page_title: Vehicle registration plates of Estonia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Vehicle registration plates of Estonia / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Estonian license plate 1993-2004 Deutsch: Estnisches Kfz-Kennzeichen von 1993-2004
context_page_description: Vehicle registration plates of Estonia are divided into 18 categories, the most common of these is composed of three numbers and three letters. Most registration plate types have black letters on a white background, and the plates are the same size and length as other European plates. Previously the first of the three letters indicated the region of Estonia in which the car was registered; however, as of 2013, this is no longer the case. The third digit from the numbers indicated states when the car is due an inspection. It can be inspected up to 2 months after that digit. The registration plates are printed on an aluminium sheet with minimum thickness of 1 mm and must fulfil the requirements of ISO 7591:1982. All plates are issued with the blue European Union identification label, except types A9 and B2.
context_section_description: The first, post-Soviet, Estonian registration plates (1991) were composed of three numbers, with a licence label in the middle of the plate. The labels were dropped in 2004.
  Only two suffixes were used on Soviet era plates: ЕА and ЭС. Neither identified any specific town or city, but rather served to inform that the vehicle had been registered in the Estonian SSR. There were plans to introduce an additional ЕС suffix, but as this occurred just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the mark was subsequently allocated to the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
caption: Former Estonian plate, issued in 1998
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