Estonians - Misplaced Pages

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Estonians are an ethnic group primarily associated with Estonia and speakers of the Finnic Estonian language.

There are around 930,219 ethnic Estonians living in Estonia (according to the census of 2000) and up to 160,000 Estonians living outside Estonia.

According to approximate estimates in 2000 notable diaspora is found in:
Russia: 40,000
United States: 25,000
Sweden: 25,000
Canada: 20,000
Finland: 10,000

History

The name "Eesti", or Estonia, is thought to be derived from the word Aestii, the name given by the ancient Germanic peoples to the peoples living northeast of the Vistula River. The Roman historian Tacitus in 98 A.D. was the first to mention the "Aestii" people, and early Scandinavians called the land south of the Gulf of Finland "Eistland", and the people "eistr". Proto-Estonians (as well as other Finnic-speaking peoples) were also called Chuds (чудь) in Old East Slavic chronicles.

Estonian language belongs to the Balto-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric group of languages, as does the Finnish language. The first book in Estonian was printed in 1525, while the oldest known examples of written Estonian originate in 13th century chronicles.

Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries stemming from strong cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian and German rule and settlement.

From 1945-89 the share of ethnic Estonians in Estonia dropped from 94% to 61%, caused primarily by the Soviet program mass immigration from Russia and other parts of the former USSR into industrial urban areas of Estonia, as well as by wartime emigration and Stalin's mass deportations and executions. The share has now risen close to 69%.

Emigration

During World War Two, when Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Army in 1944, large numbers of Estonians fled their homeland on ships or smaller boats over the Baltic Sea. Many of those refugees who survived the risky sea voyage to Sweden and Germany, later moved on from there and settled in Canada, United States and Australia. Some of these refugees and their descendants returned to Estonia after the nation regained its independence in 1991.