   #copyright

Estonia

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; European
Countries

   SOS Children works in Estonia. For more information see SOS Children in
   Estonia
                         Eesti Vabariik
   Republic of Estonia

   Flag of Estonia Coat of arms of Estonia
   Flag            Coat of arms
   Motto: none
   Anthem: Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm
   Location of Estonia
   Capital
   (and largest city)  Tallinn
                       59°26′N 24°45′E
   Official languages  Estonian
   Government          Parliamentary democracy
    - 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
    - Completed        6 September 1991
     Accession to EU   May 1, 2004
                              Area
    - Total            45,100 km² ( 132nd)
                       17,413 sq mi
    - Water (%)        4.56%
                           Population
    - 2005 estimate    1,330,000 ( 151st)
    - Density          29/km² ( 173rd)
                       75/sq mi
       GDP ( PPP)      2006 estimate
    - Total            $23.93 billion ( 106th)
    - Per capita       $17,802 ( 43rd)
       HDI  (2004)     0.858 (high) ( 40th)
        Currency       Estonian kroon ( EEK)
        Time zone      EET ( UTC+2)
    - Summer ( DST)    EEST ( UTC+3)
      Internet TLD     .ee^1
      Calling code     +372
   ^1also .eu, shared with other European Union member states.

   Estonia (older Esthonia), officially the Republic of Estonia (
   Estonian: Eesti or Eesti Vabariik), is a country in Northern Europe.
   Estonia has land borders to the south with fellow Baltic state Latvia
   (339 km) and Russia (229  km) to the east. It is separated from Finland
   in the north by the narrow Gulf of Finland and from Sweden in the west
   by the Baltic Sea. Estonia has been a member of the European Union
   since May 1, 2004 and of the NATO since March 29, 2004.

History

   Human settlement in Estonia became possible 11,000–13,000 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 9th 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 1st to 5th 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 Scandinavian capital
   of Sigtuna in 1187.

   By the early 13th century, Estonia was divided into eight large
   counties — Saaremaa, Läänemaa, Rävala, Harju, Viru, Järva, Sakala, and
   Ugandi. Annual consultations were held by representatives of several
   counties and developments took the direction of establishing a state.
   Estonia until this time retained a pagan religion centered around a
   deity called Tharapita.

   Estonia was christianised when the German " Livonian Brothers of the
   Sword" invaded southern Estonia as part of the Northern Crusades in the
   early 13th 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. Tallinn (known as Reval at the time) was given its Lübeck Rights
   in 1248 and joined the Hanseatic League at the end of the 13th century.
   In 1343, the people of northern Estonia and Saaremaa rebelled against
   the rule of the Germans in the St. George's Night Uprising, which was
   put down by 1344. There were unsuccessful Russian invasions in 1481 and
   1558. After 1524, during the Protestant Reformation, Estonia converted
   to Lutheranism.

   During the Livonian War in 1561, northern Estonia submitted to Swedish
   control, while southern Estonia briefly came under the control of
   Poland 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 20th
   century.

   In 1631, the Swedish king 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
   Tartu (known as Dorpat at the time). This period is known in Estonian
   history as the "Good Old Swedish Times."

   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 province of
   Estonia and in 1818 in Livonia.

   As a result of the abolition of serfdom and the availability of
   education to the natives, an active Estonian nationalist movement
   started in the 19th century. It began on a cultural level, resulting in
   the establishment of Estonian language literature, theatre and
   professional music and the formation of the Estonian national identity.
   Among the leaders of this 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.
   Kihnu seashore
   Enlarge
   Kihnu seashore

   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 October
   Revolution, Estonia declared itself an independent republic on February
   24, 1918. After winning the Estonian Liberation War against Soviet
   Russia (the Treaty of Tartu was signed in February 2, 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.

   Estonia was occupied by Soviet troops in June 1940, as a consequence of
   the secret amendment to the August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between
   Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Estonia was formally annexed into
   the Soviet Union in August 1940 as the Estonian SSR. Many of the
   country's political and intellectual leaders were killed or deported to
   remote areas of Russia and other parts of the USSR by the Soviet
   authorities during 1940 to 1941. The repressions also included
   thousands of ordinary people. When German operation Barbarossa started
   against the Soviet Union thousands of young men were also forcibly
   drafted into the Red Army. Hundreds of political prisoners whom the
   retreating Soviets had no time to move, were massacred. The country was
   occupied by the Third Reich from 1941 to 1944, when Soviet forces
   reconquered it after fierce battles in the northeast of the country on
   the Narva river and on the Tannenberg Line (Sinimäed). Such was the
   fear and disgust of the general population against the Soviet
   oppressors that in the face of imminent re-occupation by the Red Army,
   tens of thousands of people chose to either flee the country to Finland
   or Sweden or retreat together with the Germans. In 1949, in response to
   slow progress in forming collective farms (as prescribed by the Soviet
   ideology), tens of thousands of people were forcibly deported in a few
   days either to labor camps or Siberia where half of them perished and
   the other half was not allowed to return until early 1960s (several
   years after Stalin's death). That and previous repressions in 1940-1941
   sparked a guerilla 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.
   Western bank of Osmussaar
   Enlarge
   Western bank of Osmussaar

   The Soviet era in Estonia which lasted from 1944 to 1991 was in general
   detrimental to the country as a whole. In addition to the usual
   Soviet-style forced collectivization of the agriculture, Estonia was
   also forced to go through with industrialization which was inefficient,
   and sometimes very destructive environmentally.

