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| Estonia | Introduction | Back to Top |
Estonia (in Estonian, Eesti), formerly Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, now known as the Republic of Estonia, republic in north-eastern Europe, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Finland, on the east by Russia, on the south by Latvia, and on the west by the Baltic Sea. Estonia has more than 1,500 islands; the largest, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, separate the Gulf of Riga from the Baltic. The area of the country is about 45,100 sq km (17,400 sq mi). Tallinn, the capital and largest city, is the country's chief port.
Official Name - Republic of Estonia| Estonia | Provinces | Back to Top |
15 counties (maakonnad, singular - maakond): Harjumaa (Tallinn), Hiiumaa (Kardla), Ida-Virumaa (Johvi), Jarvamaa (Paide), Jogevamaa (Jogeva), Laanemaa (Haapsalu), Laane-Virumaa (Rakvere), Parnumaa (Parnu), Polvamaa (Polva), Raplamaa (Rapla), Saaremaa (Kuessaare), Tartumaa (Tartu), Valgamaa (Valga), Viljandimaa (Viljandi), Vorumaa (Voru)
| Estonia | People | Back to Top |
The population of Estonia, estimated at 1,423,316 in 2001, is the smallest of any republic of the former USSR. Population density is 31 persons per sq km (82 per sq mi); the northern portion of the country is more densely inhabited. Estonia is highly urbanized. Some 74 percent of the people live in cities or towns, with nearly one-third of the total population residing in the capital, Tallinn, located on the northern coast. Other important cities include Tartu, an industrial and cultural center, and Pärnu, Estonia’s leading seaside resort. Russians mostly reside in urban areas, especially in the northeast.
Estonia has experienced considerable internal migration since the mid-1950s. The population in the northern, industrially advanced part of the nation has increased appreciably at the expense of the southern and western regions, which are primarily agrarian. There was also extensive immigration from territories of the U.S.S.R., particularly from Russia, after Soviet annexation in 1940.
| Estonia | History | Back to Top |
The ancestors of Estonians most likely settled on the Baltic shores around 3500 bc and were organized in loosely federated small states by the 1st century ad. They spoke a Finnic language. After Germans began to attack southern Estonia in 1208, King Waldemar II of Denmark invaded northern Estonia, built the Tallinn-Reval castle in 1219, and established the episcopal see, or seat, of Reval. After an uprising from 1343 to 1345, the Danish king sold his territories in northern Estonia to the Livonian Order of Teutonic Knights, who were already in control of the southern region (Livonia). The knights and Hanseatic merchants (see Hanseatic League), who established trading centers along the coast, dominated the country until 1561, when the Livonian Order was dissolved.
Meinhard, a monk from Holstein, landed in 1180 on what is now the Latvian coast and for 16 years preached Christianity to the Livs, a Finno-Ugric tribe. His successor, Berthold of Hanover, appointed bishop of Livonia, decided that the sword must be used against the recalcitrant pagans. He was killed in 1198 in battle. Albert of Buxhoevden, who succeeded him as bishop, proved himself a shrewd colonizer, pacifying the “treacherous Livs” and forcing them to build the fortress of Riga. To popularize recruitment for his army, Albert dedicated Livonia to the Virgin Mary. In 1202 he established the Order of the Brothers of the Sword.
The new government was unable to assume power until the end of World War I in November, when German forces withdrew from Estonia. After a period of armed conflict between Estonian troops and the invading Red Army of the Bolsheviks (militant socialist revolutionaries who seized power in Russia in October 1917) a peace treaty was signed at Tartu between Russia and Estonia on February 2, 1920, and all Russian claims to sovereignty over Estonia were dropped. In January 1921 legal recognition was accorded the new republic by the major Western powers, and Estonia became a member of the League of Nations. The republic continued to have a democratic political system until March 1934, when the prime minister, Konstantin Päts, led a bloodless coup and established authoritarian rule.
| Estonia | Culture | Back to Top |
The scope and importance of Estonian literature has steadily increased since the period of national awakening in the 19th century. Open to cultural and literary influences of western Europe, Estonian literature developed a diversity of styles, ranging from Neoclassicism to bold experimentation. After World War II, Socialist Realism dominated literary expression. Both Estonian classics and the works of contemporary authors have been translated into many languages.
