone using the coat of arms or the colors of Estonia. The readoption of the symbols, which was finally achieved on August 7,1990. The use of the coat of arms is regulated by the Law on State Coat of Arms, upon the passing of the Law, proposals were made in the Riigikogu on possible interpretations of the images on the coat of arms. A consensus was reached on the suggestions offered by Leopold Raudkepp, the second stands for the courage in the uprisings in Harjumaa in 1343. The third represents the courage of the Estonian fight for freedom between 1918-1920, the wreath of oak leaves stands for the perseverance and strength of Estonia and the evergreen traditions of freedom. Emblem of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Flags of Estonian counties National symbols of Estonia
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Deutsche Mark
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The Deutsche Mark, abbreviated DM or D-Mark, was the official currency of West Germany and unified Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, but not in German, it is called the Deutschmark. Mark coins and banknotes continued to be accepted as valid forms of payment in Germany until 28 February 2002. However, in 2012, it was estimated that as many as 13.2 billion marks were in circulation, with polls showing a narrow majority of Germans favouring the currencys restoration. The Deutsche Bundesbank has guaranteed that all German marks in form may be changed into euros indefinitely. Banknotes and coins can even be sent to the Bundesbank by mail, on 31 December 1998, the Council of the European Union fixed the irrevocable exchange rate, effective 1 January 1999, for German mark to euros as DM1.95583 = €1. One Deutsche Mark was divided into 100 Pfennig, a mark had been the currency of Germany since its original unification in 1871. Before that time, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16 2⁄3 grams of pure silver. Although the mark was based on rather than silver, a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the mark of 3 marks =1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion. The first mark, known as the Goldmark, was introduced in 1873, with the outbreak of World War I, the mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the Papiermark, especially as inflation, then hyperinflation occurred. The Papiermark was replaced by the Rentenmark from November 15,1923, due to the strains between the Allies each zone was governed independently as regards monetary matters. The US occupation policy was governed by the directive JCS1067, as a consequence a separate monetary reform in the U. S. zone was not possible. Each of the Allies printed its own occupation currency, the Deutsche Mark was officially introduced on Sunday, June 20,1948 by Ludwig Erhard. Large amounts were exchanged for RM10 to 65 Pfennig, in addition, each person received a per capita allowance of DM60 in two parts, the first being DM40 and the second DM20. A few weeks later Erhard, acting against orders, issued an edict abolishing many economic controls which had been implemented by the Nazis. He did this, as he confessed, on Sunday because the offices of the American, British. He was sure if he had done it when they were open
34.
Kristjan Raud
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Kristjan Raud was an Estonian painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Estonian National Museum. Folklore elements figure heavily in his matter and his style is reminiscent of Primitivism. His twin brother, Paul, also became a well-known painter and he and his brother spent their early years in Meriküla, where their father was a field ranger. After his early death, they were enrolled at the Parish school in Rakvere, later, he went to the teachers college in Tartu, and taught in the local schools there for several years. In 1892, dissatisfied with his career, he moved to Saint Petersburg and he thought that Raud had some potential and advised him to enroll at the Imperial Academy of Arts. When he returned to Tartu, he organized a school for artists, wrote articles for the local newspapers. After the death of Jakob Hurt in 1907, he became an advocate for the establishment of a devoted to folklore. Two years later, he one of the founders and organizers of the Estonian National Museum. The following year, he provided illustrations for the poems of Juhan Liiv. At the beginning of World War I, he moved to Tallinn to live with his brother, once again, he became a teacher while continuing to paint. In 1919, he completed his The Maiden of the Grave and was elected Chairman of the Estonian Museum Society and began working for the Ministry of Education. The high point of his career came in 1935, when the Estonian Literary Society issued a new edition of Kalevipoeg, the first printing ran to 10,000 copies, a very large number at the time. In 1938, he was awarded the Order of the Estonian Red Cross and his commitment to painting was such that, even on his death bed in the hospital, he continued to paint. He died during the German occupation so, despite his fame, in the Spring of 1940, shortly before the Soviet occupation, a major exhibition of his works was held and the government declared it to be Kristjan Raud Year. A monument to him was erected under the Soviet government in 1969, four years later, the Kristjan Raud Art Award was established by the Estonian Artists Association in conjunction with the city of Tallinn. As of 2012, the prize was worth 2,240 Euros, from 1992 to 2011, when Estonia adopted the Euro, Rauds likeness was on the one Kroon banknote. Building up/on Power, representations of the Estonian national character in the works, Kristjan Raud and the Kalevipoeg @ Bifröst Museo
