The database "Registry of Maps of the Historical Archives" comprises a substantial part of the cartographic material preserved in various fonds (archives) of the Historical Archives. The input of entries began in 1997 and data supplementing has been an ongoing process. Currently, it is possible to find manifold information on about 30,000 cartographic documents.
The collection of maps of the Archive is by far the biggest and most valuable collection of historical maps in Estonia. The estimated number of historical maps reaches 80,000 – 100,000. The topic and the purpose of the map collection are variegated. Besides the maps classified as general geographic, topographic, hydrographic, there are also maps of amelioration, road systems and other special spheres, among them maps designating borders and land use plans are the most common. The fonds of magistrates and city governments contain city designs, construction projects and technical drawings.
The diverse nature of the collection is also expressed in the form and technical design of the materials. Cartographic documents have been completed as plans, maps, views, profiles and such. For the most part, the maps are in a manuscript form and are artistically illustrated.
The knowledge of the historical context will certainly be an advantage when searching for cartographic materials. However, it is inevitable that maps, in terms of geography and time periods, have not reached the Archive uniformly. The oldest maps in the Archive date to the first half of the 17th century. The oldest known map originates from 1632. The first mapping of whole country took place in the 1680s -1690s in connection with the reduction of manors — the period of the first large series of maps. In the 18th century, systematic mapping was conducted only in Saaremaa, however, only a few original maps have survived from that period. Large-scale cadastral works was resumed at the time of the agrarian reforms at the beginning of the 19th century. As a result, majority of the maps in the Historical Archives originate from the 19th and the early 20th centuries.
In archival terms, maps form part of an institutional management. Consequently, they are described in the inventories (catalogues of documents) of an institution, which has set up the fond (archive). Larger map collections were founded at institutions engaged in the regulation and survey of lands or at credit banks and registry offices of real estate, where maps were preserved as the material for ownership verification. Of the fonds containing numerous maps, one could list the following: Estonian Governor General of the Swedish Era (Fond 1), Estonian Knightage (Fond 854), Estonian Land Mortgage Association (Fond 2486), Drawing Chamber of the Estonian Province (Fond 46), Drawing Chamber of the Livonian Province (Fond 308); collections: Map Collection (Fond 2027), Collection of Cadastral Documents (Fond 3724). In addition, maps and plans can be found in fonds of towns, in registry offices of real estate, and in personal fonds and in fonds of manors.