Estonia (Estonian: Eesti), officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a state in the Baltic Region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by the Soviet Union (338.6 km). The territory of Estonia covers 45,227 sq km (17,462 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. The Estonians are a Finnic people, and the official Estonian language is closely related to Finnish.