Estonia
Es·to·ni·a
E0221900 (ĕ-stō′nē-ə)Estonia
(ɛˈstəʊnɪə) or formerlyEsthonia
Es•to•ni•a
(ɛˈstoʊ ni ə, ɛˈstoʊn yə)n.
| Noun | 1. |  Estonia - a republic in northeastern Europe on the Baltic Sea |
n.
Estonia
Estonia
(ĕstō`nēə), Estonian Eesti, officially Republic of Estonia, republic (2015 est. pop. 1,315,000), 17,505 sq mi (45,339 sq km). It borders on the Baltic Sea in the west; the gulfs of Riga and Finland (both arms of the Baltic) in the southwest and north, respectively; Latvia in the south; and Russia in the east. TallinnTallinn, Ger. Reval, city (1994 pop. 442,679), capital of Estonia, on the Gulf of Finland, opposite Helsinki. It is a major Baltic port, a rail and highway junction, and an industrial center. Tallinn also has military and naval installations.
..... Click the link for more information. is the capital and largest city. In addition to the capital, other important cities are TartuTartu
, Ger. and Swed. Dorpat, city (1994 pop. 105,844), E Estonia, a port on the Ema River. The second largest city of Estonia, it is an important industrial and cultural center and a rail junction.
..... Click the link for more information. , NarvaNarva
, city (1994 pop. 79,094), NE Estonia, on the left bank of the Narva River. A leading textile center, it also has machinery plants, sawmills, flax and jute factories, and food-processing industries. The city is also an important producer of electric power.
..... Click the link for more information. , ParnuPärnu
, Ger. Pernau, Rus. Pyarnu, city (1994 pop. 51,963), SW Estonia, on the Gulf of Riga. A seaport, it exports timber and flax and is also a beach and health resort. It was founded c.1250 by the Livonian Knights and became a city of the Hanseatic League.
..... Click the link for more information. , and ViljandiViljandi
, Ger. Fellin, town (1994 pop. 22,669), S Estonia. Founded in 1283, Viljandi was an important medieval trade center and a member of the Hanseatic League. Walls of the castle of the grand master of the Livonian Knights remain standing.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Land and People
Despite its northerly location, Estonia enjoys a mild climate because of marine influences. Mainly a lowland, the republic has numerous lakes, frequently of glacial origin; Peipus (Lake Chudskoye), the largest, is important for both shipping and fishing. Along Estonia's Baltic coast are more than 800 islands, of which Saaremaa is the most notable. The republic's rivers include the Narva, Pärnu, Ema, and Kasari.
Estonians, who are ethnically and linguistically close to the Finns, make up about 68% of the population; Russians constitute some 25%, and there are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Finnish minorities. Estonian is the official language, but Russian, Latvian, and Lithuanian are also spoken. The majority of those practicing a religious faith belong to either the Evangelical Lutheran or the Russian Orthodox church. There are small minorities of other Christians, but most of the population is unaffiliated. Since independence (1991), citizenship has generally been limited to ethnic Estonians, a practice widely criticized because it denies political and civil rights to the many Russian-speaking inhabitants. In 1993 ethnic Russians were officially declared foreigners, raising even stronger objections. Long-term non-Estonian residents can become citizens, but although the process has been eased over time, most of the roughly 15% of residents who are stateless or foreigners are ethnic Russians.
Economy
In the years that it was part of the Soviet Union, Estonia provided the USSR with gas and oil produced from its large supply of oil shale. It is still the world's second largest producer of oil shale. The majority of its workforce is involved in industry, which also includes mining, shipbuilding, information technology, and the manufacture of wood products, electronic and telecommunications equipment, textiles and clothing, and machinery. Its efficient agricultural sector employs some 11% of the labor force and produces meat (largely pork), dairy products, potatoes, flax, and sugar beets. Fishing is also important. Peat, phosphorite, clays, limestone, sand, dolomite, marl, and timber are important natural resources.
The country began small-scale privatization in 1991 and during the 1990s auctioned off several larger industries; it has also actively sought foreign investment. Estonia subsequently experienced significant economic growth, but also suffered more than most European Union nations during the 2008–9 global recession. The nation exports machinery and equipment, wood and paper, textiles, food products, furniture, metals, chemicals, fertilizers, and electric power. Imports include machinery, chemical products, textiles, foodstuffs, and transportation equipment. Estonia's major trade partners are Finland, Sweden, Germany, Russia, and its fellow Baltic statesBaltic states,
the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, bordering on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Formed in 1918, they remained independent republics until their involuntary incorporation in 1940 into the USSR. They regained their independence in Sept.
..... Click the link for more information. , Latvia and Lithuania.
Government
Estonia is governed under the constitution of 1992. The president, who is the head of state but has little substantive power, is elected by parliament for a five-year term and is eligible for a second term. The government is headed by the prime minister, who is nominated by the president and approved by parliament. The unicameral Parliament (Riigikogu) has 101 members who are popularly elected to serve four-year terms. Administratively the country is divided into 15 counties.