The beginning of professional theatrical art in Estonia is closely connected with the creation of the Vanemuine Theatre in Tartu in 1870. Tallinn has several theatres, including an opera and ballet theatre, a drama theatre, a youth theatre, and a puppet theatre.
While more than 100 newspapers were published in Estonia during the Soviet era, some with circulations in excess of 100,000, acute shortages of newsprint after independence restricted output. In addition, market economics resulted in substantial increases in publishing costs and therefore in drastic price increases.
| Estonia | Life | Back to Top |
Russians who came to Estonia during the Soviet era have been slow to pass the citizenship exam, which involves knowledge of the Estonian language. As of 1998, about 22 percent of Estonia’s residents were not Estonian citizens (about 9 percent Russians, about 13 percent stateless). In December 1998 the government eased citizenship regulations to allow children of stateless residents to become citizens.
| Estonia | Land | Back to Top |
The Estonian landscape is largely the product of glacial activity; the south is covered with moraine hills, and the central part abounds in elongated hills with flat tops. The northern part of Estonia is characterized by long narrow swells consisting of deposits left by glacial rivers that formed during the melting of ice. Extensive sandy areas mark what was once the glacier's edge. The Estonian relief is thus generally undulating, with small hills and numerous lakes, rivers, and forests lending a mild and picturesque aspect to the scene, particularly in the south.
| Estonia | Plants and Animal | Back to Top |
The principal agricultural activity is raising animals for meat and milk production. Leading crops are potatoes and grains such as barley, rye, oats, and wheat. With 49 percent of the country’s land area covered by forests, the cutting and processing of timber is a significant economic activity. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing employs 10 percent of the labor force.
| Estonia | Economy | Back to Top |
As a country with a small population and limited natural resources, Estonia views trade as a key to economic growth. The country’s leadership positioned it as a gateway between other former Soviet republics (including Russia) and established economies of Western countries. The government adopted business-protection laws, such as those covering bankruptcy, trademarks, and copyrights, to attract foreign investment. The leadership also negotiated trade and investment agreements with Western countries, and the country’s trading system became one of the most barrier-free in the world. To further encourage investment, the government eased the flow of money across Estonia’s borders by tying its currency to the German mark. The government’s program to put businesses and industry in private ownership also moved quickly, with industrial privatization essentially completed by 1995.
As part of the interrelated Soviet economy, Estonia was basically an industrial region, with agriculture also making a contribution. Industry and agriculture remain important components of the economy of independent Estonia, but their portion of gross domestic product (GDP) and the labour force are declining while those of commerce and the service industry are growing. The Estonian economy experienced a downturn during its transition to a market economy (characterized by declining production, inflation, and unemployment), but by the mid-1990s it was rebounding.
In 2000, Estonia rebounded from the Russian financial crisis by scaling back its budget and reorienting trade away from Russian markets into EU member states. After GDP shrank 1.1% in 1999, the economy made a strong recovery in 2000, with growth estimated at 6.4% - the highest in Central and Eastern Europe. Estonia joined the World Trade Organization in November 1999 - the second Baltic state to join - and continues its EU accession talks. For 2001, Estonians predict GDP to grow around 6%, inflation of between 4.2%-5.3%, and a balanced budget. Substantial gains were made in completing privatization of Estonia's few remaining large, state-owned companies in 2000, and this momentum is expected to continue in 2001. Estonia hopes to join the EU during the next round of enlargement tentatively set for 2004.
| Estonia | Communications | Back to Top |
foreign investment in the form of joint business ventures greatly improved telephone service; Internet services available throughout most of the country; about 150,000 unfilled subscriber requests domestic: local - the Ministry of Transport and Communications is expanding cellular telephone services to form rural networks; intercity - highly developed fiber-optic backbone (double loop) system presently serving at least 16 major cities (1998) international: fiber-optic cables to Finland, Sweden, Latvia, and Russia provide worldwide packet-switched service; two international switches are located in Tallinn
| Estonia | Languages | Back to Top |
The official language of the republic is Estonian, which with the Finnish language belongs to the Finno-Ugric subfamily of Uralic languages. Estonian was adopted as the state language in 1989 as part of the movement toward independence from the Soviet Union. Members of minority ethnic groups often speak their own native languages, especially Russian, and in some places Estonian is rarely heard.
