Hiiumaa
Tahkuna peninsula is the most northern part of Hiiumaa
Geography
Location	Baltic Sea
Coordinates
Archipelago	Moonsund archipelago
Area	989 km²
Highest point	Tornimägi 68 m
Administration
Estonia
County	Hiiu County
Largest city	Kärdla (3,736)
Demographics
Population	11,087

Hiiumaa is the second largest island (989 km²) belonging to Estonia. The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. Moonsund archipelago (sometimes called Estonian archipelago) is a group of Islands located in Baltic Sea. Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region A County (maakond is an administrative subdivision of Estonia. Hiiu County (Hiiu maakond or Hiiumaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. Kärdla is the largest town on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa and the capital of Hiiu County. An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region It is located in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Saaremaa, a part of the west Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago). The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. Saaremaa is the largest Island belonging to Estonia, measuring 2673 km². An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian Moonsund archipelago (sometimes called Estonian archipelago) is a group of Islands located in Baltic Sea. Its largest town is Kärdla. Kärdla is the largest town on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa and the capital of Hiiu County.

Hiiumaa is the main island of Hiiu County, called Hiiumaa or Hiiu maakond in Estonian. Hiiu County (Hiiu maakond or Hiiumaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. Estonian (; ˈeːsti ˈkeːl is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1 The Swedish and German name of the island is Dagö (day island), Dagø in Danish — a calque of its old Finnish name Päivänsalo (day island); compare Ösel (Yösalo - night island) for Saaremaa. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the In Linguistics, a calque (kælk or loan translation is a Word or Phrase borrowed from another Language by Literal, word-for-word Saaremaa is the largest Island belonging to Estonia, measuring 2673 km². In modern Finnish it is called Hiidenmaa, literally hiisi's land. Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside Hiisi (root hiite-) are a kind of Tutelary spirits in mythologies of the Baltic Sea area especially in Finland. In Old Gutnish it was Dagaiþ (day isthmus), from which the local North Germanic name "Daë" is derived. Old Gutnish was the dialect of Old Norse that was spoken on the island of Gotland. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages

History

Kõpu lighthouse is one of the best-known landmarks

Archaeological evidence of the first human settlement in Hiiumaa dates to as early as the 4th century BC. Kõpu lighthouse is one of best known symbols and tourist sights on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. The first documented record of the island of Dageida was made by contemporary chroniclers in 1228, at the time when Hiiumaa, along with the rest of Estonia, had been conquered by Germanic crusaders. The Livonian Crusade refers to the German and Danish conquest and colonization of medieval Livonia, the territory constituting modern Latvia In 1254, Hiiumaa was divided between the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek and the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, who were also partly acting on behalf of the Hanseatic League. The Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek (Saare-Lääne piiskopkond Bistum Ösel-Wiek Low German: Bisdom Ösel-Wiek; contemporary Ecclesia Osiliensis was a semi-independent The Livonian Order was autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1418&ndash1561 The Teutonic Order is a German Roman Catholic religious order. The Hanseatic League (also known as the Hansa) was an alliance of trading cities and their Guilds that established and maintained trade

The island was part of Swedish Estonia from 1563-1710, after which it passed to the Russian Empire as part of the Governorate of Estonia. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya The Governorate of Est(honia (Эстляндская губерния or Estlyandskaya guberniya) or Estland, also known as the Government of Estonia Most of the island's previously numerous Swedish-speaking population emigrated or were "Estonianised" during the period of Imperial Russian rule. Verbivka ( Standard Swedish: Gammalsvenskby, local Swedish dialect Gammölsvänskbi literally "Old Swedish Village" Ukrainian Старошведське

Hiiumaa was occupied during World War I by the Imperial German Army, and became a part of independent Estonia after the war. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The German Army ( Deutsches Heer) was the name given the combined armed forces of the German Empire, also known as the Imperial Army ( Reichsheer) or It was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, by Nazi Germany in 1941, and by the Soviets again in 1944. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 See also Estonia in World War II After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the Wehrmacht reached Estonia It was then a part of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic until the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (Eesti Nõukogude Sotsialistlik Vabariik Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика Estonskaya Since then, it has been a part of independent Estonia.

See also

• List of islands of Estonia
• List of islands in the Baltic Sea

External links

• Hiiumaa County government Official site
• Open Directory Project - Hiiumaa Sites and resources for Hiiumaa
• www.mil.hiiumaa.ee Pictures of Coastal batteries WWI and WWII in Hiiumaa