ceres country profile - estonia

7/30/2019 CERES Country Profile - Estonia

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Country in a Box:

Republic of Estonia

Eesti Vabariik

A view of Tallinn, Estonia

A Teachers GuideCompiled by the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European StudiesEdmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown Universityhttp://ceres.georgetown.edu
http://www.ceres.georgetown.edu/http://www.ceres.georgetown.edu/


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Estonia in a Box: Table of Contents

Estonia: Facts at a Glance 3-5

Estonian Political History 6-7

Timeline of Major Events in Modern Estonian

History

8

Estonian Culture 9-10

Childrens Folklore: The White Lady in the Window 11

Additional Resources on Estonia 12

Traditional Estonian dances


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Three equal horizontalbands of blue (top), black,and white; variousinterpretations are linked tothe flag colors; bluerepresents faith, loyalty,and devotion, while alsoreminiscent of the sky, sea,and lakes of the country;black symbolizes the soil ofthe country and the darkpast and suffering of the

Estonian people; whiterefers to the strivingtowards enlightenment andvirtue, and is the color ofbirch back and snow, aswell as summer nightsilluminated by the midnightsun.

Estonia: Facts at a Glance_______Text taken directly from Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook: Estonia. Availableat:https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/en.html

Country Name: Republic of Estonia

Background: After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German,and Russian rule, Estonia attained independence in 1918.Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940an actionnever recognized by the USit regained its freedom in 1991with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the last Russiantroops left in 1994, Estonia has been free to promoteeconomic and political ties with the West. It joined bothNATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Capital: Tallinn

Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulfof Finland, between Latvia and Russia.

Area: total: 45,228 sq km (slightly smaller than New Hampshire andVermont combined)

land: 42,388 sq kmwater: 2,840 sq km (includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea)

Terrain: marshy, lowlands; flat in the north, hilly in the south.

Elevation Extremes: lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 mhighest point: Suur Munamagi 318 m

Natural Resources: oil shale, rare earth elements, phosphorite, clay,limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud.

Natural Hazards: sometimes flooding occurs in the spring.

Environmental Issues: air polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale

burning power plants in northeast; however, the amount of pollutantsemitted to the air have fallen steadily, the emissions of 2000 were 80%less that in 1980; the amount of unpurified wastewater discharged towater bodies in 2000 was 1/20 the level of 1980; in connection with thestart-up of new water purification plants, the pollution load ofwastewater decreased; Estonia has more than 1,400 natural andmanmade lakes, the smaller of which in agricultural areas need to bemonitored; coastal seawater is polluted in certain locations.
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The new Estonian currency isthe euro, adopted in January2011. Taken directly fromhttp://www.bankofestonia.info/frontpage/en/

Population: 1,282,963 (July 2011 est.)

Ethnic Groups: Estonian 68.7%, Russian 25.6%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Belarussian 1.2%, Finn 0.8%,other 1.6% (2008 census)

Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 13.6%, Orthodox 12.8%, other Christian (including Methodist,Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 1.4%, unaffiliated 34.1%, other andunspecified 32%, none 6.1% (2000 census)

Government Type: parliamentary republic

Executive Branch: chief of state: President Toomas Hendrik ILVES (since 9 October 2006);head of government: Prime Minister Taavi Rivas (since 24 March 2014); cabinet: Ministersappointed by the prime minister; elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term(eligible for a second term); if a candidate does not secure two-thirds of the votes after three

rounds of balloting in the Parliament, then an electoral assembly (made up of Parliament plusmembers of local councils) elects the president, choosing between the two candidates with thelargest number of votes; election last held on 29 August 2011 (next to be held in the fall of2016); prime minister nominated by the president and approvedby Parliament

Legislative Branch: unicameral Parliament of Riigikogu (101seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four terms)

