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Republic of Estonia Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm
Location of Estonia (orange) – in Europe (tan & white) – in the European Union (tan)  [Legend]
Capitaland largest city	Tallinn
Official languages	Estonian
Demonym(s)	Estonian
Government	Parliamentary republic
• President	Toomas Hendrik Ilves
• Prime Minister	Andrus Ansip
Independence from Russia and Germany
• Declared	24 February 1918
• Recognised	2 February 1920
• Occupied by USSR	16 June 1940
• Re-declared	20 August 1991
Area
• Total	45,226 km (17,462 sq mi) (132nd)
• Water (%)	4.56%
Population
• 2007 estimate	1,342,409 (151st)
• 2000 census	1,376,743
• Density	29/km (75.1/sq mi) (173rd)
GDP (PPP)	2007 estimate
• Total	$26.85 billion (106th)
• Per capita	$21,860 (37th)
GDP (nominal)	2005 estimate
• Total	$13.10 billion (92nd)
• Per capita	$12,203 (43rd)
Gini (2003)	35.8 medium inequality
HDI (2004)	0.858 Error: Invalid HDI value (40th)
Currency	Estonian kroon (EEK)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code	372
ISO 3166 code	EE
Internet TLD	.ee²
In southern provinces, the South Estonian languages Mulgi, Võro and Seto are spoken along with Estonian. Russian is widely spoken in the capital Tallinn and the northeastern Ida-Virumaa county. Also .eu, shared with other European Union member states.

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia (Template:Lang-et; Germanic languages: Estland; Finnish: Viro), is a country in Northern Europe. Estonia has land borders to the south with Latvia and to the east with Russia. It is separated from Finland in the north by the Gulf of Finland and from Sweden in the west by the Baltic Sea.

Estonia has been a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004 and of NATO since 29 March 2004.

The Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns, with the Estonian language sharing many similarities to Finnish.

The modern name of Estonia is thought to originate from the Roman historian Tacitus, who in his book Germania (ca. AD 98) described a people called the Aestii. Similarly, ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the country's name are Estia and Hestia.

History

Prehistory

Human settlement in Estonia became possible 11,000 to 13,000 years ago, when the ice from the last glacial era melted away. The oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which was located on the banks of the river Pärnu, near the town of Sindi, in southern Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating, it was settled around 11,000 years ago, at the beginning of the ninth millennium BC.

Evidence has been found of hunting and fishing communities existing around 6500 BC near the town of Kunda in northern Estonia. Bone and stone artifacts similar to those found at Kunda have been discovered elsewhere in Estonia, as well as in Latvia, northern Lithuania and in southern Finland. The Kunda culture belongs to the middle stone age, or Mesolithic period.

The end of the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age were marked by great cultural changes. The most significant was the transition to farming, which has remained at the core of Estonian economy and culture. From approximately the first to fifth centuries AD, resident farming was widely established, the population grew, and settlement expanded. Cultural influences from the Roman Empire reached Estonia, and this era is therefore also known as the Roman Iron Age.

A more troubled and war-ridden middle Iron Age followed with external dangers coming both from the Baltic tribes, who attacked across the southern land border, and from overseas. Several Scandinavian sagas refer to campaigns against Estonia. Estonian pirates conducted similar raids in the Viking age and sacked and burned the Swedish town of Sigtuna in 1187.

In the first centuries AD political and administrative subdivisions began to emerge in Estonia. Two larger subdivisions appeared: the province (provincia, Estonian kihelkond) and the land (terra, Estonian maakond). The province consisted of several elderships or villages. Nearly all provinces had at least one fortress. The defense of the local area was directed by the highest official, the king, prince or elder. The terra was composed of one or several provinces, also headed by an elder, king, prince or their collegium. By the 13th century the following major lands had developed in Estonia: Saaremaa (Osilia), Läänemaa (Rotalia or Maritima), Harjumaa (Harria), Rävala (Revalia), Virumaa (Vironia), Järvamaa (Jervia), Sakala (Saccala), and Ugandi (Ugaunia).

Estonia retained a pagan religion centered around a deity called Tharapita.

Middle Ages

Estonia in Livonian Confederation from 1228 to the 1560s.