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Toompea Castle
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Toompea Castle is a castle on Toompea hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The castle, an ancient stronghold site in use since at least the 9th century, according to a myth, the whole hill of Toompea was made by Linda, who built it boulder-by-boulder with her own hands. For reasons associated with this legend, Tallinn is sometimes referred to as Lyndanisse in Estonian. The more prosaic truth is that settlers during the time of ancient Estonia made use of the hill as an easily defended stronghold. Over time, the place developed into a commercial hub. It was probably one of the first inhabited areas of what later became Tallinn, in 1219, the castle was taken over by Danish crusaders led by Valdemar II. According to a popular Danish legend, the very first flag of Denmark fell from the sky during a stage of the battle. This first proper castle was referred to as the Castle of the Danes, in Latin Castrum Danorum, from the latter, the modern name of the city of Tallinn is possibly derived. In 1227, the castle was taken over by the Order of the Brethren of the Sword, the castle they started building is to a large extent the castle that is visible today. The castle again befell the Danes just ten years later, but was sold to the Teutonic Order in 1346, as the crusading Teutonic Order was a religious order, the castle came to resemble a monastery in several ways. It included a chapel, a house and a dormitory for the knights. Tall Hermann is 48 metres tall and dominates the castle skyline, the flag of Estonia is hoisted at the top of the tower every day at sunrise, to the sound of the national anthem, and lowered at sunset. By 1561, northern Estonia had become a Swedish dominion, the Swedes transformed the castle from a crusaders fortress into a ceremonial and administrative centre of political power in Estonia, a purpose the castle has served ever since. In 1710, Sweden lost the territory of modern-day Estonia to the Russian Empire, the Russian administration eventually carried out large reconstruction schemes and turned the castle definitively into a palace. A new dominating wing in Baroque and Neoclassical style, designed by Johann Schultz, was added in the part of the castle complex. It housed the administration of the Governorate and the quarters of the governor. During the czarist era, a park was also laid out to the south-east of the castle. Following the Estonian Declaration of Independence in 1918, a building to house the parliament of the republic was erected at the site of the convent building of the Teutonic Order
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Karl Ernst von Baer
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Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer, Edler von Huthorn was an Estonian scientist and explorer. Baer is also known in Russia as Karl Maksimovich Baer, Baer was a naturalist, biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, and a founding father of embryology. He was an explorer of European Russia and Scandinavia, Karl Ernst von Baer was born into a Baltic German noble family in the Piep estate, Kreis Jerwen, Governorate of Estonia, as a knight by birthright. He spent his childhood at Lasila manor, Estonia. Many of his ancestors had come from Westphalia and he was educated at the Knight and Cathedral School in Reval and the Imperial University of Dorpat, each of which he found lacking in quality education. In 1812, during his tenure at the university, he was sent to Riga to aid the city after Napoleons armies had laid siege to it. In his autobiography, his discontent with his education at Dorpat inspired him to write a lengthy appraisal of education in general, after leaving Tartu, he continued his education in Berlin, Vienna, and Würzburg, where Ignaz Döllinger introduced him to the new field of embryology. In 1817, he became a professor at Königsberg University and full professor of zoology in 1821, in 1829, he taught briefly in St Petersburg, but returned to Königsberg. In 1834, Baer moved back to St Petersburg and joined the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, first in zoology and then in comparative anatomy and his interests while there were anatomy, ichthyology, ethnography, anthropology, and geography. While embryology had kept his attention in Königsberg, then in Russia von Baer engaged in a deal of field research. The last years of his life were spent in Dorpat, where he became a critic of Charles Darwin. Von Baer studied the development of animals, discovering the blastula stage of development. In 1826, Baer discovered the mammalian ovum, the human ovum was first described by Edgar Allen in 1928. In 1827, he completed research Ovi Mammalium et Hominis genesi for St Petersburgs Academy of Science, in 1827 von Baer became the first person to observe human ova. Only in 1876 did Oscar Hertwig prove that fertilization is due to fusion of an egg, Von Baer formulated what became known as Baers laws of embryology, General characteristics of the group to which an embryo belongs develop before special characteristics. General structural relations are formed before the most specific appear. The form of any given embryo does not converge upon other definite forms, the embryo of a higher animal form never resembles the adult of another animal form, such as one less evolved, but only its embryo. From his studies of embryology, Baer had believed in the transmutation of species
