I.

Introduction

Estonia (in Estonian, Eesti), formerly Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, now known as the Republic of Estonia, republic in north-eastern 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. Estonia has more than 1,500 islands; the largest, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, separate the Gulf of Riga from the Baltic. The area of the country is about 45,227 sq km (17,462 sq mi). Tallinn, the capital and largest city, is the country’s chief port.

II.

Land and Resources

Estonia is a low-lying plain with numerous streams and lakes. The average elevation is about 50 m (165 ft), with the highest point in the republic reaching only 318 m (1,043 ft). Wetlands cover more than 20 per cent of the country’s territory. Lakes and reservoirs cover an additional 5 per cent, with the two largest lakes, Lake Peipus on the eastern border and Võrts-Järv in the south-central part of the country, accounting for nearly four fifths of the total lake surface area. The climate is moderated by marine influences, although more continental conditions exist in inland portions of the republic. Precipitation is moderate, with mean annual rainfall ranging from 50 to 70 cm (19y to 27‚ in). Elongated hills arrayed from north to south are evidence of former glaciation, as are the glacial boulders found in the south and south-east. The mainland has a coastline about 1,160 km (720 mi) long. About one quarter of the land is forested, mainly with pine, birch, aspen, and fir. Elk, deer, and wild boar are common fauna. Several species have been protected by legislation because of their small numbers, including the beaver, red deer, and willow grouse.

Industrial pollution is a major environmental problem in Estonia. Almost 100 per cent (1998) of the electricity produced in Estonia is generated by thermal plants, which burn fossil fuels. Of specific concern are the country's oil-shale burning power plants, which are heavy polluters, especially in the north-east of the country. These power plants, combined with Estonia's chemical factories, paper plants, and other industries, emit very high levels of sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and particulates (tiny solids suspended in the air). These emissions are linked to a decline in health among children and to eutrophication of the Baltic Sea.

Coniferous forests in northern Estonia are damaged by acid rain. In many places, soil and groundwater are contaminated with petroleum products, and many of the country's lakes are polluted with organic waste. The Gulf of Riga is severely polluted by industrial waste. Environmental awareness is strong in Estonia, however. The Estonian government has enacted several environmental measures and has curtailed the expansion of phosphorite mining. The areas of forestry are increasing 1 per cent annually (1990-1996), and 12 per cent (1997) of the country's total land area is designated as protected. The government has ratified international environmental agreements on biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, hazardous wastes, ozone layer protection, ship pollution, and wetlands.

III.

Population

Estonia, with a population of 1,299,371 (2009 estimate), is the smallest republic of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Population density is 30 people per sq km (78 per sq mi). Life expectancy in 2009 was 73 years. About 64 per cent of the people are Estonians. They are ethnically and linguistically close to the Finns. Russians form the largest minority grouping, comprising about 30 per cent of the total population. Other minorities include Ukrainians, Belorussians, Finns, Jews, and Latvians. Before Soviet annexation in 1940, Russians comprised only 8.5 per cent of the total population. They arrived in Estonia during the Stalinist period of large-scale industrialization and resettlement after World War II. Russian employment is confined largely to the industrial sector in Estonia.

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 two-year residency requirement and pass a proficiency exam in Estonian, although language restrictions can be waived for the aged and handicapped. Under a subsequent amendment to these laws, immigrants after April 1, 1995, have to meet a five-year residency requirement before being eligible for citizenship. Former members of the Soviet security apparatus are ineligible for citizenship and therefore unable to vote in parliamentary elections. After the language law was passed, the Russian government complained about human-rights abuses against Russians in Estonia, but a mission sponsored by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) rejected the claims of discrimination after visiting the republic in 1993. In early 2002 President Arnold Rüütel ended the language laws that forbade public office to those who were not proficient in Estonian.

