Why Almost No One Lives in the Baltic Countries | Geography by Geoff Reaction

Описание: Original video:    • Why Almost Nobody Lives In The Baltic Coun...  
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Why So Few People Live in the Baltics? (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) — Reaction & Deep Dive

Today we’re reacting to Geography by Geoffon why the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—have such small populations despite being modern, high-quality places to live. Geography and history are inseparable here: ice-age landscapes, flat invasion corridors, crusading orders, empires, WWII devastation, Soviet deportations, post-2004 EU migration… it all adds up.


What we cover

Glacial geography 101: kettles, moraines, bogs, and why the East European Plain is “wide open.”
Signature places: West Estonian archipelago, Lake Peipus, Gauja NP’s Devonian cliffs/caves, Curonian Spit.
State formation & clash of orders: Teutonic/Livonian Orders vs. a rising Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Twentieth-century ruptures: occupations, mass deportations (hundreds of thousands across the Baltics), demographic collapse, and the Singing Revolution.
Modern demography: how EU labor mobility + low fertility shrank populations—and why Estonia & Lithuania are ticking up again.

Chapters

00:00 Intro: why geography + history belong together
01:20 Ice sheets, kettles & moraines—how the Baltic plain formed
04:45 Estonia: islands, Lake Peipus, very low relief
08:55 Latvia: rivers, Gulf of Riga, Gauja National Park
11:16 Lithuania: lake country & the Curonian Spit
14:25 Medieval to early modern: Teutonic & Livonian Orders; Grand Duchy of Lithuania → Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
18:10 Empires & russification; national awakenings
19:55 1918 independence → Molotov-Ribbentrop → occupations
21:40 WWII losses, Holocaust, deportations, Forest Brothers
23:35 1991 independence; EU/NATO 2004; out-migration & low birth rates
26:10 Green shoots: population rebounds & why the future looks brighter
27:05 Closing thoughts + viewer requests


My channels:

History Reactions:    / @happys_history_reactions  
Main History:    / @happyshistory   (coming soon)
Gaming:    / @happy_gaming_channel  


#Baltics #Estonia #Latvia #Lithuania #HistoryReaction #TeutonicKnights