Estonians speak a Finno-Ugrian language closely related to Finnish, and distantly to Hungarian. Estonian has no relation to Russian, German, English or any of the Indo-European language family. Estonia was first settled in 2,000 B.C. and remained a independent nation until the 13th century A.D. In 1193 the Pope called for a crusade against the Baltics and the country was overrun by Danish and German knights by 1220. The situation oscillated many times until the Swedish kingdom took control of the majority of the country in 1561. Their rule lasted until 1710 when Estonia was given over to the Russian empire who ruled until 1918 when Estonian independence was asserted.
