Estonia timeline

A chronology of key events:

Tallinn's old town dates back to 14th century City has been controlled by Danes, Teutonic Knights, Swedes and Russians Capital of independent Estonia from 1991 Population: 400,000 2006: Debt concerns at Estonia property boom

1918 - Independence proclaimed.

1920 - Peace treaty with Russia signed.

1934 - Prime Minister Konstantin Pats leads bloodless coup and establishes authoritarian rule.

1938 - Pats becomes president under new constitution.

1939 - The Soviet Union compels Estonia to accept Soviet military bases.

1940 June - Soviet troops march in.

1940 August - Estonia incorporated into Soviet Union.

1941 - German troops invade.

1944 - Estonia reannexed by the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of Estonians deported to Siberia and Central Asia.

1988 - Popular Front campaigns for democracy. "Singing revolution" brings a third of the population together in a bid for national unity and self-determination.

Independence

1991 - Communist rule collapses. Soviet government recognizes the independence of the Baltic republics.

1992 - Lennart Meri becomes president.

1994 - Russian troops leave. Estonia joins Partnership for Peace, allowing limited military cooperation with Nato.

Lennart Meri, the first post-independence president Born 1929, deported to Siberia by Soviets aged 12 Film maker, leader of Soviet-era independence movement Died March 2006

1996 - President Meri re-elected.

1997 - Estonia invited to begin European Union membership negotiations.

1999- New centre-right government under Prime Minister Mart Laar, who led a previous government in 1992.

2000 - Estonia and Russia expel diplomats in tit-for-tat moves over spying claims.

2001 October - Former member of the Central Committee of the Soviet-era Communist Party Arnold Ruutel sworn in as president.

2001 December - President Ruutel signs into law a bill scrapping the requirement for candidates for public office to be proficient in the Estonian language.

2002 January - Mart Laar resigns as prime minister after squabbling within ruling coalition.

Siim Kallas becomes prime minister in a new coalition government in which his Reform Party shares power with Centre Party.

2002 November - Nato summit in Prague includes Estonia on list of countries formally invited to join the alliance.

Nato, EU membership

2002 December - EU summit in Copenhagen formally invites Estonia to join.

2003 April - President Ruutel invites Res Publica leader Juhan Parts to be premier in coalition government with Reform Party and People's Union following elections the previous month.

Estonians voted overwhelmingly to join the EU

2003 September - Estonians vote overwhelmingly to join the European Union in a referendum.

2004 March - Estonia admitted to Nato.

2004 May - Estonia is one of 10 new states to join the EU.

2004 November - Defence Minister Margus Hanson resigns after classified documents are stolen from his home.

2005 February - Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland is sacked after classified documents are found to be missing from ministry.

2005 March - President Ruutel declines invitation to attend Moscow celebrations in May marking the anniversary of the end of World War II.

Prime Minister Parts submits government's resignation after vote of no confidence in Justice Minister Ken-Marti Vaher over tough anticorruption programme.

2005 April - Reform Party's Andrus Ansip confirmed as prime minister.

Tensions with Russia

2005 May - Estonia and Russia sign treaty delineating border.

Soviet memorial: Rallying point for Russian minority 2007: Estonia removes Soviet memorial 2007: Estonia defies Russia over statue

2005 June - Parliament ratifies border treaty with Russia but defies warnings from Moscow by introducing amendment referring to Soviet occupation. Russia reacts by withdrawing from treaty.

2006 May - Parliament ratifies EU constitution.

2006 September - Toomas Hendrik Ilves, a former foreign minister, is elected president.

2007 February - Parliament passes a law prohibiting the display of monuments glorifying Soviet rule, paving the way for the removal of a controversial Red Army war memorial in Tallinn.

2007 March - Estonia becomes the first country to allow internet voting for national parliamentary elections. The prime minister's Reform Party wins by a narrow margin.

2007 April - Authorities remove a controversial Red Army war memorial in Tallinn. One person is killed and more than 40 injured as protesters, mostly ethnic Russians, try to halt the removal. Russia warns of serious consequences.

2009 January - Estonian court acquits four ethnic Russians accused of leading riots sparked by government's response to relocate a Soviet-era war memorial in Tallinn.

2009 June - Parliament approves move to double size of Estonian contingent serving in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), from 150 to around 290 soldiers.

2011 January - Estonia adopts the euro.

2011 February - Parliamentary elections. The Reform Party and its coalition partner IRL retain their majority in parliament with 56 out of 101 seats.

2011 August - Toomas Hendrik Ilves is re-elected president for a second five-year term.