No one knows why the Baltic Sea is called what it is. The name may come from the Lithuanian baltas, which means "white." Or perhaps it comes from the Scandinavian balta, which means "strait"--a reference to the narrow opening of the sea. It may have even come from both! By the 1500s, however, it was widely known as the Baltic Sea.
![Lokal_Profil [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cms.accelerate-ed.com/image/15648f75-ef24-4b0d-9a27-ac9f1bd4e24a.png "Baltic states flag map")
The Baltic States are the three small, independent nations that are tucked along the eastern edge of the Baltic Sea: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
All of them share the low terrain of a coastal plain. In Estonia, for example, the average elevation is only 164 feet (50 meters). The land is covered with marshy lowlands and fertile plains. Their coastal location also influences the climate as the air blows off the Baltic Sea. Their humid continental climate is marked by wet, moderate winters and summers.
The population is more diverse. While Lithuanians and Latvians speak similar languages, Estonians speak a distinctive non-indo-European tongue closely related to Finnish. Most Estonians and Latvians are Lutherans. Most Lithuanians are Roman Catholic. Estonia and Latvia have large Russian populations.
| The Baltic States | Population | Language | Religion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | 1.3 million | Estonian | Lutheran |
| Latvia | 2.0 million | Latvian | Lutheran |
| Lithuania | 2.9 million | Lithuanian | Roman Catholic |
