Baltic region

[[File:Baltic Sea map.png|thumb|Countries surrounding the [[Baltic Sea]]]]

The '''Baltic Sea Region''', alternatively the '''Baltic Rim countries''' (or simply the '''Baltic Rim'''), and the '''Baltic Sea countries/states''', refers to the general area surrounding the [[Baltic Sea]], including parts of [[Northern Europe|Northern]], [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 July 2024 |title=Baltic Sea |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltic-Sea |access-date=9 July 2024 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region |url=https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/cooperation/macro-regional-strategies/baltic-sea_en |access-date=9 July 2024 |website=European Commission}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2024 |title=Programme Factsheet |url=https://interreg-baltic.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2024.01.08_IBSR_FactSheet.pdf |access-date=9 July 2024 |website=Interreg Baltic Sea Region}}</ref> Unlike the "[[Baltic states]]", the Baltic region includes all countries that border the sea.

== Etymology == {{Main|Baltic Sea#Etymology and nomenclature{{!}}Baltic (name)}}

The first to name it the ''Baltic Sea'' ({{langx|la|Mare Balticum}}) was 11th century German chronicler [[Adam of Bremen]].

== Denotation == Depending on the context the ''Baltic Sea Region'' might stand for:

* The countries that have shorelines along the Baltic Sea: [[Denmark]], [[Estonia]], [[Finland]], [[Germany]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Poland]], [[Russia]], and [[Sweden]]. * The group of countries that are members of the inter-governmental ''[[Baltic Assembly]]'' and ''[[Baltic Council of Ministers]]'',<ref name="Unity">{{cite book |last1=Republic of Estonia |last2=Republic of Latvia |last3=Republic of Lithuania |title=Declaration on Unity and Co-operation by the Republic of Estonia, Republic of Latvia and Republic of Lithuania |url=https://vm.ee/sites/default/files/content-editors/web-static/409/2003_11_28_BMN_pohikiri_allkirjadega_eng.pdf |publisher=Council of Baltic States |access-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507094857/https://vm.ee/sites/default/files/content-editors/web-static/063/1990_05_12_deklaratsioon_Balti_yhtsusest_ja_koostoost.pdf |archive-date=7 May 2019 |date=1994}}</ref> and generally referred to by the shorthand, [[Baltic states]]:<ref name="EB-Baltic">{{cite book |last1=Misiunas |first1=Romuald J |last2=Bater |first2=James H |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=25 May 2006 |edition=Online |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltic-states |access-date=2 June 2021 |language=en |chapter=Baltic states |archive-date=11 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611102707/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-37264/Baltic-states |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="LatviaFA">{{cite web |last1=Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia |title=Co-operation among the Baltic States |url=http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/eu/BalticSeaRegion/BalticStates/ |website=Republic of Latvia |access-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204065713/http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/eu/BalticSeaRegion/BalticStates/ |archive-date=4 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="EstoniaFA">{{Cite web |last1=Republic of Estonia |url=http://vm.ee/en/baltic-cooperation|title = Baltic Cooperation |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=28 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506193534/http://www.vm.ee/en/baltic-cooperation|archive-date=6 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. * Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and [[Kaliningrad Oblast]] of Russia, exclaved from the remainder of Russia.<ref name="GSEn_ПЭР">«The Baltic region includes the Baltic republics and the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR "» — {{GSEn| автор = Гербов В. Р.|статья= Прибалтийский экономический район| том = 20| страницы = 607}}</ref> * Historic [[East Prussia]] and the historical [[nation|land]]s of [[Livonia]], [[Courland]] and Estonia ([[Swedish Estonia]] and [[Russian Estonia]]).{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} * The former [[Baltic governorates]] of [[Imperial Russia]]: Today's Estonia and Latvia (excluding parts of modern Eastern Latvia that were part of [[Vitebsk Governorate]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Gibson|first=Catherine|doi=10.1093/oso/9780192844323.003.0001|pages=6–7|date=29 March 2022|title=Geographies of Nationhood: Cartography, Science, and Society in the Russian Imperial Baltic|isbn=9780192844323|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> * The countries on the historical [[British Empire|British]] trade route through the Baltic Sea, i.e. including the [[Scandinavian Peninsula]] ([[Sweden]] and [[Norway]]).{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} * The [[Warsaw Accord|negotiating members]] of the Grand [[Baltic Entente]] also known as the Baltic League: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Townsend |first1=Mary Evelyn |title=The Baltic States |date=September 1921 |publisher=The Institute of international education}}</ref> * Members of the [[Council of the Baltic Sea States]] (CBSS),<ref name="ecCBSS">{{cite web |last1=European Commission |author1-link=European Commission |title=CBSS - Council of Baltic Sea States |url=https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/organisation/cbss-council-baltic-sea-states_en |website=knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu |publisher=European Union |access-date=2 June 2021 |quote=The Council of the Baltic Sea States is an overall political forum for regional inter-governmental cooperation. The Members of the Council are the eleven states of the Baltic Sea Region as well as the European Commission. |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215704/https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/organisation/cbss-council-baltic-sea-states_en |url-status=live }}</ref> are the countries{{efn|State members of CBSS: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Council of the Baltic Sea States |title=CBSS - About Us |url=https://cbss.org/organisation/about-us/ |access-date=2 June 2021 |archive-date=10 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510051511/https://cbss.org/organisation/about-us/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} with shorelines along the Baltic Sea, in addition to [[Norway]], [[Iceland]] and the [[European Commission]]. * The islands of the [[Euroregion]] [[B7 Baltic Islands Network]], which includes the islands and archipelagos [[Åland]] (autonomous region of [[Finland]]), [[Bornholm]] ([[Denmark]]), [[Gotland]] ([[Sweden]]), [[Hiiumaa]] (Estonia), [[Öland]] ([[Sweden]]), [[Rügen]] ([[Germany]]), and [[Saaremaa]] (Estonia).<ref name="b7charter">{{cite news |last1=B7 Steering Committee |title=Charter of the B7 |url=https://discomap.eea.europa.eu/map/Data/Milieu/OURCOAST_098_Baltic/OURCOAST_098_Baltic_Doc2_BalticSevenCharter.pdf |access-date=30 June 2021 |work=B7 Baltic Islands Network |date=8 September 2004 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614094138/https://discomap.eea.europa.eu/map/Data/Milieu/OURCOAST_098_Baltic/OURCOAST_098_Baltic_Doc2_BalticSevenCharter.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> * On historic [[Scandinavian languages|Scandinavian]] and [[German language|German]] maps, the ''Balticum'' sometimes includes only the historically or culturally German-dominated lands, or provinces, of Estonia, [[Livonia]], [[Courland]] and [[Latgale]] (corresponding to modern [[Estonia]] and Latvia), [[East Prussia]], [[Samogitia]] (corresponding to modern Western Lithuania) as well as sometimes [[Pomerania]], [[Kashubia]], while the historically less-Germanized [[Lithuania proper|Eastern Lithuania]] is occasionally excluded.{{Citation needed|date=July 2014}} *In geology, the [[Baltic Shield]] includes [[Fennoscandia]], parts of northwestern Russia and the northern Baltic Sea.<ref name="EB2004">{{cite book |last1=Dunbar |first1=Moira |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=2004 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Arctic#ref57843 |language=en |chapter=Arctic: Geology |access-date=30 June 2021 |archive-date=24 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824100437/https://www.britannica.com/place/Arctic#ref57843 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Beck2008">{{cite journal |last1=Beckholmen |first1=Monica |last2=Tirén |first2=Sven A |title=The geological history of the Baltic Sea: A review of the literature and investigation tools |journal=Swedish Radiation Safety Authority - Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten |date=September 2008 |id=Report number: 2009:21 |url=https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/servlets/purl/963502 |access-date=30 June 2021 |issn=2000-0456 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181220/https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/servlets/purl/963502 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also == * [[Baltia]] (Roman mythology) * [[Baltic states]] * [[Baltoscandia]] * [[Council of the Baltic Sea States]] * [[List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Northern Europe]] * [[Nordic identity in Estonia]] * [[Northern Dimension]] * [[North Sea Region]]

