Indiana University Bloomington


Search the IAUNRC Site:

The IAUNRC programs address all aspects of the diverse region and peoples of Azerbaijan, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Tibet, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Xinjiang.


ESTONIA

[internet resources]

Quick Facts:

Official Name Republic of Estonia
Population 1,324,333 (July 2006 est.)
Capital City Tallinn
Languages Estonian, Russian, others
Official Currency Estonian kroon
Religions Evangelical Lutheran, Orthodox, other Christian (including Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal), unaffiliated, other

 

Map of Estonia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flag

Pre-1940 flag restored by Supreme Soviet in May 1990 - three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white. There are multiple meanings for the chosen colors. One popular explanation derives from a contemporary poem by Martin Lipp. The blue colour is explained as the vaulted blue sky above the native land. Black symbolizes attachment to the soil of the homeland as well as the fate of Estonians — for centuries black with worries. White is connected with hard work and other more abstract human values.

As in many other countries, there is also a historical metaphor for the Estonian national colors. The blue in this case represents ancient freedom, black symbolizes lost independence, and white promises a brighter future. Visually, taken together, these three colors have a fresh, cool, Nordic feel, as none of the “warm” colors are included. The same color combination is used by no other national tricolor.

Estonia is the northern most Baltic country, stretching 350 km east to west and 240 km north to south. It's population ranks amongst the smallest in the world: as of January 2000, an estimated 1 361 242 people live in Estonia — a density of only 30.2 people per sq. km. Tallinn, with its medieval city centre, is Estonia's capital and is home to about one third of the nation's population. Other large cities include the university town of Tartu, the industrial city of Narva and the summer capital of Pärnu.

The history of Estonia is similar to others in the region. After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian rule, Estonia attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940, it regained its freedom in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the last Russian troops left in 1994, Estonia has been free to promote economic and political ties with Western Europe. It joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Throughout centuries, Estonians have always lived in the corner of the world where there is a large-scale migration of peoples. The Estonian language contains loan words from Low German, German, Swedish, Russian, French, Finnish and English. Estonian is the mother tongue of 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 abroad, mostly in Sweden, Finland, Germany, the USA, Canada and Russia. A further 168,000 or so people are able to speak Estonian. This puts Estonian among the top two hundred of the world's thousands of languages, and among the Uralic languages in third place after Hungarian and Finnish.

Estonia has stood on the cultural dividing line between Eastern and Western Europe for centuries, one could even say for millennia. The impact that such a position has had on the characteristic features of the folk culture is tremendous. The Estonian cultural scene can be characterised by a multitude of peculiarities, the origins of which date back to the very distant past. Those travelling through or those who have come here by chance, have doubtlessly left their mark on the Estonians' way of thinking and their character.

Information and maps above taken from Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Fact Book. Unless otherwise specified, images sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

Estonia Internet Resources

This page contains convenient starting points for exploring web sites related to the Baltics and Estonia.  To make this page easier to load and use, we generally have limited the list to those sites which contain substantial collections of links to information on these subjects.  The views reflected on any web site linked below do not necessarily reflect the views of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center.  We provide these links as a service to the public.


Baltics

[return to top]

Estonia