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University of Tartu
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The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the university of Estonia. The University of Tartu is the only university in the country. It was established by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632, there are nearly 14,000 students at the university, of which over 1,300 are foreign students. The QS World University Rankings ranked the University of Tartu 347th in the world in 2016, the university is also ranked 4th in the Emerging Europe and Central Asia region. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed it in the 301–350 range among world universities and it is the only university in the Baltic countries to place among the top 200 universities in Europe. UT belongs to top 1% of worlds most cited universities in 10 research areas, the historical buildings of the university are included in the European Heritage Label list as embodiment of the ideas of a university in the Age of Enlightenment. The University of Tartu is a member of the Coimbra Group, the Academia Gustaviana in the then Swedish province of Livonia was the second university founded in the Swedish Empire, following Uppsala University and preceding the Academy of Åbo. A precursor to the academy had been a Jesuit grammar school Gymnasium Dorpatense, founded by Stefan Batory in 1583 and existing to 1601, the first students immatriculated between 20–21 April 1632. The opening ceremony of Academia Dorpatensis took place on 15 October in the same year, the academy in Tartu functioned with Philosophy, Law, Theology and Medical Faculties enjoying the privileges of the University of Uppsala. On account of the Russian–Swedish war, the University of Tartu moved to Tallinn in 1656, in the 17th century the future outstanding Swedish scholars Urban Hiärne, Olof Verelius, Arvid Moller and others studied at the university. In 1690 Tartu became a university town again, Academia Gustavo-Carolina shortly after that moved from Tartu to Pärnu as a result of the coalition against Sweden and the Great Famine of 1695–1697. Academia Gustavo-Carolina, which had opened in Pärnu on 28 August 1699 was closed because of the surrender to Russian forces on 12 August 1710 during the Great Northern War, according to the terms of the capitulation, the Russians agreed to maintain the university in Pärnu. The university was re-opened by the Baltic Germans in Estonia in April 1802, the language of instruction at Dorpat was German from 1802 to 1893. During that time, Dorpat had a nature in that it belonged both to the set of German and Russian universities. Financially and administratively, the latter was important, intellectually and regarding the professoriate and students. Among the 30 German-language universities, of which 23 were inside the German Empire, in teaching, the university educated the local Baltic German leadership and professional classes as well as staff especially for the administration and health system of the entire Russian Empire. In scholarship, it was a university, the time between 1860 and 1880 was its golden age
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Paul Keres
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Paul Keres was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. Keres narrowly missed a chance at a championship match on five occasions. He won the 1938 AVRO tournament, which led to negotiations for a match against champion Alexander Alekhine. After the war Keres was runner-up in the Candidates Tournament on four consecutive occasions, due to these and other strong results, many chess historians consider Keres one of the greatest players in history, and the strongest player never to become world champion. He was nicknamed Paul the Second, The Eternal Second and The Crown Prince of Chess, Keres, along with Viktor Korchnoi and Alexander Beliavsky, defeated nine undisputed world champions—more than anyone else in history. Paul Keres was born in Narva, Keres first learned about chess from his father and his older brother Harald. With the scarcity of chess literature in his town, he learned about chess notation from the chess puzzles in the daily newspaper. In his early days, he was known for a brilliant, Keres was a three-time Estonian schoolboy champion, in 1930,1932, and 1933. His playing matured after playing correspondence chess extensively while in high school and he probably played about 500 correspondence games, and at one stage had 150 correspondence games going simultaneously. In 1935, he won the Internationaler Fernschachbund international correspondence chess championship, from 1937 to 1941 he studied mathematics at the University of Tartu, and competed in several interuniversity matches. Keres achieved a good result at the age of 17 in a Master tournament at Tallinn 1933 with 5/7, tied 3rd–4th, half a point behind joint winners Paul Felix Schmidt. Keres became champion of Estonia for the first time in 1935 and he tied for first with Gunnar Friedemann in the tournament, then defeated him in the playoff match. In April 1935, Keres defeated Feliks Kibbermann, one of Tartus leading masters, in a training match, Keres played on top board for Estonia in the 6th Chess Olympiad at Warsaw 1935, and was regarded as the new star, admired for his dashing style. His success there gave him the confidence to venture onto the international circuit, at Helsinki 1935, he placed 2nd behind Paulin Frydman with 6½/8. He won at Tallinn 1936 with 9/10, Keres first major international success against top-level competition came at Bad Nauheim 1936, where he tied for first with Alexander Alekhine at 6½/9. He struggled at Dresden 1936, placing only 8–9th with, Keres recovered at Zandvoort 1936 with a shared 3rd–4th place. He then defended his Estonian title in 1936 by drawing a match against Paul Felix Schmidt with
