Statistics

National name: Eesti

President: Lennart Meri (1992)

Prime Minister: Mart Laar (1999)

Area: 17,462 sq mi (45,226 sq km)

Population (2001 est.): 1,423,316 (average annual rate of natural increase: �0.5%); birth rate: 8.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.6/1000; density per sq mi: 82

Capital and largest city (1992 est.): Tallinn, 471,608

Other large city (1992 est.): Tartu, 113,400

Monetary unit: Kroon

Languages: Estonian (official), Russian, Finnish, English

Ethnicity/race: Estonian 61.5%, Russian 30.3%, Ukrainian 3.2%, Belorussian 1.8%, Finn 1.1%, other 2.1% (1989)

Religions: Lutheran 78%, Orthodox 19%

Literacy: 100% (1989)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (1999 est.): $7.9 billion; per capita $5,600. Real growth rate: �0.5%. Inflation: 3.7%. Unemployment: 11.7%. Arable land: 25%. Agriculture: potatoes, fruits, vegetables; livestock and dairy products; fish. Labor force: 785,500; industry, 20%; agriculture and forestry, 11%; services, 69%. Industries: oil shale, shipbuilding, phosphates, electric motors, excavators, cement, furniture, clothing, textiles, paper, shoes, apparel. Natural resources: shale oil (kukersite), peat, phosphorite, amber, cambrian blue clay, limestone, dolomite, arable land. Exports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1999): machinery and appliances, wood products, textiles, food products, metals, chemical products. Imports: $3.4 billion (f.o.b., 1999): machinery and appliances, foodstuffs, chemical products, metal products, textiles. Major trading partners: Sweden, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Germany, U.S.

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 476,078 (yearend 1998); mobile cellular: 246,000 (yearend 1998). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3 (all AM stations inactive since July 1998), FM 82, shortwave 1 (1998). Radios: 1.01 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 31 (plus five repeaters) (September 1995). Televisions: 605,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (1999).

Transportation: Railways: total: 1,018 km common carrier lines only; does not include dedicated industrial lines (1995). Highways: total: 49,480 km; paved: 10,935 km (including 75 km of expressways); unpaved: 38,545 km (1998 est.). Waterways: 320 km perennially navigable. Ports and harbors: Haapsalu, Kunda, Muuga, Paldiski, Parnu, Tallinn. Airports: 5 (1997 est.).l

International disputes: Estonian and Russian negotiators reached a technical border agreement in December 1996 which has not been signed or ratified as of 1 January 2000.

Geography

Estonia is mainly a lowland country that borders on the Baltic Sea. It has numerous lakes and forests and many rivers, most draining northward into the Gulf of Finland or eastward into Lake Peipus. Lake Peipus is Estonia's largest lake and is important to the fishing and shipping industries.

Parliamentary democracy.

Born out of World War I, this small Baltic state enjoyed a mere two short decades of independence before it was absorbed again by its powerful neighbor, the Soviet Union. Estonians were able to resist assaults by Vikings, Danes, Swedes, and Russians before the 13th century. In 1346 the Danes, who possessed northern Estonia, sold the land to the Teutonic Knights of Germany, who already possessed Livonia (southern Estonia and Latvia). The Teutonic Knights reduced the Estonians to serfdom. In 1526, the Swedes took over, and the power of the German (Balt) landowning class was reduced. But after 1721, when Russia succeeded Sweden as the ruling power under the Peace of Nystad, the Estonians were subject to a double bondage�the Balts and the czarist officials. The oppression lasted until the closing months of World War I, when Estonia finally achieved independence after a victorious war (1918�20). Shortly after the start of World War II, the nation was occupied by Russian troops and incorporated as the 16th republic of the USSR in 1940. Germany occupied the nation from 1941 to 1944, when it was retaken by the Soviets.

Estonia declared independence from the Soviet Union in March 1990. Soviet resistance ensued, but by 1991, after recognition by European and other countries, the Soviet Union acknowledged Estonian nationhood on Sept. 6, 1991. UN membership followed on Sept. 17, 1991. The newly independent nation embraced free-market reforms. Fueled by foreign investments, economic advances continued unabated in 1997. This prompted the European Commission (EC) to recommend that Estonia begin accession talks for membership in the European Union.

At the end of 1998, Estonia relaxed the strict citizenship requirements that kept the country's Russian speakers�about one-third of the population�from gaining citizenship. This reform eased the way for Estonia's bid for entry into the European Union. But Prime Minister Laar's measures to privatize the railroads and power plants have been unpopular, and have dampened the country's support for EU membership.

See Also: Statistical Office of Estonia www.stat.ee/

(this website was designed using Microsoft Notepad, and is best viewed using a computer of some kind.) - Alex Martindale, for Kerry McGregor, 7/11/2001