Global InformationEstonia information
Republic of Estonia Eesti Vabariik (Estonian) | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Anthem: Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm (English: "My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy"[1]) | |
![Location of Estonia (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [Legend]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/EU-Estonia.svg/250px-EU-Estonia.svg.png) Location of Estonia (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) | |
| Capital and largest city | Tallinn 59°25′N 24°45′E / 59.417°N 24.750°E |
| Official language | Estonian |
| Recognized languages |
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| Ethnic groups (2023[2]) |
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| Religion (2021[3]) |
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| Demonym(s) | Estonian |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic |
• President | Alar Karis |
• Prime Minister | Kaja Kallas |
• President of the Parliament | Lauri Hussar |
| Legislature | Riigikogu |
| Independence from Russia and Germany | |
• Declaration of independence | 23–24 February 1918 |
• Joined the League of Nations | 22 September 1921 |
• German and Soviet occupations | 1940–1991 |
• Independence restored | 20 August 1991 |
• Joined the European Union | 1 May 2004 |
| Area | |
• Total | 45,335[4] km2 (17,504 sq mi) (129thd) |
• Water (%) | 4.6 |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate |  1,373,101[5] |
• 2021 census | 1,331,824[6] |
• Density | 30.3/km2 (78.5/sq mi) (148th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total |  $60.997 billion[7] (113th) |
• Per capita | $47,383[7] (41st) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $41.799 billion[7] (102nd) |
• Per capita | $33,018[7] (36th) |
| Gini (2021) |  30.6[8]medium |
| HDI (2022) | 0.899[9] very high (31st) |
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +372 |
| ISO 3166 code | EE |
| Internet TLD | .ee |
| |
Estonia,[a] officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Europe. Located in Northern Europe that has also been classified as Central or Eastern Europe.[b] 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. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea,[4] covering a total area of 45,335 square kilometres (17,504 sq mi). Tallinn, the capital city, and Tartu are the two largest urban areas of the country. The Estonian language is the indigenous and official language of Estonia; it is the first language of the majority of its population, the world's second-most spoken Finnic language as well as the third-most spoken Uralic language.
The land of what is now modern Estonia has been inhabited by humans since at least 9,000 BCE. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Papal-sanctioned Livonian Crusade in the 13th century.[14] 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, however the country was repeatedly contested, invaded, and occupied; first by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and was ultimately reoccupied in 1944 by, and annexed into, the USSR as an administrative subunit (Estonian SSR). Throughout the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation,[15] Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile. Following the bloodless Estonian "Singing Revolution" of 1988–1990, the nation's de facto independence from the Soviet Union was restored on 20 August 1991.
Estonia is a developed country, with a high-income advanced economy, ranking 31st (out of 191) in the Human Development Index.[16] The sovereign state of Estonia is a democratic unitary parliamentary republic, administratively subdivided into 15 maakond (counties). With a population of just around 1.4 million, it is one of the least populous members of the European Union, the Eurozone, the OECD, the Schengen Area, and NATO. Estonia has consistently ranked highly in international rankings for quality of life,[17] education,[18] press freedom, digitalisation of public services[19][20] and the prevalence of technology companies.[21]
- ^ "National anthem of the Republic of Estonia". Eesti.ee. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Rv0222U: Population by Sex, Ethnic Nationality and County, 1 January".
- ^ "Estonia Census 2021". Statistics Estonia. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Estonia gains 95 islands, but loses 4 square kilometers with updated map". ERR. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ "Estonia's population grew in 2023". 2 January 2024.
- ^ "Population census: Estonia's population and the number of Estonians have grown". Statistics Estonia. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Estonia)". International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income". EU-SILC survey. Eurostat. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "United Nations Statistics Division- Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)-Geographic Regions". Unstats.un.org.
- ^ "Estonia - EU Vocabularies - Publications Office of the EU". op.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ Directorate, OECD Statistics. "OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms - Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) Definition". stats.oecd.org.
- ^ "Estonia". CIA World Factbook. 24 December 2023.
- ^ "Country Profile – LegaCarta". Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ See, for instance, position expressed by European Parliament, which condemned "the fact that the occupation of these formerly independent and neutral States by the Soviet Union occurred in 1940 following the Molotov/Ribbentrop pact, and continues." European Parliament (13 January 1983). "Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania". Official Journal of the European Communities. C 42/78.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2020: Estonia" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2020.
- ^ "Estonia (Ranked 21st)". Legatum Prosperity Index 2020.
- ^ "Pisa rankings: Why Estonian pupils shine in global tests". BBC News. 2 December 2019.
- ^ "Estonia among top 3 in the UN e-Government Survey 2020". e-Estonia. 24 July 2020.
- ^ Harold, Theresa (30 October 2017). "How A Former Soviet State Became One Of The World's Most Advanced Digital Nations". Alphr. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Number of start-ups per capita by country". 2020.stateofeuropeantech.com.
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