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Hermann Castle
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Hermann Castle (also Hermannsfeste, Herman Castle, Narva Castle, and Narva fortress. is a castle in Narva, eastern Estonia. It was founded in 1256 by the Danes and the first stone castle was built in the beginning of the 14th century, the German Livonian Teutonic knights order purchased the castle on 29 August 1346, and for most of its history the castle was German Teutonic. Although the exact age of Narva Castle and the cause still arguments between historians, they agree on the sequence of events. Firstly, in about the 13th century, the Danes, who had conquered Northern Estonia built a border stronghold at the crossing of the Narva River. Under the protection of the stronghold, the settlement developed into the town of Narva. Following several conflicts with the Russians, the Danes started building a stronghold at the beginning of the 14th century. It was a small building with 40-metre sides and a tower. In 1347 King Valdemar IV of Denmark sold Northern Estonia, including Narva, to the Livonian Order, the stronghold has for the most part preserved the ground plan with its massive wings and a courtyard in the middle. The Herman Tower was also completed at the time of the Order, the Order surrounded the town with a wall, which unfortunately has not been preserved. The gates were covered with plates and preceded by drawbridges. The town wall, with a length of about a kilometre, was fortified with at least seven towers, the town wall was surrounded by a moat. History of Estonia List of castles in Estonia Narva fortifications and Narva Castle View of Hermann Castle and Ivangorod Fortress, balticlivecam. com
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Ivangorod Fortress
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Ivangorod Fortress is a Russian medieval castle established by Ivan III in 1492 and since then grown into the town of Ivangorod. The fortress overlooks the Narva River opposite the Narva Hermann Castle, the fortress was intended to reaffirm Russias right to access the sea and at the same time form a bulwark against the Teutonic Order, which dominated the Baltics. On the left bank stands since the 13th Century the powerful Hermann Castle, in the following decades, the structures of the fort have been expanded and strengthened. After the collapse of the German order of Estonia came under Swedish rule, the original castle was constructed in one summer, in the year 1492. It was named after Moscovian Grand Prince Ivan III and its purpose was to fend off the Livonian Knights. The castle is strictly quadrilateral, measuring 1,600 sq ft, Ivangorod was won back later in the year by Muscovite forces from the Livonians, under the command of Prince Ivan Gundar and Mikhail Klyapin. Three thousand troops arrived to retake the castle, rebuild it, for almost 10 years, the land around the castle was in constant warfare. The fortress and the land changed hands repeatedly. The castle was reconstructed and fortified many times, becoming one of the strongest defensive structures in the 16th century, the castle was in development until the 17th century, becoming a large, sprawling fortress with several lines of defense. The Treaty of Teusina returned the fortress to the Russians, in 1612, the Swedes conquered the fortress, which was bravely defended by a voivode, Fyodor Aminev and his sons. By the Treaty of Stolbova, Ingria was ceded to Gustav II Adolf, in 1704, Peter the Great captured the castle from Swedish troops, bringing the fortress back into Russian control. Inside the fortress, there are two churches, one is dedicated to the Virgins Assumption and the other to St. Nicholas, after the early 18th century, the military role of the fortress dwindled due to technological advances. In 1728, a review was carried out of the fortresses in this area, which concluded that the installation had been neglected, an order was issued for restoration of Ivangorod fortress, but after the inspection of 1738 the fortress was designated not adequate for defence purpose. In 1840, some improvements were carried out in the fortress, further improvements took place in 1863, during World War I, the fortress was captured by Germans on 25 February 1918. From 1919 to 1940, the fortress belonged to Estonia, despite changing hands several times in the first half of the 20th century, the fortress played no significant role in fighting. After the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940 Ivangorod fortress was part of the Russian Soviet Republic, the town and fortress remained with Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of the independent Republic of Estonia in 1990. Currently, the fortress serves as a museum, the history and art museum of Ivangorod fortress exhibits paintings of Ivan Bilibin, Alexandra Pototskaya and other authors. As well, local history and tradition are explained by some of museums exhibits, there is a permanent exhibition devoted to the Northern War and the Livonian War