Judicial Branch: National Court orRiigikohus

Economy Overview: Estonia, a 2004 European Union entrant,

has a modern market-based economy and one of the higher percapita income levels in Central Europe and the Baltic region.Estonia's successive governments have pursued a free market,pro-business economic agenda and have wavered little in theircommitment to pro-market reforms. The current government hasfollowed relatively sound fiscal policies that have resulted inbalanced budgets and very low public debt. The economy benefitsfrom strong electronics and telecommunications sectors andstrong trade ties with Finland, Sweden, and Germany. Tallinn'spriority has been to sustain high growth rates - on average 8% peryear from 2003 to 2007. Estonia's economy slowed downmarkedly and fell sharply into recession in mid-2008, primarily asa result of an investment and consumption slump following thebursting of the real estate market bubble. GDP dropped nearly14% in 2009, among the world's highest rates of contraction. Asfor 2013 Estonian economy grew by 2.2 percent.
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Rising exports to Sweden and Finland lead an economic recovery in 2010, but unemploymentstands above 17%. Estonia joined the OECD in December 2010 and adopted the euro in January2011.

GDP(purchasing power parity): $24.69 billion (2010 est.)

GDP (composition by sector): Agriculture: 2.7%Industry: 29.1%Services: 68.2% (2010 est.)

Labor Force (by occupation): Agriculture: 2.8%Industry: 22.7%Services: 74.5% (2008)

Industries: engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textiles; information technology,

telecommunications.

Exports(commodities): machinery and electrical equipment 21%, wood and wood products 9%,metals 9%, furniture 7%, vehicles and parts 5%, food products and beverages 4%, textiles 4%,plastics 3%.

Exports(partners): Finland 18.5%, Sweden 17%, Russia 10.4%, Latvia 9.8%, Germany 5.7%,Lithuania 5.3% (2010).

Imports(commodities): machinery and electrical equipment 22%, mineral fuels 18%, chemicalproducts 3%, foodstuffs 6%, plastics 6%, textiles 5%.

Imports(partners): Finland 15.7%, Germany 11.9%, Sweden 11.6%, Latvia 11.5%, Lithuania8.2%, Poland 6.8%, Russia 4.5% (2010)

Debt(external): $22,14 billion (as of 3rdQuarter of 2013 est.)

International Disputes: Russia recalled its signature to the 1996 technical border agreementwith Estonia in 2005, rather than concede to Estonia's appending a prepared unilateraldeclaration referencing Soviet occupation and territorial losses; Russia demands betteraccommodation of Russian-speaking population in Estonia; Estonian citizen groups continue topress for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring thenow divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; as a member statethat forms part of the EU's external border, Estonia must implement the strict Schengen borderrules with Russia.


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The Hanseatic League: Commerce

developed rapidly because Estonia's largerurban centers at the time--Tallinn, Tartu,Prnu, and Narva--were all members of theHanseatic League, an organization establishedby merchants of various, mostly German, citiesto protect their mutual trading interests. Still,foreign rivalries over the strategic Livonianregion began to reemerge in the mid-sixteenthcentury as the fighting capacity of theGermans diminished and that of neighboringMuscovy began to increase. The ensuingtwenty-five-year struggle for control ofLivonia was precipitated by an invasion byIvan IV (the Terrible) (r. 1533-84) in 1558.

History of Estonia_______Text taken directly from the Library of Congresshttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/eetoc.html

Early history: Estonia's struggles for independenceduring the twentieth century were in large part areaction to nearly 700 years of foreign rule. Before1200 the Estonians lived largely as free peasantsloosely organized into parishes (kihelkonnad), which inturn were grouped into counties (maakonnad ). In theearly 1200s, the Estonians and the Latvians came underassault from German crusaders seeking to imposeChristianity. Although the resistance to the TeutonicKnights lasted some twenty years, the lack of acentralized political organization as well as inferior

weaponry eventually brought down the Estonians in1227. The Germans, moving from the south, wereabetted by Danish forces that invaded from the northand captured Tallinn. Together with present-day Latvia,the region became known as Livonia; the Germans andDanes settled down as nobility, and the Estonians wereprogressively subordinated as serfs. During 1343-45 anEstonian peasant uprising against the German andDanish nobility prompted the Danes to relinquish theircontrol of northern Estonia to the Germans. After thisresistance was crushed, the area remained generally

peaceful for two centuries.Under Swedish rule, northern Estonia was

incorporated into the Duchy of Estland. The southern part, together with northern Latvia, becameknown as Livland. This division of Estonian lands would last until 1917. The German-basednobility in both areas retained and even strengthened its position under Swedish suzerainty.Meanwhile, the Estonian peasants saw their situation worsen as more and more of their landwere appropriated by seigniorial estates. Still, during the Swedish era, Estonian education got itsstart with the founding of Tartu University in 1632 and the establishment of the first Estonianparish schools in the 1680s.

