About ESTONIA

Estonia - General information

The Estonians are one of the oldest populations living around the Baltic Sea. The country has permanently been invaded from the outside since the 13th century and during the main part of the country's history the Estonians have been under foreign sovereignity (i.a. Danish, German, Polish, Swedish, Russian and Soviet).

After centuries of dramatic history and foreign rule, Estonia became independent in 1991, and has rapidly established a functioning parliamentary democracy. Estonia's geographical position is favourable for developing trade relations between East and West, North and South. Within a short time the closed economic system of the former Soviet Union has been abandoned and is developing into an open market economy. This has brought Estonia into the world market again.

Geography and climate

Estonia lies on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. The longest distance from east to west is 350 km and north to south 240 km. Estonia has many islands, the largest one being Saaremaa.
The main ports are Tallinn and Loksa on the northern coast and Pärnu on the west coast.
The country borders to Russia and Latvia.
The climate is similar to the Nordic, with a mixture of coastal and inland climate.

Population and language

Before the second world war Estonia had a fairly homogenous population; more than 90 percent of the inhabitants were Estonians.
In addition to the Estonians (992 500 persons) the main groups were the Russians (92 600), Germans (16 300), Swedes (7 600), Latvians (5 400) and Jews (4 400).
During the second world war almost all Germans and Swedes emigrated to Germany and Sweden, while the Jews fled to the Soviet Union or were exterminated by the Nazis. A number of Estonians were deported to the Soviet Union. The losses during the war reduced the number of Estonians to some 800 000 persons.
After the war an immigration dominated by Russians took place. More than half a million of non-Estonians have immigrated and the Estonians constitute today some 65% of the population. The remaining 35% are Russians, Ukrainians, braun Russians and Finns.
The Estonian language belongs to one branch of the Finno-Ugric language group.
During the Soviet period the position of the Estonian language was weakened in favour of the Russian language, which became the predominant language within administration, transport and communication.
A significant russification took place during this period. In order to strengthen to position of the Estonian language, a language law was enforced in 1989.

Culture

Estonia has a rich tradition of folk poetry and the so called "runo" songs go back to the first millenium before Christ.
During the end of the 19th century the compilation of folk poetry became especially important as a mean of expressing the national self esteem and thanks to a number of dedicated persons, the Estonian folk culture belongs to one of the world's most well-documented ones.
In the 19th century an indigenous culture with song festivals was created. The choir tradition is very important and of a very good quality even today.
During the second world war, two thirds of Estonia's writers fled abroad where they continued their work. A new generation of writers appeared. During the Soviet period there was a stagnation of the development. At the end of the 1980s contacts with writers in exile and Estonia has become more important.

History

Estonia's history is closely linked to Sweden's. From 1561 to 1710 parts of Estonia belonged to Sweden, and this period is often called "the good old Swedish time".
Estonia has been under foreign sovereignity for long periods of time, mainly German and Russian.
During the period between the world wars, Estonia was an independent nation. In 1940 the country was occupied by the Soviet Union.
In the middle of the 80's the liberation movement grew strong. In 1988 a declaration was proclaimed that stated that Estonian law took recedence over Soviet law. A year later the Estonian communist party broke with the mother party in Moscow and after that the Estonians demanded total independence.
In 1991 independence was reinstored and the first free elections were held in September 1992.
In March 1994 the Russian troops withdrew from Estonia after 50 years of occupation.
After the independence the country developed rapidly and its basic direction has not altered during various governments.
Privatization within trade and industry is almost completed and the country is developing towards an open economy.
Today the Nordic countries and Western Europe are the main trading partners (80%) compared to the previous dependence on the former Soviet Union.

A little bit more about Estonia... 

Copyright(c) 2003 Karine Grigorjan. All rights reserved.