Estonia is highly urbanized. About 70 per cent of the population lives in urban areas, with nearly one third residing in Tallinn, which has a population of 391,000 (2003 estimate). Other important cities include Tartu, population 101,190 (2003 estimate) and Pärnu, 44,781 (2003 estimate). Russians reside in urban areas, especially in the east. Narva, a city of 67,752 (2003 estimate) in the north-eastern corner of the country, is inhabited almost exclusively by Russians. Relations between Estonia and Russia remain tense over unsettled borders along the eastern frontier.

A.

Religion

Lutheranism is the traditional Estonian religion. Other forms of Christianity are also practised in the country.

B.

Language

Estonian is the official language, from the Finno-Ugric language family. It is spoken by the majority of the population. Russian is spoken by almost half of all Estonians, and other languages such as Ukrainian, Finnish, Belorussian, and Latvian are heard.

IV.

Economy

In 2004 Estonia’s gross national product (GNP) was US$9,548 million, equivalent to US$12,830 per head (World Bank estimate). Industry is the leading sector of Estonia’s economy. It accounted for 30 per cent of total gross domestic production (GDP) and about 34 per cent of total employment. Engineering and metalworking are the chief industries, followed in importance by the mining of shale. The shale-processing industry produces artificial gas and chemicals. Other manufactures include cement, textiles (cotton, linen, and wool), car components, and leather goods. Forestry provides material for the paper, timber, plywood, and furniture industries.

A.

Agriculture

Agriculture and forestry together account for 3 per cent of total GDP and about 5 per cent of total employment. Livestock-raising and dairy farming are the chief agricultural activities. Oats, potatoes, and flax are the leading crops.

B.

Manufacturing

Industrial output is highly dependent on a small number of large-scale enterprises, most of which are located in the north. One fifth of all factories account for two thirds of total industrial production. Disruption of trade ties with the former Soviet republics resulted in a 30 per cent decline in industrial production in 1992. Smuggling and reselling underpriced raw materials from Russia has become widespread.

C.

Energy

In the early 1990s Estonian economic independence was challenged by energy price demands from Russia. Estonia relies on Russia to fill about half of its energy needs, a smaller proportion than either of the two other Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania. Nevertheless, the Estonian economy suffered greatly from Russian demands that fossil-fuel shipments be paid for at world prices, and several large factories in Estonia were forced to close. Estonia followed Russia’s example and required hard-currency payment on electricity deliveries to Latvia and Lithuania beginning in 1992.

D.

Currency and Banking

Estonia was the first former Soviet republic to issue its own currency, the kroon, which began circulating in 1992 (11.92 kroons equalled US$1; early 2009). The kroon is backed by gold, including reserves held for Estonia for more than five decades by the United Kingdom, Sweden, and France since Estonia was part of the USSR. The bank of issue is the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank).

E.

Commerce and Trade

Proposals have been made for the construction of a natural-gas pipeline from Norway to Estonia that would cross Sweden and Finland. Since independence Estonia has made considerable progress in boosting its trade with the West. In 1991 over 90 per cent of its trade was with the former Soviet Union and its satellites. In 1994 about 31 per cent of its export trade was with the countries of the EU. Foreign investment jumped to US$139 per capita in 1994, the third highest in Eastern Europe.

V.

Government

Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic, where the parliament (Riigikogu) has a significant influence on the formation of the government and on the election of the president. The present republic of Estonia is a legal successor to the independent republic of the same name that existed from 1918 to 1940. A new constitution was approved by referendum in 1992.

A.

Executive and Legislature

Executive power is vested in a government headed by a prime minister. The prime minister is nominated by the president and needs to be approved by the parliament. The president has limited executive authority, and is elected by the parliament in a secret ballot for a five-year term. The president is head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and may not serve more than two consecutive terms in office. The unicameral national legislative body, the Riigikogu (parliament, state assembly) consists of 101 members, who are elected by proportional representation in a direct popular vote for four-year terms, provided that their party receives more than 5 per cent of total votes cast.

B.

