Estonia–Latvia relations members of the Baltic Free Trade Area from 1994 until 2004 after which they joined the European Union. In 2006, Latvia accounted for 3% of Estonian exports. Latvia accounted for 5% of Estonian imports. There are 15 bilateral agreements between the 2 countries many of them signed trilaterally with Lithuania. The three Baltic countries signed a trilateral defence agreement on 12 February 1995. Estonia–Latvia relations Estonia and Latvia, the two northernmost Baltic states, share 343 km of common borders. Both states share a long common history, having since the 13th century been ruled by the Livonian Order, Poland-Lithuania, Sweden and
Languages of Estonia residing in the coastal areas and islands of what is now western and northern Estonia. The beginning of the continuous settlement of Estonian Swedes in these areas (known as "Aiboland") dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries, when their Swedish-speaking ancestors arrived in Estonia from what is now Sweden and Finland. Almost all of Estonia's Swedish-speaking minority fled to Sweden during World War II, and only the descendants of a few individuals who opted to stay are permanently resident in Estonia today. The Estonian Sign Language (ESL, ) is the national sign language of Estonia. In 1998 there were