Since the Middle Ages, the Baltic Sea has appeared on maps in Germanic languages as the equivalent of 'East Sea': , , , , etc. Indeed, the Baltic Sea lies mostly to the east of Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The term was also used historically to refer to Baltic Dominions of the Swedish Empire () and, subsequently, the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire (). Terms related to modern name "Baltic" appear in ancient texts, but had fallen into disuse until reappearing as the adjective in German, from which it was adopted in other languages. During the 19th century, "Baltic" started to supersede as the name for the region. Officially, its Russian equivalent () was first used in 1859. This change was a result of the Baltic German elite adopting terms derived from to refer to themselves.