   Militarization was another aspect of the Soviet regime. Estonia was
   located very close to capitalist countries (Sweden, Finland) and
   therefore was heavily militarized. Large part of the country (5-10%)
   and especially the coastal areas were restricted to anyone but the
   Soviet military. Most of the northern, northwestern and western sea
   shore and all of the islands (including Saaremaa and Hiiumaa) were
   declared as "border zones" and Estonian population not directly living
   there was restricted from travelling there without permit and could be
   punished if they did so. Travelling in Estonia today it is not very
   difficult to find an abandoned former Soviet military installation in
   coastal regions. Even several former large airfields (notably the
   former strategic bomber/fighter bases in Tartu and Haapsalu) are
   abandoned today. Probably most notable of all closed military
   installations was the city of Paldiski which was in its entirety closed
   to all public access. The reason for it was simple - the city had a
   support base for the Soviet Navy'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 is decommissioned today and its fuel was removed
   by a special task force as the Soviet troops left, but the conserved
   radioactive reactors are there under state supervision to this day. The
   reactor building was passed into Estonian control a year later than the
   Soviet troops left Estonia in 1994.

   Russification was another effect brought by the Soviet occupation.
   Hundreds of thousands of Russian-speaking migrants (mostly from Russian
   Federation or Ukraine) were relocated to Estonia by the Soviet
   administration and Communist Party to conduct the aforementioned
   industrialization and militarization. The immigrants stayed on to form
   part of the population. By 1980, when part of the Moscow Olympic Games
   were also held in Tallinn (The Olympic Regatta part), the Russification
   (and the state-orchestrated immigration) had achieved already such a
   level, that it started sparking popular protests. The official language
   which had been both Estonian and Russian started to be increasingly
   Russian.

   The tides turned as the Soviet Union ran into major economic
   difficulties as a consequence of the Cold War and begun to break up.
   The economic difficulties of the end of the 1980s were often very
   anecdotal and embarrassing to the Soviet system - even common household
   goods like light bulbs, toilet paper and soap were often difficult to
   purchase and required 'connections'. Also food was beginning to be
   rationed. As the Soviet currency (the rouble) lost its value, these and
   other 'deficit' goods were often barter-traded or sold in foreign
   currency on the black market.

   As the situation developed, in Estonia a movement for more
   self-governance started. In the beginning, at the period of 1987-1989
   it 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, and the country began a course towards
   self-determination.

   In 1989 a major landmark demonstration was held for more independence,
   called The Baltic Way. During the demonstration a human chain
   consisting of more than two million people was formed through all of
   the three Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (the latter two
   former Baltic and then Soviet states had and continue to have similar
   fates and aspirations as Estonia).

   Estonia regained its independence on August 20, 1991, with the Singing
   Revolution during the Soviet military coup attempt in Russia and the
   following collapse of the Soviet Union. The first country to
   diplomatically recognize Estonia's reclaimed independence was Iceland
   closely followed by Denmark.

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

Politics

   The Estonian Parliament building in Tallinn
   Enlarge
   The Estonian Parliament building in Tallinn

   Estonia is a constitutional democracy, with a president elected by its
   unicameral parliament (elections are held every four years). The
   government or the executive branch is formed by the prime minister,
   nominated by the president, and a total of 14 ministers. The government
   is appointed by the president after approval by the parliament.

   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 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.

   Internet voting has been used in local elections in Estonia. The
   lawmakers in Estonia have authorized Internet voting for parliamentary
   elections as well. . On November 27, 2006, U.S. President George W.
   Bush made an informal overnight stop in Tallinn as he journeyed to a
   NATO summit conference in Riga, Latvia.

Administrative Divisions

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

Geography

   Map of Estonia

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, and the country's
   highest point is the Suur Munamägi in the southeast at 318 metres.
   Gulf of Finland and Estonia
   Enlarge
   Gulf of Finland and Estonia

   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. 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 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 entire 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 4.5 degrees Celsius. The
   average temperature in February, the coldest month of the year, is
   negative 5.2 degrees Celsius. The average temperature in July, which is
   considered the warmest month of the year, is 17 degrees Celsius.

