The Baltics are the three countries in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, namely Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The three countries often cooperate, although Latvians and Lithuanians are Baltic peoples and Estonians are of Finnic origin. After the Livonian Crusade of 1198-1290, a community of Baltic Germans also developed. The Baltics are all members of the European Union, having been former member states of the Soviet Union. In 2017, the region had a population of 6,121,000 people.