Estonia was Christianized when the German "Livonian Brothers of the Sword" conquered southern Estonia as part of the Northern Crusades in the early thirteenth century. At the same time, Denmark attempted to take possession of northern Estonia. Estonia was consolidated under the two forces by 1227. Northern Estonia remained a possession of Denmark until 1346. Reval (known as Tallinn since 1918) was given its Lübeck Rights in 1248 and joined an alliance of trading guilds called the Hanseatic League at the end of the thirteenth century. In 1343, the people of northern Estonia and Saaremaa rebelled against German rule in the St. George's Night Uprising, which was put down by 1344.

There were unsuccessful Russian invasions in 1481 and 1558.

The Reformation period

The Reformation in Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther (1483-1546) and his 95 Theses.

The Reformation resulted in great change in the Baltic. Ideas entered the Livonian Confederation very quickly and by the 1520s they were well known. Language, education, religion, and politics were greatly transformed. The Church services were now given in the local vernacular, instead of Latin, as was previously used.

During the Livonian War in 1561, northern Estonia submitted to Swedish control, while southern Estonia briefly came under the control of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 1580s. In 1625, mainland Estonia came entirely under Swedish rule. Estonia was administratively divided between the provinces of Estonia in the north and Livonia in southern Estonia and northern Latvia, a division which persisted until the early twentieth century.

In 1631, the Swedish king Gustaf II Adolf, aka Gustavus Adolphus, forced the nobility to grant the peasantry greater rights, although serfdom was retained. In 1632 a printing press and university were established in the city of Dorpat (known as Tartu since 1918). This period is known in Estonian history as "the Good Old Swedish Time."

Estonia in the Russian Empire

Following the Great Northern War, the Swedish empire lost Estonia to Russia (1710 de facto, and 1721 de jure, by the Treaty of Nystad). However, the upper classes and the higher middle class remained primarily Baltic German. The war devastated the population of Estonia, but it recovered quickly. Although the rights of peasants were initially weakened, serfdom was abolished in 1816 in the governorate of Estonia and in 1819 in the governorate of Livonia.

Road to republic

As a result of the abolition of serfdom and the availability of education to the native Estonian-speaking population, an active Estonian nationalist movement developed in the nineteenth century. It began on a cultural level, resulting in the establishment of Estonian language literature, theatre and professional music and led into the formation of the Estonian national identity and late 1800s' Age of Awakening. Among the leaders of the movement were Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Jakob Hurt and Carl Robert Jakobson. Significant accomplishments were the publication of the national epic, Kalevipoeg, in 1862, and the organization of the first national song festival in 1869.

In response to a period of Russification initiated by the Russian empire in the 1890s, Estonian nationalism took on more political tones, with intellectuals first calling for greater autonomy, and later, complete independence from the Russian empire. Following the Bolshevik takeover of power in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917 and German victories against the Russian army, between the Russian Red Army's retreat and the arrival of advancing German troops, the Committee of Elders of the Maapäev issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence in Pärnu on February 24, 1918. After winning the Estonian Liberation War against Soviet Russia and at the same time German Freikorps volunteers (the Tartu Peace Treaty was signed on 2 February 1920), Estonia maintained its independence for twenty-two years. Initially a parliamentary democracy, the parliament (Riigikogu) was disbanded in 1934, following political unrest caused by the global economic crisis. Subsequently the country was ruled by decree by Konstantin Päts, who became President in 1938, the year parliamentary elections resumed.

World War II

Soviet occupation and annexation

Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940, after Stalin gained Hitler's agreement to divide Eastern Europe into "spheres of special interest" according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its secret protocol. On September 24 1939, warships of the Red Navy appeared off Estonian ports and Soviet bombers began a patrol over Tallinn and the nearby countryside. The Estonian government was forced to give their assent to an agreement which allowed the USSR to establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for "mutual defence".

On June 12, 1940, the order for a total military blockade on Estonia was given to the Soviet Baltic Fleet.

On June 14, 1940, while world’s attention was focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany a day earlier, the Soviet military blockade on Estonia went into effect, two Soviet bombers downed a Finnish passenger airplane "Kaleva" flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki.

On June 16, 1940, the Soviet Union invaded Estonia. The Red Army exited from their military bases in Estonia on June 17 . The following day, some 90,000 additional troops entered the country. On June 17, 1940, The Estonian government decided, given the overwhelming Soviet force, not to resist, to avoid bloodshed and open war. The military occupation of Estonia was complete by the June 21 1940.

Most of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League surrendered according to the orders believing that resistance was useless and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Single Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street showed resistance. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Single Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed.

