15 Nations Global Tour: Estonia (Stop #10)

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Estonia
Surnames/tags: Notables 15 Nations Tour Estonia

This sub-project is part of the larger 15 Nations Global Tour. Please visit the main project page for details on the goals and objectives of this project.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 History 4 Some Notable Estonians

Geography

Estonia is located by the Baltic Sea in Eastern Europe. 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 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea,

Estonia currently has a total of 79 local governments, including 15 towns and 64 rural municipalities. All municipalities have equal legal status and together form 15 administrative counties.

Separate from administrative units, Estonia also has settlement units: villages, small boroughs, boroughs, and towns. Generally villages have less than 300 people, small boroughs have between 300 and 1000 residents, and borough and town have over 1000 inhabitants.

Estonia's two largest urban areas are the capital city of Tallinn and Tartu.

Demographics

Estonia has a population of 1.3 million people. 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. Between 1945 and 1989, the share of ethnic Estonians in the population residing within the currently defined boundaries of Estonia dropped to 61%, caused primarily by the Soviet occupation and program promoting mass immigration of urban industrial workers from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, as well as by wartime emigration and Joseph Stalin's mass deportations and executions. By 1989, minorities constituted more than one-third of the population. There is also a Roma community in Estonia. Approximately 1,000-1,500 Roma live in Estonia.

The Estonian language is the indigenous and the official language of Estonia, but a recent census determined that more than 100 languages are spoken within the country. About 68% of the country's adult population speaks Estonian as their first language, while more than 30% of the population speaks another language. Russian is the most spoken minority language in Estonia.

Estonia has a diverse religious history. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilizations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Papal-sanctioned Livonian Crusade in the 13th century. The later Protestant Reformation led to the establishment of the Lutheran church in 1686. By the Second World War, Estonia was approximately 80% Protestant - overwhelmingly Lutheran, followed by Calvinist and other Protestant branches. In recent years, Estonia has become increasingly secular and today it is one of the least religious countries in the world, with about 75% of the population claiming to be irreligious. The largest minority groups currently in Estonia are the various Christian denominations, principally Lutherans and Orthodox Christians. Only very small numbers of Estonians adhere to non-Christian faiths, including Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.

History

The region now known as Estonia has been inhabited by Homo sapiens since at least 9,000 BC. Ancient Estonia could be divided into two main cultural areas. The coastal areas of Northern and Western Estonia had close overseas contacts with Scandinavia and Finland, while inland Southern Estonia had more contacts with the Balts and Pskov. After centuries of successive rule by the Teutonic Order, Denmark, Sweden, and the Russian Empire, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the mid-19th century. This culminated in the 24 February 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, but the country was repeatedly contested, invaded and occupied, first by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941. In 1944, Estonia was reoccupied by, and annexed into, the USSR as an administrative subunit (Estonian SSR). Estonia's independence was restored on 20 August 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, Estonia operates as a democratic unitary parliamentary republic.

Modern Estonia has consistently ranked highly in international rankings for quality of life.

Some Notable Estonians

In the below list, columns can be sorted by clicking on the arrow button in any category heading box. A "C" in the final column denotes a Notable who has been successfully connected to the Big Tree. "N/C" stands for Not Connected.

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Status
Adm. Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen	1778	1852	Cartographer and Explorer		Not Connected
Karl Ernst von Baer	1792	1876	Father of Embryology		Connected
Friedrick Reinhold Kreutzwald	1803	1882	Author		Not Connected
Emil Lenz	1804	1865	Electrophysicist		Connected
Konstantin Päts	1874	1914	1st President of Estonia		Connected
A.H. Tammsaare	1878	1940	Writer		Not Connected
Marie Under	1883	1980	Poet		Not Connected
Wolfgang Köhler	1887	1967	Psychologist		Connected
Ernst Öpik	1893	1985	Astronomer		Connected
Alfred Karl Neuland	1895	1966	1st Estonian Olympic Gold Medalist		Connected
Louis Kahn	1901	1974	Architect		Connected
Ester Mägi	1922	2021	First Lady of Estonian Music		Not Connected
Lennart Meri	1929	2006	1st President of Post-Soviet Estonia		Not Connected
Alar Karis	1958	LIVING	Current President of Estonia		Not Connected
Kaja Kallis	1977	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of Estonia		Not Connected