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Jakob Hurt
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Jakob Hurt was a notable Estonian folklorist, theologian, and linguist. With respect to the last, he is perhaps best known for his dissertation on pure -ne stem nouns and he was also featured on the 10 krooni note. Also known as the king of Estonian folklore, Hurt planned the publication in the 1870s of a six volume series called Monumenta Estoniae Antiquae. Hurt organised around 1400 volunteer collectors via a campaign, who visited almost every house in Livonia collecting around 124,000 pages of folklore. Due to financial difficulties, however, only two volumes of songs were published in 1875-76, entitled Vana kannel. Two more volumes were published in 1938 and 1941, Hurt also published a three volume collection called Setukeste laulud between 1894 and 1907. Jakob Hurt was an alumnus of the Estonian Students Society. Eesti Raamat, Tallinn 1988 Jakob Hurt 1839-1907, koostanud Mart Laar, Rein Saukas, Ülo Tedre. Eesti Raamat, Tallinn,1989 Mart Laar, Raamat Jakob Hurdast
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Tamme-Lauri oak
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Tamme-Lauri oak is the thickest and oldest tree in Estonia, located in Urvaste Parish, Võru County. The height of the tree is 17 metres, circumference is 831 centimetres, according to researchers, the tree was planted around 1326. The oak has been hit repeatedly by lighting, damaging the branches, during restoration in the 1970s an old hideout of the Forest Brothers was found inside the cavity. Seven people could stand inside the tree before it was filled with 8 tonnes of reinforced concrete, the tree is still viable, although it has lost its top because of the lightning strikes. The name of the Tamme-Lauri oak comes from Tamme-Lauri farm, which in turn got its name from the spirit that was thought to live in the oak, bringing bad and it was the spirit of fire called Laurits. Tamme-Lauri oak is depicted on the side of Estonian ten kroon banknote. The land where the tree is located was bought by Estonian Ministry of the Environment in 2006 and the oak has been under protection since 1939
43.
Anton Hansen Tammsaare
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Anton Hansen Tammsaare, was an Estonian writer whose pentalogy Truth and Justice is considered one of the major works of Estonian literature and The Estonian Novel. Tammsaare was born in Järvamaa, in the municipality of Albu, village of Vetepere and he came from a poor background, but managed to collect enough money for his education. More so his family was quite enlightened for the time, with his father for instance ordering newspapers and he studied in Väike-Maarja and Tartu in Hugo Treffners Gymnasium, and afterwards at the University of Tartu, where he studied law. Tammsaares studies were interrupted by tuberculosis in 1911 and his younger sister, Maria Hansen, was the mother of Tammaares nephew, actor Arno Suurorg. In 1918, when Estonia became independent, Tammsaare moved to Tallinn and it was here that Tammsaare wrote those prose works, based on the history and lives of the Estonian people, which have gained him a prominent place in Estonian literature. Tammsaare was interested in philosophy and psychology and his novels reflect the ideas of Bergson, Jung and Freud. He was, however, sceptical about cosmopolitanism. “European culture”, he wrote “is something to be if one wishes to see the triumph of love, justice and humanity spoken of so glibly. ”He believed that Estonian culture was best served by farmers. His work was influenced by Oscar Wilde, Knut Hamsun and André Gide, I was especially gripped by Crime and punishment Tammsaares early works are characterized by rural poetic realism. Some of his stories reflect the atmosphere of the revolutionary year of 1905. During what is classified as his second period, from 1908 to 1919, he wrote several short urban novels. In Poiss ja liblik, Tammsaare shows the influence of Oscar Wilde, internationally best known is his last novel, Devil with a False Passport. Truth and Justice comprises five volumes, which have no individual titles, even today, the third volume is sometimes called artistically inferior, although the description of the revolution is on par with similar scenes in Pasternaks Doctor Zhivago. In Estonia, the volume, with its Tartu educational scenes, is today probably the most enjoyed. International critics would probably opt for vol, Tammsaare himself said later that the different volumes deal with the relation of Man to the land, God, State and society, him- or herself and resignation. Truth and Justice was not translated into English until 2014, when Haute Culture Books published the first volume of the saga under the name Andres, there are two complete translations into German and one each into French, Latvian, and Czech. Volume 1 has also translated into Finnish, Polish. Tammsaare Museum in Kadriorg Central bank website - shows the 25-Kroon banknote, with its depiction of Tammsaare and his farm A. H. Tammsaare tee - street in Tallinn named after A. H. Tammsaare
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