In August 1940, Estonia was formally annexed by the Soviet Union as the Estonian SSR. Those who had fallen short of the "political duty" of voting Estonia into the USSR, who had failed to have their passports stamped for so voting were allowed to be shot in the back of the head by Soviet tribunals. The repressions followed with the mass deportations carried out by the Soviets in Estonia on June 14, 1941. Many of the country's political and intellectual leaders were killed or deported to remote areas of the USSR by the Soviet authorities in 1940-1941. Repressive actions were also taken against thousands of ordinary people.

When the German Operation Barbarossa started against the Soviet Union, about 34,000 young Estonian men were forcibly drafted into the Red Army. Less than 30% of them survived the war. Political prisoners who could not be evacuated were executed by the NKVD.

Many countries including the United States did not recognize the seizure of Estonia by the USSR. Such countries recognized Estonian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in many countries in the name of their former governments. The aging diplomats persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Baltic independence.

Contemporary Russian politicians, however, deny that the Republic of Estonia was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. They state that the Soviet troops had entered Estonia in 1940 following the agreements and with the consent of the government of the Republic of Estonia, regardless of how their actions can be interpreted today. They maintain that the USSR was not in a state of war and was not waging any combat activities on the territory of Estonia, therefore there can be no talk about 'occupation'. The official position of Russia is a refusal to recognize the fact of Estonia's occupation and claims that Estonians decided to lose their statehood voluntarily and officially describes separatist fighters of 1944-1953 as "bandits" or "nazis". The Russian position is not recognized internationally.

German occupation

Subsequently, the country was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. Although initially the Germans were perceived as liberators from the USSR and its repressions by most Estonians, who hoped for the restoration of the country's independence, it was soon realized that they were but another occupying power. Germans pillaged the country for the war effort and unleashed the Holocaust. Estonia was incorporated into the German province of Ostland. That made many Estonians not willing to side with the Nazis join the Finnish army to fight against the Soviet Union. Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 AKA (Estonian: soomepoisid) was formed out of Estonian volunteers in Finland. Many Estonians were recruited in to the German armed forces (including Waffen-SS), the majority did so only in 1944 when the threat of a new invasion of Estonia by the Red Army had become imminent and it was clear that Germany would not win the war. By January 1944, the front was pushed back by the Soviet Army almost all the way to the former Estonian border. Narva was evacuated. Jüri Uluots, the last legitimate prime minister of the Republic of Estonia (according to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia) prior to its fall to the Soviet Union in 1940, delivered a radio address that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service (Before this, Uluots had opposed Estonian mobilization.) The call drew support from all across the country: 38,000 volunteers jammed registration centers. Several thousand Estonians who had joined the Finnish army came back across the Gulf of Finland to join the newly formed Territorial Defense Force, assigned to defend Estonia against the Soviet advance. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war Estonia would be able to attract Western support for the cause of Estonia's independence from the USSR and thus ultimately succeed in achieving independence.

Soviet occupation

Soviet forces reconquered Estonia in the autumn of 1944 after fierce battles in the northeast of the country on the Narva river and on the Tannenberg Line (Sinimäed). In the face of the country being re-occupied by the Red Army, tens of thousands of people chose to either retreat together with the Germans or flee to Finland or Sweden, becoming war refugees and later, expatriates.

In addition to the human and material losses suffered due to war, thousands of civilians were killed and tens of thousands of people deported from Estonia by the Soviet authorities until Joseph Stalin's death in 1953.

In 1949, in response to slow progress in forming collective farms, about 20,000 people were forcibly deported over a few days either to labor camps or Siberia (see Gulag). Within the few weeks that followed, almost all of the remaining rural households had been subjected to collectivisation.

Half of the deported perished ; the other half were not allowed to return until the early 1960s (several years after Stalin's death). That and previous repressions in 1940-1941 sparked a guerrilla war against the Soviet authorities in Estonia which was waged into the early 1950s by the so called "forest brothers" (metsavennad) consisting mostly of Estonian veterans of both the German and Finnish armies as well as some civilians.

Material damage caused by the world war and the following Soviet planned economy significantly slowed Estonia's economic growth, resulting in a wide wealth gap in comparison with neighboring Finland and Sweden.

