OESEL

OESEL, a marshy, well-wooded island in Estonia at the mouth of the Gulf of Riga, in the Baltic, 45 m. long and 25 m. of average breadth; has some low hills and precipitous coasts; Arensburg, on the SE. shore, is the only town; Danish from 1559, the island passed to Sweden in 1645 and to Russia in 1721; became independent in 1917 and again joined Soviet Union in 1940. Estonian independence was regained on 20 August 1991, after dissolution of Soviet Union.