| Estonia | Politics | Back to Top |
Center Party or K [Edgar SAVISAAR, chairman]; Christian People's Party [Aldo VINKEL]; Coalition Party and Rural Union or KMU [Andrus OOBEL, chairman]; Estonian Democratic Party (formerly Estonian Blue Party) [Jaan LAAS]; Estonian Independence Party [leader NA]; Estonian National Democratic Party or ENDP [leader NA]; Estonian Pensioners and Families Party [Mai TREIAL]; Estonian Progressive Party [Andra VEIDEMANN]; Estonian Republican Party [leader NA]; Estonian Social-Democratic Labor Party [Tiit TOOMSALU]; Estonian Rural People's Union (1999 merger of Estonian Country People's Party and the Estonian Rural Union) [Arvo SIRENDI]; Party of Consolidation Today [leader NA]; People's Party Moderates (1999 merger of People's Party and Moderates) [Andres TARAND]; Reform Party or RE [Siim KALLAS, chairman]; Russian Party in Estonia [Nikolai MASPANOV]; Russian Unity Party [Igor SEDASHEV]; Union of Pro Patria or Fatherland League (Isamaaliit) [Mart LAAR, chairman]; United People's Party or UPPE [Viktor ANDREJEV, chairman]
| Estonia | Government | Back to Top |
. A new constitution, based largely on the 1938 document that provided the basis for Estonia's pre-Soviet government structure, was approved by voters in a June 1992 referendum and came into effect in early July. Guaranteeing the preservation of the Estonian nation and its culture, this document established a unicameral legislature, the Riigikogu (state assembly), consisting of 101 members who are directly elected through proportional representation to four-year terms. The president, who serves as the head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces, is elected to not more than two consecutive five-year terms by the Riigikogu. (The first election under the new constitution was to have been an exception to this rule. It was to have been decided by a direct vote, but, when no candidate received the mandated majority of the popular vote, the election was decided by the Riigikogu.) Executive power rests with the prime minister, who is nominated by the president, and the Council of Ministers.
| Estonia | Legal | Back to Top |
Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal for all Estonian citizens Executive branch: chief of state: President Lennart MERI (since 5 October 1992) head of government: Prime Minister Mart LAAR (since 29 March 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister, approved by Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term; if he or she does not secure two-thirds of the votes after three rounds of balloting, then an electoral assembly (made up of Parliament plus members of local governments) elects the president, choosing between the two candidates with the largest percentage of votes; election last held August-September 1996 (next to be held in the fall of 2001); prime minister nominated by the president and approved by Parliament election results: Lennart MERI reelected president by an electoral assembly after Parliament was unable to break a deadlock between MERI and RUUTEL; percent of electoral assembly vote - Lennart MERI 61%, Arnold RUUTEL 39% Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Riigikogu (101 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 7 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Center Party 28, Union of Pro Patria (Fatherland League) 18, Reform Party 18, Moderates 17, Country People's Party (Agrarians) 7, Coalition Party 7, UPPE 6 Judicial branch: National Court (chairman appointed by Parliament for life)
| Estonia | organization | Back to Top |
BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO
| Estonia | Education | Back to Top |
Education is compulsory for 9 years beginning at the age of 7. Schools offer instruction at all levels in both Estonian and Russian. Estonia has several institutions of higher education. The oldest is the University of Tartu, founded in 1632 by King Gustav II of Sweden. Another major university is Tallinn Technical University, founded in 1936.
| Estonia | Defence | Back to Top |
Military branches: Ground Forces, Navy/Coast Guard, Air and Air Defense Force (not officially sanctioned), Maritime Border Guard, Volunteer Defense League (Kaitseliit), Security Forces (internal and border troops)
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 359,677 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 282,418 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 11,164 (2001 est.)
| Estonia | International Disputes | Back to Top |
Estonian and Russian negotiators reached a technical border agreement in December 1996 which has not been signed nor ratified by Russia as of February 2001
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