Militarization was another aspect of the Soviet regime. Large parts of the country, especially the coastal areas were restricted to anyone but the Soviet military. Most of the sea shore and all sea islands (including Saaremaa and Hiiumaa) were declared "border zones". People not directly living there were restricted from traveling to them without a permit and were punished if they did so. A notable closed military installation was the city of Paldiski which was entirely closed to all public access. The city had a support base for the Soviet Baltic Fleet's submarines and several large military bases, including a nuclear submarine training centre complete with a full-scale model of a nuclear submarine with working nuclear reactors. The reactor building passed to Estonian control a year after the Soviet troops left.

Population transfer was another effect of Soviet occupation. Hundreds of thousands of migrants were relocated to Estonia from other parts of Soviet Union to conduct industrialization and militarization, contributing an increase of about half million people to within 45 years. The immigrants stayed on to form part of the population. By 1980, when Olympic Regatta of the 1980 Olympic Games was held in Tallinn, russification and migration had achieved a level at which it started sparking popular protests.

Return to independence

The United States, United Kingdom and the majority of other western democracies considered the annexation of Estonia by USSR illegal. They retained diplomatic relations with the representatives of the independent Republic of Estonia, never recognized the existence of the Estonian SSR de jure, and never recognized Estonia as a legal constituent part of the Soviet Union. Estonia's return to independence became possible as the Soviet Union ran into economic difficulties as a consequence of the Cold War and began to disintegrate. As the situation evolved, a movement for more Estonian self-governance started. In the initial period of 1987-1989, this was partially for more economic independence, but as the Soviet Union weakened and it became increasingly obvious that nothing short of full independence would do, the country began a course towards self-determination.

In 1989, during the "Singing Revolution", in a landmark demonstration for more independence, called The Baltic Way, a human chain of more than two million people was formed, stretching through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Both Lithuania and Latvia had similar fates of occupation and similar aspirations for regaining independence as Estonia.

Estonia formally declared regained independence on August 20, 1991, during the Soviet military coup attempt in Moscow. The first country to diplomatically recognize Estonia's reclaimed independence was Iceland.

The last Russian troops left on 31 August 1994. Estonia joined NATO on 29 March 2004 and the European Union on 1 May 2004.

Foreign policy since regaining independence

Since regaining independence, Estonia has pursued a foreign policy of close cooperation with its Western European neighbors. The two most important policy objectives in this regard have been accession into NATO and the European Union, achieved in March and May of 2004 respectively. Estonia's international realignment toward the West has been accompanied by a general deterioration in relations with Russia, most recently demonstrated by the controversy surrounding relocation of the Bronze Soldier WWII memorial in Tallinn.

An important element in Estonia's post-independence reorientation has been closer ties with the Nordic countries, especially Finland and Sweden. Indeed, Estonians consider themselves a Nordic people rather than Balts, based on their linguistic, cultural and historical ties with Sweden, Denmark and particularly Finland. In December 1999 Estonian foreign minister (and since 2006, president of Estonia) Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivered a speech entitled "Estonia as a Nordic Country" to the Swedish Institute for International Affairs. In 2003, the foreign ministry also hosted an exhibit called "Estonia: Nordic with a Twist". And in 2005, Estonia joined the European Union's Nordic Battle Group. It has also shown continued interest in joining the Nordic Council.

Whereas in 1992 Russia accounted for 92% of Estonia's inter­national trade, today there is extensive economic interdependence between Estonia and its Nordic neighbors: three quarters of foreign investment in Estonia originates in the Nordic countries (principally Finland and Sweden), to which Estonia sends 42% of its exports (as compared to 6.5% going to Russia, 8.8% to Latvia, and 4.7% to Lithuania).

On the other hand, the Estonian political system, its flat rate of income tax, and its non-welfare-state model distinguish it from the other Nordic states, and indeed from many other European countries.

Politics

Estonia is a parliamentary democracy with three branches of power: legislative, executive, and judicial.

The legislative power lies with the unicameral parliament, the Riigikogu or State Assembly, which consists of 101 seats. Members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms.

The Government of Estonia or the executive branch is formed by the Prime Minister of Estonia, nominated by the president and approved by the parliament. The government consists of 12 ministers, including the prime minister. The prime minister also has the right to appoint other ministers, whom he or she will assign with a subject to deal with and who will not have a ministry to control, becoming a 'minister without portfolio'. The prime minister has the right to appoint a maximum of 3 such ministers, as the limit of ministers in one government is 15.

The supreme judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court or Riigikohus, with 19 justices. The Chief Justice is appointed by the parliament for nine years on nomination by the president.