Political Parties

In early 2007 there were over 30 parties and political groupings active in Estonia. The leading parties at the 2007 election were the Estonian Centre Party (Eesti Keskerakond), the conservative Union for the Republic—Res Publica (Ühendus Vabariiqi Eest—Res Publica), and the liberal Estonian Reform Party (Eesti Reformierakond). Other prominent groupings include the conservative Estonian People’s Union (Eestimaa Rahvaliit), the conservative Party Fatherland Union (Erakond Isamaliit), and the social-democratic People’s Party Moderates (Rahvaerakond Mõõdukad).

C.

Judiciary

The highest judicial body in Estonia is the Supreme Court, consisting of 17 members. The chief justice is nominated by the president; the other justices are appointed by the Riigikogu. The Supreme Court, which operates three chambers, dealing with administrative, civil, and criminal law, also acts as the constitutional court. On a local level, justice is administered by district, county, and city courts.

D.

Local Government

Local government is administered through 15 counties, 43 districts (parishes), and 46 townships. Members of local councils are chosen in free popular elections.

E.

International Organizations

Estonia is a member of the following organizations: the United Nations (UN); Council of Europe (CE); the World Trade Organization (WTO); Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS); Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); the Partnership for Peace (PFP); the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); and the European Union (EU). The country is not a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which is comprised of most of the other former Soviet republics.

VI.

History

Estonian tribes called Ests, organized in loosely federated small states, were first mentioned by 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 in 1343-1345, 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 League, which established trading centres 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 the Russian Tsar Peter the Great, then emperor (1721-1725), restored the former privileges of the nobility. Between 1816 and 1819 the Russian Tsar 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 labour 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 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.

A.

Soviet Occupation and Estonia in the USSR

In June 1940, in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 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 towards 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 UN later that month.

B.

Independence

The eastern border with Russia has remained a matter of dispute between Estonia and Russia following Estonia’s independence. Some 5 per cent of Estonian territory was transferred to the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) by the Soviet government in 1945, and Estonian officials began to seek its return in 1991. The Estonian government has issued passports to Estonian speakers in some of the disputed areas, which has prompted Russian officials to accuse Estonia of attempting to annex Russian territory.

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 NATO.

Russian forces withdrew their troops in August 1994. In exchange, Estonia agreed to allow retired Soviet personnel living in Estonia to apply for residency.

The first national parliamentary elections since the re-establishment of independence after the Soviet occupation were held in September 1992, when the centre-right Isamaa (Fatherland) coalition took power. The second general election was held in March 1995, resulting in a coalition of the Estonian Coalition Party (ECP) and Rural People’s Union and the Centre Party. Tiit Vähi, prime minister in 1992, was again elected prime minister, and Edgar Savisaar, who had headed the last Estonian government under the Soviet Union and then became the leader of the Centre Party, became minister for internal affairs. In April 1995 Estonia signed an association agreement with the EU having, for the most part, brought its economy and legislation into line with the requirements of the EU. The 1950 European Convention on Human Rights was ratified by the Estonian legislature in March 1996, a precursor to assuming the presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in May. A long-standing maritime border dispute with Latvia was resolved after negotiations in May, and an agreement was signed in July. A standby credit of about US$20 million to support the government’s economic programme was approved by the IMF in July. President Meri was sworn in for a second term in October, after his September re-election. The ruling coalition government collapsed in November and a new minority government was formed by Prime Minister Vähi in December. Also in 1996, Estonia agreed in principle to Russia's territorial claim on the disputed border territory; nevertheless, the Russian foreign minister, Yevgeny Primakov, refused to sign a border agreement with Estonia in January 1997, and voiced concerns regarding the treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia. In late January the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly voted to end the monitoring procedure for Estonia, having been encouraged by the progress made in the field of human rights. Vähi resigned the premiership in February amid allegations of involvement in improper real estate deals, and the new Cabinet of his successor Mart Siimann was approved by President Meri in March. Russian passports were declared invalid in Estonia in May, forcing those without Estonian citizenship to apply for non-citizens’ passports or to seek alternative citizenship status.

