Kihnu is an island in the Baltic Sea. With an area of , it is the largest island in the Gulf of Riga and the seventh largest island of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. With a length of and width of , the island's highest point is

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Kihnu belongs to

Pärnu County Pärnu County ( or ''Pärnumaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the north, Järva and Viljandi counties to ...

and, together with neighbouring islands, forms Kihnu Parish, one of the smallest

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of the country, with an area of . , 604 people lived on Kihnu, 69 of whom were primary school pupils. There are four villages: Lemsi, Linaküla, Rootsiküla, and Sääre. One can reach Kihnu by a fifteen-minute plane trip from Pärnu or by ferry, with trips taking three hours from Pärnu and one from Manilaid. When the sea is frozen in winter, it is possible to drive to the island over the ice. The nearby isle of Manilaid (or Manija, ''Manõja'' in the Kihnu dialect) has been inhabited by people from Kihnu since 1933 and thus shares its culture.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

proclaimed Kihnu's cultural space and traditions as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7 November 2003. Kihnu is also called ''Kihnumua'' in the local dialect. Names in other languages include ''Ķīļu'' in Latvian, ''Kynö'' in Standard Swedish, ''Kin'' in Estonian Swedish, and historically, ''Kühnö'' in German. In Estonian Sign Language, the island is signed by imitating the vertical stripes of a Kihnu skirt. There are various theories on the etymology of the name Kihnu, with no consensus. The earliest recorded version of the name is ''Kyne'', from 1386.

Culture

As the men of Kihnu have been frequently away at sea, women have run everyday life on the island and became the guardians of the island's cultural heritage, which includes

handicrafts A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

, dances, games, and music. The latter is an especially important part of the island's traditions and accompanies handicrafts, religious feasts, and other celebrations. Ancient runo-styled songs are also important, as is traditional clothing adorned with decorations and bright colours. There are elaborate wedding traditions, which are considered the "most complex and bright expression" of Kihnu culture. Most inhabitants of Kihnu are Orthodox Christians, descendants of converts in the nineteenth century. Kihnu is known for its handicrafts and distinctive traditional clothing, which is still commonly worn today. It includes striped skirts (''kört''), patterned knit men's sweaters (''troi''), and knit mittens. Young women have traditionally organised evening get-togethers (''ülalistmine'', i.e., "sitting (staying) up (late)") to do handicrafts. Traditional cuisine includes rye bread with potatoes, pork fat, or Baltic herring added to the dough; eel soup, prepared by fishers; and sweet milk soup, an important dish at weddings. Seal hunting is practiced in Kihnu, and the

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

is considered a delicacy. Another distinctive delicacy is the eggs of semi-domesticated mergansers (waterbirds), also used for baking cakes. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous men from Kihnu became sailors. The most famous of them was the largely self-taught captain Enn Uuetoa, also known as ''Kihnu Jõnn'' (1848–1913; ''Jõnn'' is the local pronunciation of the name Enn).

Language

The Kihnu dialect is thought to belong to the insular dialect group of North Estonian, along with the dialects of Saaremaa, Muhu, and Hiiumaa. Unlike the Estonian language, the Kihnu dialect has the vocal harmony found in other

Finnic languages The Finnic or Baltic Finnic languages constitute a branch of the Uralic language family spoken around the Baltic Sea by the Baltic Finnic peoples. There are around 7 million speakers, who live mainly in Finland and Estonia. Traditionally, ...

. Also unlike Estonian, the Kihnu dialect does not have the sound "h" at the beginning of a word—it is used only within words. The vocabulary of the language has also been influenced by other languages. The dialect includes triphthongs. The special intonation gives the listener the impression that the speaker is singing while speaking.

Geography and climate

The island has a sandy interior and a rocky coast made up of more than fifty islets, which are an important nesting ground for birds. Along the dunes,

beach ridge A beach ridge is a Ocean surface wave, wave-swept or wave-deposited ridge running parallel (geometry), parallel to a shoreline. It is commonly composed of sand as well as sediment worked from underlying beach material. The movement of sediment ...

s, and sands of the eastern part, the island reaches its maximum height of 29.6 m above sea level.

Images

Kihnu lighthouse2.jpg, Kihnu church.JPG, Kihnu-KYL%C3%84KAUPPA.jpg, Seashore of Kihnu.jpg, Kihnu muuseum.jpg, Villageroad.JPG, Garden in Kihnu.JPG, Kihnu rannik 1.JPG, Kihnu girls.JPG, Kihnu männik.JPG, Kihnu kalmistu4.jpg, Hallhüljes Kihnu hoiualal.JPG,

References

External links