The official Head of State is the President of Estonia, who gives assent to the laws passed by Riigikogu, also having the right of sending them back and proposing new laws. The president, however, does not use these rights very often, having a largely ceremonial role. He or she is elected by Riigikogu, with two-thirds of the votes required. If the candidate does not gain the amount of votes required, the right to elect the president goes over to an electoral body, consisting of the 101 members of Riigikogu and representatives from local councils.

As other spheres, Estonian law-making has been successfully integrated with the Information Age. Estonia has pursued the development of the e-state and e-government. Internet voting is used in elections in Estonia . The first Internet voting took place in the 2005 local elections and the first in a parliamentary election was made available for the 2007 elections, in which 30,275 individuals voted over the Internet. Voters have a chance to invalidate their vote in traditional elections, if they wish to.

In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Estonia 3rd out of 169 countries.

Counties and municipalities

Counties

Estonia is divided into 15 counties. (maakonnad; sing. - maakond). They include:

• Harju County (Estonian: Harjumaa)
• Hiiu County (Estonian: Hiiumaa)
• Ida-Viru County (Estonian: Ida-Virumaa)
• Järva County (Estonian: Järvamaa)
• Jõgeva County (Estonian: Jõgevamaa)
• Lääne County (Estonian: Läänemaa)
• Lääne-Viru County (Estonian: Lääne-Virumaa)
• Pärnu County (Estonian: Pärnumaa)
• Põlva County (Estonian: Põlvamaa)
• Rapla County (Estonian: Raplamaa)
• Saare County (Estonian: Saaremaa)
• Tartu County (Estonian: Tartumaa)
• Valga County (Estonian: Valgamaa)
• Viljandi County (Estonian: Viljandimaa)
• Võru County (Estonian: Võrumaa)

Smaller divisions

Estonian counties are divided into rural (vallad, singular vald) and urban (linnad, singular linn; alevid, singular alev; alevikud, singular alevik) municipalities. The municipalities comprise populated places (asula or asustusüksus) - various settlements and territorial units that have no administrative function. A group of populated places form a rural municipality with local administration. Most towns constitute separate urban municipalities, while some have joined with surrounding rural municipalities.

Officially, there are four types of populated places in Estonia: towns (linn), boroughs (alev), small boroughs (alevik), and villages (küla).

Geography

Topography

Estonia lies on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea immediately across the Gulf of Finland from Finland on the level northwestern part of the rising east European platform between 57.3° and 59.5° N and 21.5° and 28.1° E. Average elevation reaches only 50 metres (164 ft) and the country's highest point is the Suur Munamägi in the southeast at 318 metres (1,043 ft).

Oil shale (or kukersite) and limestone deposits, along with forests which cover 47% of the land, play key economic roles in this generally resource-poor country. Estonia boasts over 1,400 lakes. Most are very small, with the largest, Lake Peipus, (Peipsi in Estonian) being 3555 km² (1372 sq mi). There are many rivers in the country. The largest are the Võhandu (162 km), Pärnu (144 km), and Põltsamaa (135 km). Estonia also boasts numerous bogs, and 3794 kilometers (2,357 mi) of coastline marked by numerous bays, straits, and inlets. The number of islands and islets is estimated at some 1,500. Two are large enough to constitute their own counties: Saaremaa and Hiiumaa..

Climate

Estonia lies in the northern part of the temperate climate zone and in the transition zone between maritime and continental climate. Because Estonia (and all of Northern Europe) is continuously warmed by the Gulf Stream it has a milder climate despite its northern latitude. The Baltic Sea causes differences between the climate of coastal and inland areas.

The average annual temperature in Estonia is 5 °C. The average temperature in February, the coldest month of the year, is -5.2 °C. The average temperature in July, which is considered the warmest month of the year, is 18 °C.

The climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, the North-Atlantic Stream and the Icelandic Minimum, which is an area known for the formation of cyclones and where the average air pressure is lower than in neighbouring areas.

Estonia is located in a humid zone in which the amount of precipitation is greater than total evaporation. There are about 160 to 190 rainy days a year, and average precipitation is most plentiful on the western slopes of the Sakala and Haanja Uplands. Snow cover, which is deepest in the south-eastern part of Estonia, usually lasts from mid-December to late March.

Economy

General situation

Estonia is a member of the European Union and its economy is rated as "high income" by the World Bank.

