Baltic states

The Baltic states (also known as the Baltics, Baltic nations or Baltic countries; Estonian: Balti riigid, Baltimaad, Latvian: Baltijas valstis, Lithuanian: Baltijos valstybės) are three northern European countries east of the Baltic Sea – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I. In the period between the World Wars, the Baltic states also included Finland.