ESTONIA

ESTONIA / EESTI.

Estonian lighthouses.
120th Anniversary of Ruhnu Lighthouse.
Stamp issued on 11.02.1997.
Face value: 3.30 Estonian kroon.
Design: Roman Matkiewicz (b. Tallinn, 27.02.1966).
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 909,300 copies.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 318.
- Michel No. 293.
- Scott No. 318.
- StampWorld No. 325.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 287.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 293.

Ruhnu (Swedish: Runö; German: Runö; Latvian: Roņu sala) is an island in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is administratively part of Saare County but is geographically closer to the Latvian mainland. At 11.88 km² (4.6 sq mi), its length is 5.5 km (3.42 mi) and its width is 3.5 km (2.17 mi). Its population, in 2011, was 55 permanent inhabitants, mostly ethnic Estonian. Ruhnu Parish has the smallest population of Estonia's 79 municipalities. Before 1944, it was for centuries populated by ethnic Swedes and traditional Swedish law was used. Ruhnu Stave Church, from 1643, is the oldest surviving wooden building in Estonia. The island is connected to the mainland through the Ringsu port and Ruhnu Airfield. The quadripod metallic tower lighthouse, designed by Gustave Eiffel, was prefabricated in France and shipped to Ruhnu for assembly in 1877; it stands on the highest point of the island, Håubjärre Hill, 28 m (92 ft) high.