In June 1992, Estonia replaced the ruble with its own freely convertible currency, the kroon (EEK). A currency board was created and the new currency was pegged to the German mark at the rate at 8 EEK for 1 DEM. When Germany introduced the euro, the peg was changed to 15.64664 kroon for 1 euro. Shortly after accession to the European Union the parity was changed to 15.64660 kroon per euro. The Estonian government finalized the design of Estonia's euro coins in late 2004, and is now intending to adopt the euro as the country's currency in 2010, later than planned due to continued high inflation.

In 1994, Estonia became one of the first countries in the world to adopt a flat tax, with a uniform rate of 26% regardless of personal income. In January 2005 the personal income tax rate was reduced to 24%. A subsequent reduction to 23% followed in January 2006. The income tax rate will be decreased by 1% annually to reach 18% by January 2011.

In 1999, Estonia experienced its worst year economically since it regained independence in 1991, largely because of the impact of the August 1998 Russian financial crisis. Estonia joined the WTO in November 1999. With assistance from the European Union, the World Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank, Estonia completed most of its preparations for European Union membership by the end of 2002 and now has one of the strongest economies of the new member states of the European Union, which it joined on 1 May 2004.

Since January 1, 2000, companies have not had to pay income tax on re-invested income. However, tax is due on profit distributions (including hidden distributions) at a rate of 22%. Despite the fact that only the moment of taxation was shifted from earning profits to their distribution, leaving the rest of the corporate taxation system mostly unchanged, the current legislation is said to be in violation of one of the fundamental freedoms of the European Union — free movement of capital. Estonia is to remove this hindrance by January 2009 when the temporary derogation expires, though Estonia has an option at that point to institute a very low corporate income tax, either 10%, or even 0%.

The Estonian economy is growing quickly, partly due to a number of Scandinavian companies relocating their routine operations to the country and Russian oil transit using Estonian ports. Estonia has a strong information technology (IT) sector, partly due to the Tiigrihüpe project undertaken in the 1990s, and has been mentioned at the most "wired" country in Europe. Its GDP PPP per capita is at $21,860, the highest of the Baltic states, while its unemployment rate was 4.2% in July 2006, one of the lowest in the European Union.

Although the annual GDP growth rate in 2006 amounted again 11.4%, some of the leading financial institutions and rating agencies (Danske Bank, S&P, IWF) expressed serious concerns about possible overheating syndromes of the booming economy. A number of the main economic indicators (e.g. inflation at the 4.5%, significantly negative trade balance and private credit level) partly support this opinion.

Exports

Estonia exports machinery and equipment (33% of all exports annually), wood and paper (15% of all exports annually), textiles (14% of all exports annually), food products (8% of all exports annually), furniture (7% of all exports annually), and metals and chemical products. Estonia also exports 1.562 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

Estonia's export partners are Finland (26.4%), Sweden (12.9%), Latvia (8.8%), Russia (6.5%), Germany (6.2%), and Lithuania (4.8%).

Imports

Estonia imports machinery and equipment (33.5% of all imports annually), chemical products (11.6% of all imports annually), textiles (10.3% of all imports annually), food products (9.4% of all imports annually), and transportation equipment (8.9% of all imports annually). Estonia imports 200 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

Demographics

Linguistically, Estonian is closely related to the Finnish language. Estonians, as an ethnic group, are a Finnic people. Indigenous Estonian-speaking ethnic Estonians constitute nearly 70% of the total population of about 1.3 million people.

First and second generation immigrants from various parts of the former Soviet Union (mainly Russia) comprise most of the remaining 30%. The latter, mostly Russian-speaking ethnic minorities, reside predominantly in the capital city (Tallinn) and the industrial urban areas in northeastern Estonia (Ida-Virumaa county). There is also a small group of Finnish descent, mainly from Ingria.

A significant part of indigenous Baltic Germans left Estonia during the early 1920s, after land reforms and even dispossessions had taken place. But the majority of Baltic Germans left the country in late 1939, after Nazi Germany and USSR had agreed to assign Estonia into the Soviet 'sphere of influence' in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Historically, large parts of Estonia’s north-western coast and islands have been populated by an indigenous ethnically Swedish population called rannarootslased ("coastal Swedes"). The majority of Estonia's Swedish population fled to Sweden in 1944, escaping the advancing Soviet Army. Only a few hundred Swedes remained.

