Vaindloo (alternatively Vaindloo saar; ) is a small island located in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

Description

Vaindloo belongs to

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 ...

; it is the northernmost land point of the country. It has an area of and marks the northernmost point of the nation of Estonia, situated north of the Estonian mainland. The island is administratively part of the village of Vainupea in

Haljala Parish Haljala Parish () is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Lääne-Viru County. It has a population of 4297 (2021) and an area of 549 km2. Populated places Small borough Haljala - Võsu Villages Aaspere - Aasu - Aasumetsa - Aaviku - ...

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Viru County ( or ''Lääne-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, ''lääne'' means western and ''ida'' means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Id ...

. The island is depicted on the Estonian two-euro coin. The Euro Coin Collector website notes:

"On the 2 Euro coin two small islands, Vaindloo and Nootamaa, are depicted. These, the most Northerly point and most Westerly point of Estonia are not depicted on the other coins."

Infrastructure

Vaindloo is also notable for its functioning lighthouse, called the Vaindloo tuletorn. It was built in 1871 and is managed by the Estonian Maritime Administration. It replaced a previous timber lighthouse erected in 1718. In addition to the lighthouse, there is an

Estonian Border Guard The Estonian Border Guard () was the national security agency responsible for the border security of Estonia. It was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. The Border Guard also assisted with Search and Rescue missions. In 2010, the organi ...

station with a observation tower and a radar installation.

Environment

Vaindloo is an important breeding sanctuary for such birds as the

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...

Arctic tern The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south ...

Tengmalm's owl The boreal owl (''Aegolius funereus'') or Tengmalm's owl is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the boreal owl in North America and as Tengmalm's owl in Europe after Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm or, more ra ...

great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...

purple sandpiper The purple sandpiper (''Calidris maritima'') is a small shorebird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. This is a hardy sandpiper that breeds in the arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America and winters further south on the Atlan ...

shore lark The horned lark or shore lark (''Eremophila alpestris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found across the northern hemisphere. It is known as "horned lark" in North America and "shore lark" in Europe. Taxonomy The horned lark was fo ...

great grey shrike The great grey shrike (''Lanius excubitor'') is a large and predatory songbird species in the shrike family (biology), family (Laniidae). It forms a superspecies with its parapatric southern relatives, the Iberian grey shrike (''L. meridionalis' ...

yellowhammer The yellowhammer (''Emberiza citrinella'') is a passerine bird in the Emberiza, bunting family that is native to Palearctic, Eurasia and has been introduced species, introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the br ...

and others.BirdLife IBA Factsheet
/ref> Vaindloo tuletorn (2023) (01).jpg Vaindloo saare lõunatipp tuletornist, (2023).jpg Vaindloo hiidrahn (2023) (04).jpg 05 Vaidloo saar (Juuni 2023).jpg

References

Estonian islands in the Baltic Important Bird Areas of Baltic islands Important Bird Areas of Estonia Haljala Parish Gulf of Finland Tourist attractions in Lääne-Viru County Extreme points of Estonia {{Estonia-geo-stub

Description

Infrastructure

Environment

See also

References