In February 1998 the Supreme Court ruled that amendments to the language law, which had been approved by the legislature in November, were unconstitutional. The amendments would have given the legislature the power to determine the level of skill in the Estonian language required by its members, and were opposed by ethnic Russian deputies in the legislature, who claimed them to be unconstitutional. The legislature voted to abolish the death penalty in March. In November the Riigikogu, the unicameral legislature, banned electoral alliances in a move that was widely agreed would reduce the number of political parties prior to the forthcoming general election, and make it difficult for small parties to gain representation in the legislature. However, several parties concluded a number of agreements in January 1999 on potential co-operation regarding post-election coalitions. The Riigikogu approved further amendments to the state language law that required those working in the state service sector to be proficient in Estonian; some 30 per cent of the population are ethnic Russians and the amendment drew criticisms from the Russian Party. Following the legislative elections, a centre-right coalition of three parties, led by former prime minister Mart Laar, took office in March. Laar, who was premier from 1992 to 1994, pledged to continue the free-market reforms that had been a successful feature of economic policy in the country, in the early post-Soviet years. Also in March 1999, Estonia and Russia started negotiations aimed at resolving their long-standing border dispute.

Political and social developments in 2000 and early 2001 were aimed at further consolidation and economic growth, to facilitate the country’s prospective membership of the European Union (EU) and other international organizations. In March 2000 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) offered Estonia a standby fund to sustain the country’s economic strategies. Evolving social needs were reflected in the emergence of new parties: the Russian Baltic Party was founded in June 2000 by members of the People’s Trust coalition to represent the Russian minority, and three other groupings—the Rural Union, the Rural People’s Party, and the Pensioners and Family Party—merged into a new People’s Union Party. It was announced in March 2001 that a referendum on joining the EU would be held after the completion of accession talks, probably in 2003.

C.

Changes of Government

In September 2001 President Lennart Meri stood down after his second term in office. He was eventually replaced by Arnold Rüütel, who won a majority of electoral college votes and took office in October. One of Rüütel’s first moves was to abolish the language laws that gave preference to native Estonians. In December Prime Minister Mart Laar gave notice of his intention to resign after in-fighting in his Cabinet. Laar, who was serving a second term as prime minister, left office on January 8, 2002. A coalition of Centre and Reform parties agreed to create the new government, with Siim Kallas, a former finance minister, as the new prime minister. Kallas announced his intention to continue the reformist principles of the previous government to smooth Estonia’s entry into the EU in 2004.

Estonia was formally invited to join NATO in November 2002 and the following month was likewise invited to join the European Union in the next wave of expansion in 2004. In the general election of March 2003, Prime Minister Kallas’s Estonian Reform Party came only third in the polls. The joint winners were the Estonian Centre Party and the Res Publica party, each with 28 seats. With no decisive victory, President Rüütel nominated a new prime minister—Juhan Parts, leader of Res Publica—in April. Parliament confirmed the appointment and Rüütel appointed the Cabinet that took office shortly afterwards. In September 2003 Estonian membership of the EU was strongly endorsed in a referendum, with 66.9 per cent of voters supporting the move. In April 2004 the country joined NATO, and in May it became a member of the EU.

Parts submitted the resignation of the coalition government in March 2005. President Rüütel replaced him with Andrus Ansip, the finance minister. In the following May parliament, led by Ansip, ratified the EU constitution, taking a different course to many other EU nations that had failed to ratify the agreement. By a narrow majority of 174 votes to 162 Toomas Hendrik Ilves was chosen by the electoral college in September 2006 to succeed Rüütel as president. In March 2007’s parliamentary elections Ansip’s Reform Party won 31 of the 101 seats, with the Centre Party taking 29 and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union gaining 19. Turnout was reported to be 61 per cent and the elections gained the distinction of being the first in the world to include online voting.