Estonia vs Latvia

Why people mix them up

Estonia and Latvia are two of the three Baltic states, neighbours on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, both small, both independent since 1991, both in the EU, NATO and the eurozone, and both with large Russian-speaking minorities. Their names are of similar length and they are usually mentioned in the same breath as Lithuania, so players know they are "up there somewhere" without a firm picture of which is on top. Unlike their names suggest, the languages are unrelated: Estonian is close to Finnish, Latvian is a Baltic language.

How to tell them apart

• Estonia is the northern one, facing Finland across the Gulf of Finland; Latvia is below it and borders Lithuania.
• Estonia's flag is blue-black-white horizontal stripes; Latvia's is dark red with a thin white stripe through the middle.
• Estonia has large islands, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, off its west coast; Latvia's coast is a smooth curve around the Gulf of Riga.
• Latvia is bigger, about 64,600 km² against 45,000 km², with roughly 1.9 million people against 1.4 million.
• Estonia borders only Latvia and Russia; Latvia borders Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania.
• The capitals are Tallinn (Estonia), just across the water from Helsinki, and Riga (Latvia), at the head of the Gulf of Riga.

Memory hook

The Baltics go E, L, L from top to bottom: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Estonia is "east of Sweden and under Finland", the one with the Finnish-sounding language.

On the map

For Estonia, find Finland and tap the country directly across the gulf to its south, the top of the three Baltic states, with two big islands off its coast. For Latvia, go one step down: tap the country wrapped around the large bay below Estonia, with Lithuania underneath it and Belarus touching its south-eastern corner. If the country you are tapping touches Lithuania, it is Latvia.