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Estonia (Estonian Eesti),
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republic in northeastern Europe, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Finland, on the east by Russia, on the south by Latvia, and on the west by the Baltic Sea. It was formerly the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Estonia has more than 1500 islands; the largest, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, separate the Gulf of Rìga from the Baltic. The area of the country is about 45,100 sq km (about 17,400 sq mi). Tallinn, the capital and largest city, is the country's chief port.
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Population
The population of Estonia, estimated at 1,571,000 in 1995, is the smallest of any republic of the former USSR. About 62 percent of the people are Estonians. They are ethnically and linguistically close to the Finns, speaking a Finno-Ugric language. Russians are the largest minority with 30 percent of the total population. Other minorities include Ukrainians, Belarusians, Finns, Jews, and Latvians. Before Soviet annexation in 1940, Russians comprised only 8.5 percent of the total population. They arrived in Estonia during the period of large-scale industrialization after World War II (1939-1945). Russian employment is confined largely to the industrial sector in Estonia. Lutheranism is the traditional Estonian religion. Other forms of Christianity are also practiced in the country.
In 1992 laws were passed that greatly restricted Estonian citizenship. According to the laws, which are based on a 1939 law, all residents who lived in Estonia before 1940 and their descendants are automatically granted citizenship, regardless of ethnicity. Other inhabitants are required to meet a residency requirement and pass a proficiency exam in Estonian, although language restrictions may be waived for the aged and disabled. In 1995 the residency requirement was extended from two years to five years.
Estonia is highly urbanized. About 72 percent of the population lives in urban areas, with nearly one-third of the total population residing in Tallinn. Other important cities include Tartu and Pärnu. Russians reside in urban areas, especially in the east. Narva, a city in the northeastern corner of the country, is inhabited almost exclusively by Russians.
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History
Estonian tribes called Ests, organized in loosely federated small states, were first mentioned by Roman historian Tacitus in the 1st century AD. King Waldemar II of Denmark invaded northern Estonia, built the Tallinn-Reval castle in 1219, and established the episcopal see of Reval. After an uprising from 1343 to 1345, the Danish king sold his territories in northern Estonia to the Order of Teutonic Knights, who were already in control of the southern region (Livonia). The knights and Hanseatic merchants, who established trading centers along the coast, dominated the country until 1561, when the order was dissolved. Tallinn and the nobility of northern Estonia then submitted to the protection of the Swedish crown, and Poland temporarily retained the southern part of Estonia, including Tartu. By 1645 all of Estonia was in Swedish hands. In the 1670s and 1680s Sweden introduced reforms that improved the lot of the people but embittered the nobility.
Sweden ruled Estonia until 1721, when it was ceded to Russia by the Peace of Nystadt, and Russian czar Peter the Great, then emperor (1721-1725), restored the former privileges of the nobility. Between 1816 and 1819 Russian Emperor Alexander I abolished serfdom in Estonia; after the middle of the century peasants were granted the right to purchase land, and the system of forced labor was suppressed. At the same time Estonian national consciousness was aroused. Vigorous cooperative and educational movements sprang up after the revolution that took place in Russia in 1905 after the Russo-Japanese War, and national feeling in Estonia was further developed by the press and modern literature. The Russian Revolution of 1917 brought self-government to the Estonians, and on February 24, 1918, an independent republic was proclaimed. After a war against invading Bolsheviks, a peace treaty was signed at Tartu between Russia and Estonia on February 2, 1920, and all Russian claims to sovereignty over Estonia were dropped. Subsequently, de jure recognition was accorded the new republic by Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, the United States, and other countries. Estonia became a member of the League of Nations. In June 1940 Soviet forces occupied Estonia and the other Baltic republics of Latvia and Lithuania. Elections were then organized, in which only Soviet-supported candidates were permitted to run. On August 6, 1940, Estonia became a republic of the USSR. When Germany attacked the USSR in June 1941, Estonia was occupied by German troops. In September 1944, when the Germans retreated from the country and the Soviet army returned, more than 60,000 Estonians fled to Sweden and Germany.
During the next 45 years most countries granted at least de facto recognition to Soviet Estonia, but the United States never fully accepted Estonia's incorporation into the USSR. Together with Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia was among the first Soviet republics to move toward independence in the late 1980s, in defiance of the central government. After Communist rule collapsed in the USSR in 1991, the Soviet government formally recognized the independence of the Baltic republics on September 6 of that year, and all three were admitted to the United Nations (UN) later that month.
The eastern border with Russia remained a matter of dispute between Estonia and Russia following Estonia's independence. Parts of Estonian territory were transferred to the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) by the Soviet government in 1945, and Estonian officials sought their return. The Estonian government issued passports to Estonian speakers in some of the disputed areas, which prompted Russian officials to accuse Estonia of attempting to annex Russian territory. Russian troops, which had been stationed in Estonia since the Soviet era, were withdrawn in August 1994. In exchange, Estonia agreed to allow retired Soviet personnel living in Estonia to apply for residency.
Since independence, the Estonian government has attempted to strengthen ties with other countries, including the other Baltic republics and Western countries. In September 1993 it signed a free-trade agreement with Latvia and Lithuania that removes duties on imports and standardizes visa and customs regulations. In February 1994 Estonia signed the Partnership for Peace accord, an agreement on limited military cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In September 1994 Riigikogu passed a vote of no confidence in the government of Mart Laar, a member of the reform-minded Fatherland Party. Andres Tarand, the former environmental minister, was confirmed as the interim prime minister in October, pending March 1995 elections. In the March elections the post-independence reform parties were ousted and replaced by a coalition of left-centrist parties. The coalition was headed by the Coalition Party, whose leader, Tiit Vahi, was named prime minister. The vote was seen as a protest against corruption and the pace of reform, despite the fact that reforms had resulted in a 6 percent rise in the GDP. The left-centrist coalition collapsed on October 11 when Vahi fired Interior Minister Edgar Savisaar, who also chaired the coalition's Center Party. Savisaar had been implicated for the illegal recording of phone conversations between himself, the prime minister, and a leading opposition leader. Vahi and his cabinet resigned the next day. Vahi was able to form a new coalition of parties with the approval of President Lennart Meri, and the new Vahi government took office November 1995. In September 1996, in a runoff election, President Meri was elected to a second term in office.
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"Estonia," Microsoft ® Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.
© 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved.
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