Hiiumaa

The second largest island in Estonia is well-know for its historical lighthouses and untouched nature. The areas of Northern and Western Estonia belonged in the Scandinavian cultural sphere during the Viking Age. Hiiumaa was controlled by the Brothers of the Sword in the early 1200s (known as the Teutonic Knights from 1237). During this time it was first settled by Swedes and Germans. 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.