Estonia

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Present-day Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. 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. After centuries of foreign rule by the Teutonic Order, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and the Russian Empire, a distinct Estonian national identity gained new momentum with the Age of Awakening in the mid-19th century. This culminated in the 1918 Estonian Declaration of Independence.

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Name

The name Estonia (Estonian: Eesti [ˈeˑstʲi] ) has been connected to the Aesti, a people first mentioned by Roman historian Tacitus around AD 98. Some historians believe he was referring to the Balts, while others think the name applied to all inhabitants of the eastern Baltic Sea region. Scandinavian sagas and Viking runestones referring to Eistland are the earliest sources known to use the name in its modern geographic meaning.

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History

Human settlement in Estonia became possible 13,000–11,000 years ago, when the ice from the last glacial era melted. The oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, on the banks of Pärnu river in southwest Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating, it was settled around 11,000 years ago.

The earliest human habitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to the Kunda culture. At that time the country was covered with forests, and people lived in semi-nomadic communities near bodies of water. Subsistence activities consisted of hunting, gathering and fishing.

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Geography

Estonia is situated in Europe, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, on the East European Plain between 57°30′ and 59°49′ N and 21°46′ and 28°13′ E. 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 Peipsi and Russia. Estonian territory covers 45,335 km2 (17,504 sq mi), of which internal waters comprise 4.6%. When including the territorial sea, the Estonian border encompasses 70,177 km2 (27,095 sq mi).

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Politics

Estonia is a unitary parliamentary republic. The unicameral parliament Riigikogu serves as the legislature and the government as the executive.

Estonian parliament Riigikogu is elected by citizens over 18 years of age for a four-year term by proportional representation, and has 101 members. Riigikogu's responsibilities include approval and preservation of the national government, passing legal acts, passing the state budget, and conducting parliamentary supervision.

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Economy

As a member of the European Union and OECD, Estonia is considered a high-income economy by the World Bank. The GDP (PPP) per capita of the country was $46,385 in 2023 according to the International Monetary Fund, ranked 40th.

Estonia ranks highly in international rankings for quality of life, education, press freedom, digitalisation of public services and the prevalence of technology companies.

Beginning 1 January 2011, Estonia adopted the euro and became the 17th eurozone member state.

Estonia produces about 75% of its consumed electricity.

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Demographics

Before World War II, ethnic Estonians made up 88% of the population, with national minorities constituting the remaining 12%. The largest minority groups in 1934 were Russians, Germans, Swedes, Latvians, Jews, Poles, and Finns. Other smaller minorities in Estonia are Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Moldovans, Chuvash, Karelians and Romani people.

The share of Baltic Germans in Estonia had fallen from 5.3% (~46,700) in 1881 to 1.3% (16,346) by 1934, mainly due to emigration to Germany in the light of general Russification at the end of the 19th century and the independence of Estonia in the 20th century.

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Culture

The culture of Estonia incorporates indigenous heritage, as represented by the Estonian language and the sauna, with mainstream Nordic and European cultural aspects. Because of its history and geography, Estonia's culture has been influenced by the traditions of the adjacent area's various Finnic, Baltic, Slavic and Germanic peoples as well as the cultural developments in the former dominant powers Germany, Sweden and Russia, for this reason it aspires more to be considered a Nordic state.

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