Since the 16th century, Estonia has been a predominantly protestant (Lutheran) country. Baltic Germans built most of the country’s churches. Up until the 19th century, the church was the only source of education in the countryside and few villages are without an architecturally impressive church at its centre.
Politics in Estonia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Estonian parliament. Executive power is exercised by the Government which is led by the Prime Minister. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Estonia is a member of UN, European Union and NATO, among others.
The Republic of Estonia is divided into fifteen counties (Maakonnad), which are the administrative subdivisions of the country. The first documented mentioning of Estonian political and administrative subdivisions comes from the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, written in the 13th century during the Northern Crusades.