Northern Europe with Estonia and Finland topping the list among the OECD countries in Europe. Northern Europe Northern Europe is the general term for the geographical region in Europe that is approximately north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. Nations usually included within this region are Denmark, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden, and less often the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, northern Germany, northern Belarus and northwest Russia. Narrower definitions may be based on other geographical factors such as climate and ecology. A broader definition would include the area north of the Alps.
Estonia establish a larger alliance together with Finland, Poland, and Latvia failed, with only a mutual defence pact being signed with Latvia in 1923, and later was followed up with the Baltic Entente of 1934. In the 1930s, Estonia also engaged in secret military cooperation with Finland. Non-aggression pacts were signed with the Soviet Union in 1932, and with Germany in 1939. In 1938, Estonia declared neutrality, but this proved futile in World War II. On 23 August 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The pact's secret protocol divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, with Estonia