Tallinn
Fast facts
- Leader
- Mihhail Kõlvart
Facts from Wikipedia’s “Tallinn” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia. It is on the north-eastern coast of Estonia and borders the Gulf of Finland. The city is next to many lakes. The largest of these lakes is called Lake Ülemiste, and most Tallinnites get their drinking water from this lake.
Tallinn’s Old Town, which is the historic town center, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
History
Tallinn first appeared on a map in 1154, when the cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, calling the city Qlwn, added it to his map of the world. After being conquered by the Danes, the city was known as Reval until Estonia became an independent nation in the late 1910s.
In 1285, the city became a part of the Hanseatic League. As a result, in the Middle Ages Tallinn was an important stop on the trade routes between Europe and Russia. During its history Estonia has been ruled at times by Sweden and by Russia. It became independent in 1918 after World War I, but after World War II it was ruled by the USSR. In March 1944 Tallinn was bombed by Soviet Air Force, killing 436 civilians and totally destroying 5073 buildings. Since 1991, Tallinn has been the capital of an independent Estonia.
Today more than 400,000 people live in Tallinn, which is one third of the population of Estonia. It is a big sea port. Its food and textile industries are important. The town has many pretty, old buildings.
Climate
The chart below shows the climate of Tallinn.
Written for younger readers
Tallinn, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: World Heritage Sites
File:Tallinn panorama from Toompea, July 2008.jpg|Old Town of Tallinn File:Raekoja plats (Tallinn).jpg|Wide View of Town Centre of Tallin Tallinn is the capital of a European country called Estonia. It is located on the north-eastern part of Estonia and borders the Gulf of Finland. The city is next to many lakes. The largest of these lakes is called Lake Ülemiste. Most of the local people get their drinking water from this lake. Tallinn’s Old Town, the town center of Tallin in the older days, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Tallinn is first placed on a map in 1154 by a cartographer (person who draws out maps) called Muhammad al-Idris. He called it Qlwn. The city was subsequently captured by Danes, and they renamed it Reval. In 1920 Estonia became independent. The city was then renamed Tallin. Today more than 400,000 people live in Tallinn. This is one third of the population of Estonia. It is a big sea port. Its food and clothing industries are important to Estonia. The town has many old pretty buildings.
File:Vistas panorámicas desde la iglesia de San Olaf, Tallinn, Estonia, 2012-08-05, DD 20.JPG|View of the Old City File:Vistas panorámicas desde la iglesia de San Olaf, Tallinn, Estonia, 2012-08-05, DD 06.JPG|One of the beautiful old buildings of the town. File:Tallinna linnaosad.png|Map of Tallin
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Tallinn” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.