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Ruhnu
Ruhnu (Swedish: Runö; Latvian: Roņu sala; Livonian: Rūnõmō) is an Estonian island in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. Its territory of 11.9 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) is administratively part of Saare maakond (county). Ruhnu lies geographically closer to the coast of Courland on the mainland of Latvia than it is to any point in the rest of Estonia. With less than 150 official residents, the Ruhnu vald (parish) has the smallest population of Estonia's 79 municipalities. Before 1944, it was for centuries populated by ethnic Swedes and traditional Swedish law was used.
The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant numbers of long-tailed ducks and velvet scoters, both wintering and on passage.
The Estonian Environmental Agency owns a meteorological station in Ruhnu. Ruhnu has an oceanic climate (Cfb). Precipitation amounts are quite moderate for an oceanic type of climate.
Bishopric of Courland at least 1341–1560
Danish-controlled Bishopric 1560–1562
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia 1562–1621
Kingdom of Sweden 1621–1708
Russian Empire 1708–1915
German occupation 1915–1918
Unclear 1918–1919
Republic of Estonia 1919–1940
Soviet occupation 1940–1941
German occupation 1941–1944
Republic of Estonia 1944
Soviet occupation 1944–1991
Republic of Estonia 1991–present
The first archaeological artifacts of human activity in Ruhnu, assumed to be related to seasonal seal hunting, date back to around 5000 BC. The time of arrival of the first ancient Scandinavians in Ruhnu and the beginning of a permanent Swedish-speaking settlement is not known. It probably did not precede the Northern Crusades at the beginning of the 13th century, when the indigenous peoples of all the lands surrounding the Gulf of Riga were converted to Christianity and subjugated to the Teutonic Order. The first documented record of the island of Ruhnu, and of its Swedish population, is a 1341 letter sent by the Bishop of Courland which confirmed the islanders' right to reside and manage their property in accordance with Swedish law.
Ruhnu was controlled by the Kingdom of Sweden (1621–1708, formally until 1721) and after that by the Russian Empire until World War I, when it was occupied by Imperial German armed forces (1915–1918).
Under the tsarist Russian rule in the 18th–19th century the island had de facto independence in most affairs, though designated as crown land. The island's Lutheran clergyman served as gutsverwalter (estate custodian) in matters of state. In the middle of the 19th century, a majority of the islanders sought to leave Lutheranism and join the Russian Orthodox Church, and formal steps in this direction took place in 1866 with papers exchanged with the Orthodox dean of Saaremaa in anticipation of Orthodox chrismation. But the planned conversion did not proceed.
After World War I, despite some local initiatives to rejoin Sweden, and territorial claims by Latvia, the islanders agreed to become part of newly independent Estonia in 1919 (possibly due to the existence of a Swedish minority in Estonia). According to a census taken in 1934, Ruhnu had a population of 282: 277 ethnic Swedes and 5 ethnic Estonians.
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Ruhnu
Ruhnu (Swedish: Runö; Latvian: Roņu sala; Livonian: Rūnõmō) is an Estonian island in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. Its territory of 11.9 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) is administratively part of Saare maakond (county). Ruhnu lies geographically closer to the coast of Courland on the mainland of Latvia than it is to any point in the rest of Estonia. With less than 150 official residents, the Ruhnu vald (parish) has the smallest population of Estonia's 79 municipalities. Before 1944, it was for centuries populated by ethnic Swedes and traditional Swedish law was used.
The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant numbers of long-tailed ducks and velvet scoters, both wintering and on passage.
The Estonian Environmental Agency owns a meteorological station in Ruhnu. Ruhnu has an oceanic climate (Cfb). Precipitation amounts are quite moderate for an oceanic type of climate.
Bishopric of Courland at least 1341–1560
Danish-controlled Bishopric 1560–1562
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia 1562–1621
Kingdom of Sweden 1621–1708
Russian Empire 1708–1915
German occupation 1915–1918
Unclear 1918–1919
Republic of Estonia 1919–1940
Soviet occupation 1940–1941
German occupation 1941–1944
Republic of Estonia 1944
Soviet occupation 1944–1991
Republic of Estonia 1991–present
The first archaeological artifacts of human activity in Ruhnu, assumed to be related to seasonal seal hunting, date back to around 5000 BC. The time of arrival of the first ancient Scandinavians in Ruhnu and the beginning of a permanent Swedish-speaking settlement is not known. It probably did not precede the Northern Crusades at the beginning of the 13th century, when the indigenous peoples of all the lands surrounding the Gulf of Riga were converted to Christianity and subjugated to the Teutonic Order. The first documented record of the island of Ruhnu, and of its Swedish population, is a 1341 letter sent by the Bishop of Courland which confirmed the islanders' right to reside and manage their property in accordance with Swedish law.
Ruhnu was controlled by the Kingdom of Sweden (1621–1708, formally until 1721) and after that by the Russian Empire until World War I, when it was occupied by Imperial German armed forces (1915–1918).
Under the tsarist Russian rule in the 18th–19th century the island had de facto independence in most affairs, though designated as crown land. The island's Lutheran clergyman served as gutsverwalter (estate custodian) in matters of state. In the middle of the 19th century, a majority of the islanders sought to leave Lutheranism and join the Russian Orthodox Church, and formal steps in this direction took place in 1866 with papers exchanged with the Orthodox dean of Saaremaa in anticipation of Orthodox chrismation. But the planned conversion did not proceed.
After World War I, despite some local initiatives to rejoin Sweden, and territorial claims by Latvia, the islanders agreed to become part of newly independent Estonia in 1919 (possibly due to the existence of a Swedish minority in Estonia). According to a census taken in 1934, Ruhnu had a population of 282: 277 ethnic Swedes and 5 ethnic Estonians.
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