In his first attempt to conquer Estland and Livland, during the Great Northern War (1700-09), Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725) met with defeat at Narva at the hands of Sweden's Charles

XII (r. 1697-1718). A second campaign in 1708 resulted in a victory for Russia and acquisitionof a "window to the West." In taking control of Estland and Livland for what would be the next200 years, tsarist Russia recognized the rights and privileges of the local German nobility, whosemembers amounted to only a small fraction of the population. The first real reforms of serfdom,which gave peasants some rights, took place in 1804.

By the mid-nineteenth century, the Estonians were fast developing into an independentsociety and nation. The number of urbanized Estonians had grown considerably, overtaking whathad been German majorities in the cities. Industrialization was also breaking down the old order.
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An Estonian cultural awakening began in the 1850s and 1860s. Political demands for Estonianautonomy found strong expression during the Revolution of 1905, and an All-Estonian Congresswas organized in Tartu that same year.

The Bolshevik takeover in Petrograd in November 1917 extended to Estonia as well, untilGermany occupied Estonia in February 1918. Most of Estonia's other political parties realized

they were caught between the two forces and agreed to begin an active search for outsidesupport. Representatives were sent to the major European capitals to secure Western recognitionof an Estonian declaration of independence. As the Bolsheviks retreated from Tallinn and theGerman occupation army entered the city, the Committee of Elders (or standing body) of theMaapev declared the country independent on February 24, 1918.Independence and the Soviet Period: After three years of de facto autonomy following theRussian revolution in 1917, Estonia became fully independent under the Treaty of Tartu signedwith post-revolutionary Russia in February 1920. A brief period of liberal democracy followed,which ended in 1934 when Prime Minister Konstantin Pats switched to an authoritarian regimein a bloodless coup. Estonia was forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 under the termsof the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of August 1939. A rigged election followed, and the parliament

that resulted declared Estonia one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union on August 6th1940. From July 1941 Estonia was occupied by German forces, but the Soviet Union regainedcontrol of the republic in August 1944.

A more tolerant political atmosphere developed in the late 1980s, as the Soviet president,Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-91), sought glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) inorder to reinvigorate the centrally planned economy. Pro-independence groups came to the forein Estonia. In February 1990 the Estonian Supreme Soviet (the national assembly) called on theSoviet authorities to enter into negotiations with the aim of securing Estonia's independence fromthe Soviet Union. Following an election in March 1990, nationalist groups took control of thestructures of government. Estonia proclaimed full independence on August 20th 1991, followingthe abortive coup against Gorbachev, and the Soviet authorities recognized its independence onSeptember 6th 1991.

Post 1991: Following independence, Estonia rapidlyrestructured its political and economic institutions. A newCouncil of Ministers (government) replaced the rouble withthe Estonian kroon in June 1992. In the same month a newconstitution was adopted by referendum. A CitizenshipLaw adopted in 1992 excluded a sizeable portion of thepopulation, mostly ethnic Russians, who could not prove afamily connection to someone who had been a resident ofEstonia before 1940. Estonia's first government, formedafter the September 1992 election, was led by a 32-year-oldhistorian, Mart Laar. His government created the mostopen, free-market economy of all the former Soviet Unioncountries, and reoriented trade away from Russia towardsFinland and other Western countries. Russia finallywithdrew its remaining troops from Estonian soil in August1994. The economic dislocations and insecurity caused byEstonia's sweeping reforms eroded support for Mr. Laar'sgovernment, which was replaced in 1995 by a left-leaningMart Laar
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coalition. This, however, continued with most of its predecessor's policies.

Timeline of Major Event in Modern Estonian History_______Text taken directly from BBC News. Timeline: Estonia. Available at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1107800.stm

1918- Independence proclaimed.