The country's official language is Estonian, a Finno-Ugric language which is closely related to Finnish. It has been influenced by German, and like Finnish contains many Swedish words. Russian is also widely spoken as a secondary language by thirty- to seventy-year-old ethnic Estonians, because Russian was taught as a compulsory second language during the Soviet era. Many younger Estonian people can usually speak English, having learned it as their first foreign language. Some Russians residing in Estonia do not speak Estonian, but many of those who remained after the collapse of the Soviet Union have begun to learn it. Most common foreign languages learned by Estonians are English, Russian, German, Swedish, and Finnish.

Ethnicity

According to information published by the Estonian Foreign Ministry in 2007, the population of Estonia comprised the following self-reported ethnic groups :

Citizenship issues

After regaining independence in 1991, the authorities of Estonia did not automatically grant citizenship to anyone whose forebears did not have Estonian citizenship prior to the Soviet occupation of 1940. Although the long-term Russian settlers around Mustvee on Lake Peipus qualified for immediate citizenship, this policy mainly affected people who had immigrated after Second World War from other former Soviet republics. Knowledge of the Estonian language and the Constitution of Estonia was set as a condition for obtaining naturalisation. The perceived difficulty of the initial language tests became a point of international contention, as the government of Russia, the European Union, and a number of human rights organizations objected on the grounds that they made it impossible for many Russians who had not learned the local language to gain citizenship in the short term. As a result, the tests were somewhat altered and the number of stateless persons has steadily decreased. According to Estonian officials, in 1992, 32% of residents lacked any form of citizenship. In July 2007, the Population Registry of the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia reported that 8.5% of Estonia's residents have undefined citizenship and 7.8% have foreign citizenship.

According to the Estonian Statistical Office, ethnic Russians comprised 25.6% of the population in 2006. Less than third of ethnic Russians in Estonia hold Russian citizenship, more than third hold Estonian citizenship, and another third continue to have undefined citizenship. Residents without Estonian citizenship may not vote in Riigikogu (the national parliament) elections, residents without citizenship of any EU member state may not vote in European Parliament elections, but all permanent legal residents regardless of citizenship status are eligible to vote in local (municipal) elections under Estonian law.

Law on Cultural Autonomies

When the Republic of Estonia was proclaimed in 1918, it promised all minorities on its territory a right to cultural autonomy. This right was enshrined in 1925 in the Law on Cultural Autonomy for National Minorities, which entitled minorities to form and support cultural and educational institutions and religious congregations overseen by an elected cultural council.

Cultural autonomies could be granted to the Russian, German, Swedish, or Jewish minorities, or other minorities numbering more than 3,000 people with longstanding ties to the Republic of Estonia. Prior to the Soviet occupation, the German and Jewish minorities managed to elect a cultural council.

The Law on Cultural Autonomy for National Minorities was reinstated in 1993. In 2005, the Ingrian Finnish minority in Estonia elected a cultural council and was granted cultural autonomy. The Estonian Swedish minority similarly received cultural autonomy in 2007.

Religion

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005, 16% of Estonian citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 54% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 26% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force". This, according to the survey, would have made Estonians the most non-religious people in the then 25-member European Union. Historically, however, Estonia used to be a stronghold of Lutheranism due to its strong links to the Nordic countries.

International rankings

See also

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Further reading

• Hiden, John (1991). The Baltic Nations and Europe: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the Twentieth Century. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-08246-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Laar, Mart (1992). War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1956. trans. Tiina Ets. Washington, D.C.: Compass Press. ISBN 0-929590-08-2.
• Lieven, Anatol (1993). The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Path to Independence. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-05552-8.
• Raun, Toivo U. (1987). Estonia and the Estonians. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University. ISBN 0-8179-8511-5.
• Smith, David J. (2001). Estonia: Independence and European Integration. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26728-5.
• Smith, Graham (ed.) (1994). The Baltic States: The National Self-determination of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-12060-5. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
• Taagepera, Rein (1993). Estonia: Return to Independence. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-1199-3.
• Taylor, Neil (2004). Estonia (4th ed. ed.). Chalfont St. Peter: Bradt. ISBN 1-84162-095-5. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Williams, Nicola (2003). Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (3rd ed. ed.). London: Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74059-132-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Subrenat, Jean-Jacques (Ed.) (2004). Estonia, identity and independence. Rodopi. ISBN 90-420-0890-3. {{cite book}}: Text "Amsterdam & New York" ignored (help)