History
To the Nineteenth Century
The Estonians settled in their present territory before the Christian era. They were mentioned (1st cent. A.D.) by Tacitus, who called them Aesti. In the 13th cent. the Danes and the German order of the Livonian Brothers of the SwordLivonian Brothers of the Sword
or Livonian Knights
, German military and religious order, founded in 1202 by Bishop Albert of Livonia for the purpose of conquest and Christianization in the Baltic lands.
..... Click the link for more information. formed an alliance to conquer the pagan Estonian tribes. The Danes founded Reval (now Tallinn) in 1219 and introduced Christianity and Western European culture to Estonia. While Denmark took the northern part of Estonia, the knights occupied the southern portion. In 1346 the Danes sold their territory to the order, and Estonia remained under the rule of the knights and the Hanseatic merchants until the order's dissolution in 1561.
Northern Estonia then passed to Sweden; the rest was briefly held by Poland but was transferred to the Swedes by the Treaty of Altmark (1629), which ended the first Polish-Swedish war. The lot of the Estonian peasants, who had been reduced to virtual serfdom under German landowners, improved somewhat under Swedish rule; but Peter I of Russia conquered Livonia in 1710, and Russian possession was confirmed by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. Despite some land reforms, the German nobles—the Baltic barons—retained their sway over the Estonian peasantry until the eve of the 1917 Russian Revolution. German burghers controlled most of the urban wealth.
Industrialization proceeded apace during the 19th cent.; the republic became heavily interlaced with railroads, and the port of Tallinn grew in importance. Estonian national consciousness began to stir in the mid-19th cent. but was countered by Russification, which in turn spurred rebellion and considerable emigration (notably to the United States and Canada).
The Twentieth Century
Estonia suffered bloody reprisals for its important role in the Russian Revolution of 1905. In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Moscow appointed a puppet Communist regime under Jaan Anvelt to rule Estonia; its authority, however, failed to extend beyond Tallinn. An Estonian proclamation of independence in Feb., 1918, was followed shortly by German occupation. After Germany surrendered to the Allies in Nov., 1918, Estonia declared itself an independent democratic republic and repulsed the invading Red Army.
In 1920, by the Peace of Tartu, Soviet Russia recognized Estonia's independence. Political stability, however, eluded the republic, which had 20 short-lived coalition regimes before 1933, when a new constitution gave the president sweeping authority. Political parties were abolished in 1934, and President Konstantin Päts instituted an authoritarian regime. A more democratic constitution came into force in 1938; but the Nazi-Soviet Pact of Aug., 1939, placed the Baltic countries under Soviet control, and the following month the USSR secured military bases in Estonia.
Complete Soviet military occupation came in June, 1940. Following elections in July, Estonia was incorporated into the USSR as a constituent republic. Over 60,000 persons were killed or deported during the occupation's first year. Estonian irregulars fought Soviet troops in June, 1941, as part of the German invasion, and their support of the Nazis continued through 1944. Occupied by German troops during much of World War II, Estonia was retaken by Soviet forces in 1944, who, as in 1940, killed or deported thousands of Estonians. Collectivization of agriculture and nationalization of industry began in the late 1940s, and the Estonian economy was steadily integrated with that of the USSR despite strong resistance.
In Mar., 1990, amid increasing liberalization in the USSR, the Estonian Supreme Soviet declared invalid the 1940 annexation by the USSR. In 1991, during the attempted hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail GorbachevGorbachev, Mikhail Sergeyevich
, 1931–, Soviet political leader. Born in the agricultural region of Stavropol, Gorbachev studied law at Moscow State Univ., where in 1953 he married a philosophy student, Raisa Maksimovna Titorenko (1932?–99).
..... Click the link for more information. , Estonia declared its independence from the USSR. A new constitution was ratified and went into effect in 1992; Lennart Meri was elected president and Mart Laar, a radical free-market advocate, became prime minister. The last Russian troops were withdrawn from Estonia in Aug., 1994.
Laar lost a vote of confidence in 1995 and was replaced by Tiit Vähi, who headed two centrist coalition governments and survived a vote of confidence early in 1997, but resigned shortly thereafter. He was replaced by Mart Siimann, head of the Coalition party and Rural Union, but Laar again became prime minister in Mar., 1999. In Sept., 2001, Arnold Rüütel was elected to succeed Meri as president; Meri was barred from seeking a third term. Laar resigned in Jan., 2002, and Siim Kallas, of the center-right Reform party, succeeded him.
Parliamentary elections in Mar., 2003, gave the leftist Center party and conservative Res Publica party with an equal number of seats. Res Publica formed a coalition with the Reform party; Juhan Parts, of Res Publica, became prime minister. In 2004 Estonia became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. Parts' government fell in Mar., 2005, and Andrus AnsipAnsip, Andrus,
1956–, Estonian political leader. Ansip was an engineer (1979–83) before becoming an official of the Tartu district committee of the Estonian Communist party (1986–88).