1934- Prime Minister Konstantin Pats leads bloodless coup and establishes authoritarian rule.

1940August - Estonia incorporated into Soviet Union.

1941- German troops invade.

1944 - Estonia reannexed by the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of Estonians deported toSiberia and Central Asia.

1988 - Popular Front campaigns for democracy. "Singing revolution" brings a third of thepopulation together in a bid for national unity and self-determination.

1991- Communist rule collapses. Soviet government recognizes the independence of the Balticrepublics.

1994 - Russian troops leave. Estonia joins Partnership for Peace, allowing limited militarycooperation with NATO.

2001 October - Former member of the Central Committee of the Soviet-era Communist Party

Arnold Ruutel sworn in as president.

2001 December - President Ruutel signs into law a bill scrapping the requirement for candidatesfor public office to be proficient in the Estonian language.

2004March - Estonia admitted to NATO; May - Estonia is one of 10 new states to join the EU.

2005June - Parliament ratifies border treaty with Russia but defies warnings from Moscow byintroducing amendment referring to Soviet occupation. Russia reacts by withdrawing fromtreaty.

2007February - Parliament passes a law prohibiting the display of monuments glorifying Sovietrule, paving the way for the removal of a controversial Red Army war memorial in Tallinn.

2007April - Authorities remove a controversial Red Army war memorial in Tallinn. One personis killed and more than 40 injured as protesters, mostly ethnic Russians, try to halt the removal.Russia warns of serious consequences.

2011January - Estonia adopts the euro.
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Estonian Culture_______Text taken directly from the World InfoZone.Estonia Information. Available at:http://www.worldinfozone.com/country.php?country=Estonia

FoodTraditional Estonian cuisine includes porridge, soups,stews, casseroles, black pudding, sauerkraut(mulgikapsad), dark rye bread, preserves and pickles.

Main meals consist of meat (chicken, pork, lamb, vealor beef) or fish (eel, cod, herring, plaice and salmon)with vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, beans, beets,carrots, peas and mushrooms.

Dairy products, cheese, eggs, milk, cream and yoghurt,are part of the Estonian diet.

Favorite dessertsare cakes, pastries,

ice cream and fruit: apples, cherries, pears, cranberries,raspberries and strawberries. Honey is used as a sweetener.

Beer and kvass are the traditional drinks and tea and coffeeare popular.

Arts

Johann Koler (1826-1899), an Estonian painter, isconsidered to be the founder of Estonian art. With hisunique and easily recognizable style, depicting city life,Eduard Wiiralt (1898-1954) is no doubt one of the mostinteresting Estonian artists of the twentieth century. AugustWeizenberg (1837-1921), a classical sculptor, was thefounder of Estonian sculpture. Amandus Adamson (1855-1929) was another famous Estonian sculptor, whoseallegorical works reflected his feelings for his country.

The first book containing a text in Estonian was published in1525. The national epic, Kalevipoeg (Son of Kalev), waswritten by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803-1882) inthe mid-nineteenth century. Systematic collection of folkpoetry started more than a hundred years ago, and thecollection is now one of the largest in the world.

Kaneelirullid

(Estonian cinnamon rolls)

Leivasupp rabarbriga(Rhurbarb and rye bread soup)

Johann Koler self-portrait (1859)
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Anton Hansen Tammsaare (1878-1940) is acclaimed asEstonia's greatest writer and Marie Under (1883-1980) isconsidered to be Estonia's greatest modern poet. OtherEstonian authors include Lydia Koidula, Eduard Vilde,

Juhan Liiv, Gustav Suits, Karl Ristikivi, Jaan Kross, JaanKaplinski, Doris Kareva, Juhan Viiding, Viivi Luik andmany others.

Arvo Part, born in 1935, is one of the most frequentlyperformed contemporary composers in the world. In 1970,he produced his original, 'tintinnabulatory' pieces, butachieved his renowned subtlety and world fame with hislarge-scale religious works in his later period.

Folk singing and dancing helped Estonians preserve their

national identity during their country's occupation. In thelate 1980s mass singing demonstrations took place inTallinn and elsewhere in Estonia that gathered hundreds of thousands of people. This was knownas the "Singing Revolution".

