Estonia is a small country with a surprisingly long coastline. Surrounded on 2-1/2 sides by water, it faces the Gulf of Riga on the southwest, the Baltic Sea on the west, and the Gulf of Finland on the north. There are two large islands in the Baltic, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and countless small islands. To guard these coasts, Estonia has more than 70 lighthouses and a well-developed lighthouse administration. This page includes the lighthouses of the northern (Gulf of Finland) coast in Harjumaa (Harju County). This coastline was known historically as Revalia. Its major port, formerly called Reval, is now the Estonian capital of Tallinn. Estonia was part of the Russian Empire until the end of World War I in 1918, and then it was incorporated into the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1990. Thus the older lighthouses are from the Russian Imperial period and some of the newer ones are of Soviet construction. An example from the imperial period appear at right: the old Suurupi lighthouse, built in 1760. Lighthouses in Estonia are operated by the Maritime Administration (Veeteede Amet or VTA). In Estonian a lighthouse is a tuletorn (fire tower), a tulepaak, or a majakas. A daybeacon is called a päevamärk, saar is an island, madal is a shoal, neem is a cape or headland, and väin is a strait. Names in curly brackets {} are non-Estonian former names (Swedish or German). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. VTA numbers are from the web site of the Estonian Maritime Administration. Admiralty numbers are from volume C of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 116.
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![]() Pakri Light, Paldiski, July 2012 ex-Panoramio photo copyright Oleg Ivanov; used by permission |
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![]() Vahemadal Light. Gulf of Finland, October 2017 photo copyright Darlene Chisholm; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Russia: Ingria (Gulf of Finland Islands) | East: Eastern Estonia | West: Northwestern Estonia
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted May 1, 2005. Checked and revised May 16, 2020. Lighthouses: 45. Site copyright 2020 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.