in the broadest sense are all the states having an access to the coast of the Baltic Sea. Twelve of them are the members of the CBSS: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden.
in the narrower (and more common) sense it is used as a collective name for three of them: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of 159.2 km2 (61.5 sq mi) with a population of 412,144. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Tallinn is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. Tallinn is a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku, Finland.
Riga, Latvia
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava. With 706,413 inhabitants (2010) it is the largest city of the Baltic states.
Riga's historical centre has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city is particularly notable for its extensive Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) architecture, which UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world.
Vilnius, Lithuania
Vilniua is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 (850,324 together with Vilnius County) as of 2010.