Notes and references

1. http://heninen.net/sigtuna/english.htm
2. Estonia and the Estonians (Studies of Nationalities) Toivo U. Raun p.11 ISBN 0817928529
3. Protestant Reformation in the Baltic at University of Washington
4. Estonian Declaration of Independence 24 February 1918 at www.president.ee
5. The World Book Encyclopedia ISBN 0716601036
6. The History of the Baltic States by Kevin O'Connor ISBN 0313323550
7. The History of the Baltic States by Kevin O'Connor ISBN 0313323550
8. Moscow's Week at Time Magazine on Monday, October 9 1939
9. The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith, Page 24, ISBN 0415285801
10. Template:Fi icon Pavel Petrov at Finnish Defence Forces home page
11. Template:Ru icon documents published from the State Archive of the Russian Navy
12. The Last Flight from Tallinn at American Foreign Service Association
13. Five Years of Dates at Time magazine on Monday, Jun. 24, 1940
14. Estonia: Identity and Independence by Jean-Jacques Subrenat, David Cousins, Alexander Harding, Richard C. Waterhouse ISBN 9042008903
15. The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith p.19 ISBN 0415285801
16. The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith, Page 27, ISBN 0415285801
17. Template:Et icon51 years from the Raua Street Battle at Estonian Defence Forces Home Page
18. Justice in The Balticat Time magazine on Monday, Aug. 19, 1940
19. The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence by Anatol Lieven p424 ISBN 0300060785
20. Diplomats Without a Country: Baltic Diplomacy, International Law, and the Cold War by James T. McHugh , James S. Pacy ISBN 0313318786
21. http://www.newsfromrussia.com/main/2005/05/05/59601.html
22. http://www.newsfromrussia.com/main/2005/05/05/59605.html
23. Estonia 1940-1945, Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity, p.613 ISBN 9949-13-040-9
24. Resistance! Occupied Europe and Its Defiance of Hitler (Paperback) by Dave Lande on Page 200 ISBN 0760307458
25. The Baltic States: The National Self-Determination of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Graham Smith p.91 ISBN 0312161921
26. Valge raamat, page 18
27. Valge raamat, pages 25-30
28. Valge raamat, pages 125, 148
29. Valge raamat
30. European Parliament (January 13, 1983). "Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania". Official Journal of the European Communities. C 42/78. "whereas the Soviet annexias of the three Baltic States still has not been formally recognized by most European States and the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Vatican still adhere to the concept of the Baltic States".
31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6604647.stm
32. Estonian foreign ministry publication, 2004
33. Estonian foreign ministry publication, 2002
34. http://www.vm.ee/eng/nato/1210.html
35. http://www.sm.ee/eng/pages/goproweb0689
36. The Estonian Economic Miracle
37. http://www.estonica.org/eng/lugu.html?menyy_id=1117&kateg=40&alam=81&leht=12
38. http://www.investinestonia.com/pdf/ForeignTrade2007.pdf
39. ^ "World InfoZone - Estonia". World InfoZone. World InfoZonek, LTD. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access_date= ignored (help) Cite error: The named reference "worldinfo" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
40. Hackers Take Down the Most Wired Country in Europe, August 2007
41. Eurostat unemployment report, July 2006
42. ^ CIA World Factbook: Estonia
43. Kirch, Aksel. "Russians in contemporary Estonia—different strategies of the integration in to the nation-state."
44. Estonia: Citizenship
45. Estonian Statistical Office: The composition of the population by citizenship in Estonia
46. [http://www.einst.ee/factsheets/cult_auton/
47. "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-05-05.

External links

Wikimedia Atlas of Estonia

Government

• State Portal
• Estonian State WEB Center
• Estonian Government
• Estonian Parliament
• Estonian President
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs (including an annual review for 2006, biweekly reviews of news, and press releases)

History

• http://www.historycommission.ee/ Estonian International Commission for

Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity

Tourism

• Visitestonia.com
• Template:Wikitravel
• Estonian Manors Portal the English version introduces 438 well-preserved historical manor houses in Estonia
• Estonia Travel Guide first-hand information on regions of Estonia

Culture

• Estonian Institute
• Art Museum of Estonia
• Estonian National Opera
• Treasures of the national library of Estonia

Overviews

• Statistical Office of Estonia
• Estonian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute
• Estonia onLine
• All about Estonia in the Baltic Key
• Template:Dmoz

News

• Baltic Times
• City Paper

International membership

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