Page "Ruhnu" Paragraph 4

Ruhnu was controlled by the Kingdom of Sweden ( 1621 – 1708, formally until 1721 ) and after that by Imperial Russia until World War I, when it was occupied by Imperial Germany ( 1915 – 1918 ).

After the war, despite some local initiatives to rejoin Sweden, and territorial claims by Latvia, the islanders agreed to become part of newly independent Estonia in 1919 ( possibly in exchange for Estonian military aid to Latvia against the West Russian Volunteer Army ).

According to a census taken in 1934, Ruhnu had a population of 282: 277 ethnic Swedes and 5 ethnic Estonians.