8 Interesting Facts About Hiiumaa

Hiiumaa Facts

Facts About Hiiumaa

  1. Hiiumaa is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea.
  2. Hiiumaa is the main island of Hiiu County, called Hiiumaa or Hiiu maakond in Estonian.
  3. The islands economy is mostly tourism, livestock, farming, wrecking, fishing, and fish processing.
  4. The island was ruled first from Denmark, then from Sweden, in the 1500s, and from Russia in the 1700s. It became part of Estonia briefly in 1920 before being incorporated into the Soviet Union till 1991, when Estonia again gained its independence.
  5. Hiiumaa was controlled by the Brothers of the Sword in the early 1200s
  6. Hiiumaa was occupied during World War I by the Imperial German Army, in Operation Albion. After the war, it became a part of independent Estonia
  7. The bird species found on the island include black storks, golden eagles, cranes, avocets and swans. The forests are dominated by pine and deciduous trees, the rest of the uncultivated land is covered by swamps and dunes. The island has about 1000 species of large plants of which 50 are protected.
  8. Hiiumaa is the main island of Hiiu County, called Hiiumaa or Hiiu maakond in Estonian. The Swedish and German name of the island is Dagö or Dagden and Dagø in Danish. In modern Finnish, it is called Hiidenmaa, literally Hiisi’s Land. In Russian it is known as Khiuma. In Old Gutnish, it was Dagaiþ, from which the local North Germanic name “Daë” is derived.
Hiiumaa Facts
Interesting Facts About Hiiumaa