Country facts - Baltic Sea region

Belarus

(Republic of Belarus - Respublika Belarus')

Capital: Minsk
State form: Republic
Area: 207,600 sq km
Border countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine
Population: 10,322,151 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian,
and other 7.4%
Language: Belarusian, Russian
Religion: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic,
Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20%

Denmark

(Kingdom of Denmark - Kongeriget Danmark)

Capital: Copenhagen
State form: Constitutional monarchy
Area: 43,094 sq km
Border countries: Germany
Population: 5,384,384 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish,
Iranian, Somali
Language: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small
minority)
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic
3%, Muslim 2%

Estonia

(Republic of Estonia - Eesti Vabariik)

Capital: Tallinn
State form: Parliamentary republic
Area: 45,226 sq km
Border countries: Latvia, Russia
Population: 1,408,556 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Estonian 65.3%, Russian 28.1%, Ukrainian 2.5%,
Belarusian 1.5%, Finn 1%, other 1.6%
Language: Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Estonian Orthodox,
Baptist, Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal,
Word of Life, Jewish

Finland

(Republic of Finland - Suomen Tasavalta)

Capital: Helsinki
State form: Republic
Area: 337,030 sq km
Border countries: Norway, Sweden, Russia
Population: 5,190,785 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Finn 93%, Swede 6%, Sami 0.11%, Roma 0.12%, Tatar 0.02%
Language: Finnish 93.4% (official), Swedish 5.9% (official), small Sami-
and Russian-speaking minorities
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran 89%, Russian Orthodox 1%, none 9%, other 1%

Germany

(Federal Republic of Germany - Bundesrepublik Deutschland)

Capital: Berlin
State form: Federal republic
Area: 357,021 sq km
Border countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland
Population: 82,398,326 (2003)
Ethnic composition: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up
largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish)
Language: German
Religion: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated
or other 28.3%

Latvia

(Republic of Latvia - Latvijas Republika)

Capital: Riga
State form: Parliamentary democracy
Area: 64,589 sq km
Border countries: Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia
Population: 2,348,784 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Latvian 57.7%, Russian 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%,
Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2%
Language: Latvian (official), Lithuanian, Russian, other
Religion: Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox

Lithuania

(Republic of Lithuania - Lietuvos Respublika)

Capital: Vilnius
State form: Parliamentary democracy
Area: 65,200 sq km
Border countries: Belarus, Latvia, Poland, Russia
Population: 3,592,561 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Lithuanian 80.6%, Russian 8.7%, Polish 7%,
Belarusian 1.6%, other 2.1%
Language: Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian
Religion: Roman Catholic (primarily), Lutheran, Russian Orthodox,
Protestant, Evangelical Christian Baptist, Muslim, Jewish

Norway

(Kingdom of Norway - Kongeriket Norge)

Capital: Oslo
State form: Constitutional monarchy
Area: 324,220 sq km
Border countries: Finland, Sweden, Russia
Population: 4,546,123 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Norwegian, Sami 20,000
Language: Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran 86% (state church), other Protestant and
Roman Catholic 3%, other 1%, none and unknown 10%

Poland

(Republic of Poland - Rzeczpospolita Polska)

Capital: Warsaw
State form: Republic
Area: 312,685 sq km
Border countries: Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Russia,
Slovakia, Ukraine
Population: 38,622,660 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%,
Belarusian 0.5%
Language: Polish
Religion: Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox,
Protestant, and other 5%

Russia

(Russian Federation - Rossijskaja Federacija)

Capital: Moscow
State form: Federation
Area: 17,075,200 sq km
Border countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland,
Ukraine
Population: 144,526,278 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash
1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Belarusian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1%
Language: Russian, other
Religion: Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other

Sweden

(Kingdom of Sweden - Konungariket Sverige)

Capital: Stockholm
State form: Constitutional monarchy
Area: 449,964 sq km
Border countries: Finland, Norway
Population: 8,878,085 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Indigenous population - Swedes and Finnish and Sami
minorities; foreign-born or first-generation immigrants - Finns,
Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks
Language: Swedish ,small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Religion: Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim,
Jewish, Buddhist

Ukraine

(Ukraïna)

Capital: Kiev
State form: Republic
Area: 603,700 sq km
Border countries: Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia,
Slovakia
Population: 48,055,439 (2003)
Ethnic composition: Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%,
Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%,
Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8%
Language: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Religion: Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox -
Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic
(Uniate), Protestant, Jewish

Source: CIA Factbook