The Baltic States Explained: Facts You Didn’t Know! The Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania— are three northern European countries along the Baltic Sea, bordering Russia, Belarus, and Poland. Estonia (Tallinn) is a digital leader offering e-residency and online elections since 2005. Latvia (Riga) hosts the UNESCO-recognized Song and Dance Festival every five years. Lithuania (Vilnius) is a basketball powerhouse and shares Europe’s highest-moving sand dunes with Russia. The Gulf of Riga