Sports

Estonia is a sporting nation. The most popular spectator sport is basketball. Hockey and footballare also played. Some Estonians play football for foreign teams.

Estonians are successful in athletics. Erki Nool won the Gold Medal for the decathalon at theSydney Olympics. Cycling is also popular with Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu a leading internationalcyclist.

Estonians are well known for cross-country skiing,especially Andrus Veerpalu and Kristiina Shmigun.Other winter sports are skating and ice-boating. Turkishbasketball and football are popular team games.

Holidays

Independence from Soviet Russia on 24 February 1918is celebrated as well as Victory Day (over the BalticGerman Landeswehr in the War of Independence 1919)on 23 June. Day of Restoration of Independence on 20August 1991 is also observed.

New Year, Christmas, Easter, Spring Day, Pentecostand St. John's Day are celebrated.

Arvo Part (2008)

Traditional Easter Pashka
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Childrens Folklore: The White Lady on the Window

_______Legend of the White Lady. Available at:http://www.haapsalulinnus.ee/?id=1324

Behind the mysterious walls of Haapsalu Bishop's Castle livesthe most famous Estonian legend - the White Lady. The WhiteLady Festival is dedicated to the legend, taking place everyAugust during the full moon.

According to the legend, a white figure of a woman willappear at the window of the round chapel adjacent to HaapsaluCastle Church - she is only visible during the night.

During the time when Saaremaa was ruled by the bishop, the clergymenhad to lead a virtuous life, but there was one clergyman who had snuck

in a young woman dressed in a choir boy's clothes. The youngster'sgender remained secret for a long time.

When the bishop visited Haapsalu after a long time, he noticedsomething peculiar about the choirboy and had him investigated. In thepresence of all the clergymen, every suspicious room was searched andin the end, found the young woman dressed as a choir boy. The bishopsummoned his council and it was decided that the young woman wouldbe buried alive inside a wall, and the clergyman would be imprisonedand let to die of hunger.

The young woman was thus placed inside a crevice in the wall, she was given some bread andwater, and then the wall was closed up. For some time, inhabitants of the castle could hear herpleas and cries, and since then a white female figure appears in the window every full moon.
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Select Bibliography of Sources on Estonia

Aalto, Pami. 2003. Constructing post-Soviet geopolitics in Estonia. London: Frank Cass.

Estonia: implementing the EU accession agenda. Washington,

D.C.: World Bank.

Council of Europe, and European Steering Committee for Intergovernmental Co-operation in theYouth Field. 2001. Youth policy in Estonia: report by an international group of experts appointedby the Council of Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Pub.http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/Source/IG_Coop/YP_Estonia_en.pdf.

Geistlinger, Michael, and Aksel Kirch. 1995.Estonia--a new framework for the Estonian majority

and the Russian minority. Wien: Braumuller.

Kasekamp, Andres. 2000. The radical right in interwar Estonia. Houndmills, Basingstoke,

Hampshire: Macmillan Press. Raun.

Laar, Mart. 2002.Estonia: little country that could. London: Centre for Research into Post-Communist Economies.

Miljan, Toivo. 2004.Historical dictionary of Estonia. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.

Open Society Institute. 1997.Estonia and Latvia: citizenship, language and conflict prevention, aspecial report. New York: Open Society Institute.

Rausing, Sigrid. 2004.History, memory, and identity in post-Soviet Estonia: the end of a

collective farm. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Reutersward, Anders, and Veerle Slootmaekers. 2010. OECD reviews of labour market andsocial policies . Estonia. Paris: OECD.

Smith, David J. 2001.Estonia: independence and European integration. London: Routledge.

Subrenat, Jean-Jacques. 2004.Estonia: identity and independence. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Taagepera, Rein. 1993.Estonia: return to independence. Boulder: Westview Press.

Toivo U. 2001.Estonia and the Estonians. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press, StanfordUniversity.

Statistics Estonia,Ministry of Finance of Estoniahttp://www.stat.ee/ (accessed on September 7, 2014)
http://www.stat.ee/http://www.stat.ee/http://www.stat.ee/

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