   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
   outnumbers total evaporation. There are about 160 to 180 rainy days a
   year, and average precipitation is biggest 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

   Emajõe business centre, Tartu
   Enlarge
   Emajõe business centre, Tartu

General situation

   As a member of the European Union, Estonia is part of the world's
   largest economic zone. 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. It was the second Baltic state to join. 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. 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. Its GDP PPP per capita is at $17,802, the highest of the Baltic
   states, while its unemployment rate was 4.2% in July 2006, one of the
   lowest in the European Union.
   The north-west coast of Estonia near Nõva, Lääne county
   Enlarge
   The north-west coast of Estonia near Nõva, Lääne county

   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 20% by January 2009.

   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 24%. 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.

   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 15.6466
   Kroon for 1 Euro. The Estonian government is intending to adopt the
   Euro as the country's currency on 1 January 2008 due to continued high
   inflation, and finalised the design of Estonia's Euro coins in late
   2004.

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

   Indigenous Estonian-speaking ethnic Estonians constitute nearly 70
   percent 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 per cent. 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 Ingermanland (Ingria). 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 about a thousand Swedes were left.

   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 30- to 70-year-old ethnic Estonians,
   because Russian was taught as a compulsory second language during the
   Soviet era. Younger estonian people can usually speak English, having
   learned it as their first foreign language. Most of the russians don't
   speak estonian.

Ethnicity

   According to information published by the Estonian Statistical Office
   in 2006, the population of Estonia comprised the following
   self-reported ethnic groups :
     * 68.6% Estonians
     * 25.7% Russians
     * 2.1% Ukrainians
     * 1.2% Belarusians
     * 0.8% Finns
     * 0.2% Tatars
     * 0.17% Latvians
     * 0.16% Poles
     * 0.15% Jews
     * 0.15% Lithuanians
     * 0.14% Germans
     * 0.68% Others

Religion

   Tallinn, churches in the background
   Enlarge
   Tallinn, churches in the background

   The predominant religion of indigenous ethnic Estonians has
   traditionally been the Christian belief in the form of the Protestant
   Evangelical Lutheran confession; however, less than a quarter of ethnic
   Estonians define themselves as active believers at present. Most
   believers amongst the Russian minority are Eastern Orthodox. The
   Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has since the 1920s
   recognised a separate national Estonian Orthodox Church, which has led
   to strained relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which claimed
   sole authority over Orthodox believers in the country during the period
   of Soviet rule.

   Today, over 31% of the adult population are active followers of a
   particular faith, and they are made up of:
     * 15% Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
     * 14% Orthodox
     * 0.5% Baptists
     * 0.5% Roman Catholics

   There are nearly 10,000 Muslims in Estonia (most of whom are Tatars),
   as well as a number of smaller Buddhist, Protestant and Jewish groups,
   and some neopagans who revere the local ancient deity Taara.

   The results of 2002 poll are as follows:

   Q: What religion is the dearest, most cherished for you?
     * Lutheran 39%
     * Orthodox 28%
     * Roman Catholic 10%
     * Taara Religion 6%
     * Estonian Indigenous Religion/Estonian Native Religion 5%
     * Baptist 5%
     * Buddhism 4%
     * Jehovah's Witnesses 3%
     * Pentecostalists 3%
     * Old Believers 2%
     * Hinduism 1%
     * Mormonism 1%
     * Islam<1%
     * Other 4%
     * None 19%

   Altogether 1,000 people were questioned, of which 72% were Estonians.

   According to the most recent Eurostat "Eurobarometer" poll, in 2005 ,
   only 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 make Estonians the least religious people in the 25-member
   European Union.

International rankings

   Tartu University
   Enlarge
   Tartu University
     * State of World Liberty Index 2006: 1st out of 159 countries.
     * Human Development Index 2006: Rank 40th out of 177 countries.
     * Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2006: Rank
       6th out of 168 countries.
     * Index of Economic Freedom 2006: Rank 7th out of 157 countries.
     * Corruption Perceptions Index 2006: 24/163
     * Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006: 2/119 (Ranked second out of
       134 countries.) Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006

Neighbouring countries

   Flag of Finland  Finland Flag of Finland  Finland
   Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation North.png
   Gulf of Finland Gulf of Finland  Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation
   East.png   Flag of Russia  Russia
   Flag of Sweden  Sweden  Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation West.png
     Baltic Sea North Flag of Russia  Russia
   West    Flag of Estonia  Estonia     East
   South
   Gulf of Riga
   Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation South.png
   Flag of Latvia  Latvia Flag of Latvia  Latvia

Image Gallery

   Estonian folk dancing

   Estonian folk dance festival "Tantsupidu"

   Statue of Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Tallinn

   Medieval city centre and marketplace of Tallinn

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
