The Baltic states refer to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which were controlled by the Soviet Union during 1940–1941 and 1944/1945–1991. From a linguistic standpoint, only the Latvians and the Lithuanians are "Baltic" peoples properly speaking, as the Estonians speak an unrelated Finnic language. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been members of the European Union and NATO since 2004. Today the three countries are liberal democracies and their market economies have in recent years undergone rapid expansion.
In the Cold War context, the three countries were considered a part of Eastern Europe and were generally treated as a cohesive cultural and historical entity. However, today it is often stressed that Latvia, Lithuania, and particularly Estonia have little else in common other than geographic proximity, similar small size, and a shared history of Soviet occupation.
Culturally and historically, it is more appropriate to view Estonia, which is Lutheran and Finnic-speaking, as belonging in the Northern European cultural sphere. Indeed, Estonians consider themselves a Nordic people rather than Balts,
To a lesser degree, northern parts of Latvia have also been influenced by Lutheran and Northern European traditions. The rest of the country, in particular the southeast, along with its southern neighbor, Lithuania, are predominantly Catholic and culturally situated in Central Europe. In Lithuania and most of Latvia, the historical impact of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, and the German Empire have been of crucial importance. In Estonia and northern parts of Latvia, historical connections to the Teutonic Order, to the Hanseatic League, and to the Swedish and Danish Empires have left an important historical imprint.
It should be noted that although politically the present-day Baltic countries are republics, the term "Baltic republics" often refers to something different: the constituent Baltic republics of the Soviet Union. They are occasionally confused with the Balkan states because of their similar sounding name, but are similar in name only.

History of the Baltic states
Despite the three nations' similar history, their languages belong to two distinct language families. The Latvian and Lithuanian languages make up the group of Baltic languages which belongs to the Indo-European language family. The Baltic states have historically also been in the Swedish and Russian spheres of influence. Following the period of Soviet domination, ethnic Russian immigrants from former USSR and their descendants today make up a sizable minority in the Baltic states, particularly in Latvia (about one-third of the population) and Estonia (one-fourth of the population).

See also