..... Click the link for more information. , of the Reform party, formed a new coalition government the following month. Rüütel failed to win a second term in Sept., 2006, when Toomas Hendrik Ilves, a former foreign minister, was elected president.
The Reform party won a plurality of parliamentary seats in the Mar., 2007, elections, and Ansip remained prime minister, leading a new coalition government (re-formed in 2009). The relocation of a Soviet war memorial (and the soldiers buried there) from downtown Tallinn the following month sparked several days of rioting by ethnic Russians, thinly disguised economic retaliation by Russia, and cyberattacks against government and other Estonian computer facilities. The country adopted the euro in 2011. In Mar., 2011, Ansip's coalition won the parliamentary elections, and he remained prime minister. President Ilves was reelected the following August.
Ansip's government resigned in Mar., 2014; he had planned to step down as prime minister before the 2015 elections. Taavi RõivasRõivas, Taavi
, 1979–, Estonian political leader, b. Tallinn, grad. Univ. of Tartu. A member of the Reform party, Rõivas was an adviser to prime minister Andrus Ansip (2005–7), and was first elected to the Estonian parliament in 2007.
..... Click the link for more information. , a member of the Reform party and the social affairs minister, became prime minister of a Reform–Social Democratic government. The Mar., 2015, elections left the government with only a plurality, but the conservative Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL) joined the coalition; Rõivas remained prime minister.
Kersti Kaljulaid, who previously served on the European Court of Auditors, was elected president in Oct., 2016; she was the first woman to hold the office. The following month Rõivas's government collapsed over economic issues.
The Center party, which had strong support among ethnic Russians and had been regarded as too close to Russia by other Estonian parties after a cooperation pact (2004) with its ruling party, formed a coalition with the Social Democrats and IRL; Center's new leader, Jüri RatasRatas, Jüri,
1978–, Estonian political leader. A member of the Center party, a populist party with strong support among ethnic Russians, Ratas was mayor of Talinn (2005–7), before entering the Estonian parliament (2007–).
..... Click the link for more information. , became prime minister. In the Mar., 2019, parliamentary elections the Reform party won the largest bloc of seats; the Center party placed second.
Bibliography
See R. J. Misiunas and R. Taagepera, The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940–1980 (1983); A. Roos, Estonia: A Nation Unconquered (1985); T. U. Raun, Estonia and the Estonians (1987).
Estonia
Official name: Republic of Estonia Capital city: Tallinn Internet country code: .ee Flag description: Pre-1940 flag restored by Supreme Soviet in May 1990 - three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white
National anthem: “My Native Land,” lyrics by Johann Voldemar Jannsen, music by Fredrik Pacius
National bird: Swallow
National flower: Cornflower
National stone: Limestone
Geographical description: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia
Total area: 17,462 sq. mi. (45,226 sq. km.)
Climate: Maritime, wet, moderate winters, cool summers
Nationality: noun: Estonian(s); adjective: Estonian
Population: 1,315,912 (July 2007 CIA est.)
Ethnic groups: Estonian 67.9%, Russian 25.6%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Belarusian 1.3%, Finn 0.9%, other 2.2%
Languages spoken: Estonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7%
Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 13.6%, Orthodox Christian 12.8%, other Christian (including Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 1.4%, unaffiliated 34.1%, other and unspecified 32%, none 6.1%
Legal Holidays:
| Boxing Day | Dec 26 |
| Christmas Day | Dec 25 |
| Christmas Eve | Dec 24 |
| Easter | Apr 24, 2011; Apr 8, 2012; Mar 31, 2013; Apr 20, 2014; Apr 5, 2015; Mar 27, 2016; Apr 16, 2017; Apr 1, 2018; Apr 21, 2019; Apr 12, 2020; Apr 4, 2021; Apr 17, 2022; Apr 9, 2023 |
| Good Friday | Apr 22, 2011; Apr 6, 2012; Mar 29, 2013; Apr 18, 2014; Apr 3, 2015; Mar 25, 2016; Apr 14, 2017; Mar 30, 2018; Apr 19, 2019; Apr 10, 2020; Apr 2, 2021; Apr 15, 2022; Apr 7, 2023 |
| Independence Day | Feb 24 |
| Midsummer's Day | Jun 24 |
| New Year's Day | Jan 1 |
| Restoration of Independence Day | Aug 20 |
| Spring Day | May 1 |
| Victory Day | Jun 23 |
Estonia
, EsthoniaEstonia
- noun
Synonyms for Estonia
noun a republic in northeastern Europe on the Baltic Sea
Synonyms
- Esthonia
- Republic of Estonia
Related Words
- capital of Estonia
- Tallin
- Tallinn
- Tartu
- Livonia
- Europe