Estonia

For other uses, see Estonia (disambiguation).
"Eesti" redirects here. For the language, see Estonian language.

Republic of Estonia
Eesti Vabariik (Estonian)
Anthem: 
Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm
(English: "My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy"[1])
Location of Estonia (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green)  –  [Legend]
Location of Estonia (dark green)

– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green)  –  [Legend]

Capital
and largest city
Tallinn
59°25′N 24°45′E / 59.417°N 24.750°E / 59.417; 24.750
Official languageEstonian[a]
Ethnic groups (2024[10])
Religion
(2021[11])
Demonym(s)Estonian
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
• President
Alar Karis
Kristen Michal
LegislatureRiigikogu
Independence 
from Russia and Germany
23–24 February 1918
• Joined the League of Nations
22 September 1921
1940–1991
20 August 1991
Area
• Total
45,335[12] km2 (17,504 sq mi) (129thd)
• Water (%)
4.6
Population
• 2024 estimate
Neutral increase1,373,101[13]
• 2021 census
1,331,824[14]
• Density
30.3/km2 (78.5/sq mi) (148th)
GDP (PPP)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $61.598 billion[15] (113th)
• Per capita
Increase $45,122[15] (41st)
GDP (nominal)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $43.486 billion[15] (102nd)
• Per capita
Increase $31,854[15] (36th)
Gini (2021)Negative increase 30.6[16]
medium inequality
HDI (2022)Increase 0.899[17]
very high (31st)
CurrencyEuro (€) (EUR)
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Calling code+372
ISO 3166 codeEE
Internet TLD.ee
  1. ^ Estonia regained its de facto independence in 1991. Throughout the 1940–1941 and 1944–1991 Soviet occupation, Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile.

Estonia,[b] officially the Republic of Estonia,[c] is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe.[d] It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea,[12] covering a total area of 45,335 square kilometres (17,504 sq mi). Tallinn, the capital city, and Tartu are the two largest urban areas. The Estonian language is the official language and the first language of the majority of the population of 1.4 million.[14]

Present-day Estonia has been inhabited by humans since at least 9,000 BCE. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Northern Crusades in the 13th century.[22] After centuries of successive rule by the Teutonic Order, Denmark, Sweden, and the Russian Empire, a distinct Estonian national identity began to reemerge in the mid-19th century. This culminated in the 1918 Estonian Declaration of Independence from the then-warring Russian and German empires. Democratic throughout most of the interwar period, Estonia declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II, however the country was repeatedly contested, invaded, and occupied; first by the Soviet Union in 1940, then Nazi Germany in 1941, and ultimately reoccupied in 1944 by, and annexed into, the USSR as an administrative subunit (Estonian SSR). Throughout the 1944–91 Soviet occupation,[23] Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile. Following the 1988–90 bloodless Estonian "Singing Revolution" against Soviet rule, the nation's full independence was restored on 20 August 1991.

Estonia is a developed country with a high-income advanced economy. It is a democratic unitary parliamentary republic, administratively subdivided into 15 maakond (counties). It is one of the least populous members of the European Union and NATO. Estonia has consistently ranked highly in international rankings for quality of life,[24] education,[25] press freedom, digitalisation of public services[26][27] and the prevalence of technology companies.[28]

  1. ^ "National anthem of the Republic of Estonia". Eesti.ee. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Vro | ISO 639-3".
  3. ^ Grünthal, Riho; Anneli Sarhimaa (2004). Itämerensuomalaiset kielet ja niiden päämurteet. Helsinki: Finno-Ugrian Society.
  4. ^ Sammallahti, Pekka (1977), "Suomalaisten esihistorian kysymyksiä" (PDF), Virittäjä: 119–136
  5. ^ Laakso, Johanna (2014), "The Finnic Languages", in Dahl, Östen; Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria (eds.), The Circum-Baltic Languages: Typology and Contact, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
  6. ^ Pajusalu, Karl (2009). "The reforming of the Southern Finnic language area" (PDF). Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne. 258: 95–107. ISSN 0355-0230. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. ^ Salminen, Tapani (2003), Uralic Languages, retrieved 17 October 2015
  8. ^ Figures provided by Statistics Estonia correspond to number of official residents only (i.e include over 55,600 ethnic Ukrainians who are officially resident in Estonia); the figures do not include another estimated 50,000 people who, as Ukrainian war refugees, are staying in Estonia but have not registered a place of residence there.
  9. ^ By Estonian law, ethnicity is registered via self-declaration (which is not mandatory).
  10. ^ "Rv0222U: Population by Sex, Ethnic Nationality and County, 1 January".
  11. ^ "Estonia Census 2021". Statistics Estonia. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Estonia gains 95 islands, but loses 4 square kilometers with updated map". ERR. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Estonia's population grew in 2023". 2 January 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Population census: Estonia's population and the number of Estonians have grown". Statistics Estonia. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2024 Edition. (Estonia)". International Monetary Fund. 10 April 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income". EU-SILC survey. Eurostat. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  18. ^ "United Nations Statistics Division- Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)-Geographic Regions". Unstats.un.org.
  19. ^ "Estonia - EU Vocabularies - Publications Office of the EU". op.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  20. ^ Directorate, OECD Statistics. "OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms - Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) Definition". stats.oecd.org.
  21. ^ "Estonia". CIA World Factbook. 24 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Country Profile – LegaCarta". Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  23. ^ See, for instance, the position expressed by European Parliament, which condemned "the fact that the occupation of these formerly independent and neutral States by the Soviet Union occurred in 1940 following the Molotov/Ribbentrop pact, and continues." European Parliament (13 January 1983). "Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania". Official Journal of the European Communities. C 42/78.
  24. ^ "Estonia (Ranked 21st)". Legatum Prosperity Index 2020.
  25. ^ "Pisa rankings: Why Estonian pupils shine in global tests". BBC News. 2 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Estonia among top 3 in the UN e-Government Survey 2020". e-Estonia. 24 July 2020.
  27. ^ Harold, Theresa (30 October 2017). "How A Former Soviet State Became One Of The World's Most Advanced Digital Nations". Alphr. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  28. ^ "Number of start-ups per capita by country". 2020.stateofeuropeantech.com.


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