Tallinn is the capital city and main seaport of Estonia.
In 1154 Tallinn was marked on the world map of the Arab cartographer Al Idrisi. As an important port for trade between Russia and Scandinavia it became a target for the expansion of the Kingdom of Denmark, who ruled the region after 1219. During this period the local population accepted Christianity during the Northern Crusades. In 1285 the city became the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League - a mercantile and military alliance of German-dominated cities in Northern Europe. The Danes sold Tallinn along with their other land possessions in northern Estonia to the Teutonic Order in 1345. Medieval Tallinn enjoyed a strategic position at the crossroads of trade between Western and Northern Europe and Russia. The city, with a population of 8,000, was very well fortified with city walls and 66 defense towers.
Tallinn has historically consisted of three parts:
the Toompea (Domberg) or "Cathedral Hill", which was the seat of the central authority, first the ruling bishops, then the Teutonic Order, then the Baltic German nobility; it is today the seat of the Estonian government and many embassies and residencies.
the Old Town, which is the old Hanseatic town, the "city of the citizens" - this was not administratively united with the Hill until the late 19th century. It was the center of the medieval trade on which it grew prosperous.
the Estonian town forms a crescent to the south of the Old Town, where the Estonians came to settle. It was not until the mid-19th century that ethnic Estonians replaced the local Baltic Germans as the majority amongst the residents of Tallinn.