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

== Further reading == * Norbert Götz. [https://balticworlds.com/spatial-politics-fuzzy-regionalism/ "Spatial Politics and Fuzzy Regionalism: The Case of the Baltic Sea Area."] ''Baltic Worlds'' 9 (2016) 3: 54–67. * {{cite book | title=The Baltic Sea region: cultures, politics, societies | publisher=Baltic University Press | publication-place=Uppsala | date=2002 | isbn=978-91-973579-8-2 | editor-first= Witold |editor-last=Maciejewski}}

== External links == {{Commons category}} * {{official website|https://cbss.org}} of the Council of the Baltic Sea States * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080208170859/http://itameri.kyamk.fi/e.html The Baltic Sea Information Centre] (archived 8 February 2008) * [http://balticsea-region-strategy.eu/ EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy] (EUSBSR) – a strategy aiming to accelerate the integration of the region * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100610233030/http://www.balticuniv.uu.se/index.php The Baltic University Programme] – a university network focused on a sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region (archived 10 June 2010) * [https://www.vasab.org/ Baltic Sea Region Spatial Planning Initiative VASAB] * [http://eu.baltic.net/ Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007–2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412230308/http://eu.baltic.net/ |date=12 April 2021 }} * [https://portal.vifanord.de/ Vifanord] – a digital library that provides scientific information on the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as the Baltic region as a whole.

[[Category:Baltic region| ]] [[Category:Baltic Sea|Region]] [[Category:Regions of Europe]]