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Estonia

The Republic of Estonia is located at the Baltic region in the Northern Europe. The nation is bordered by Finland across the Gulf of Finland to the north, Sweden to the west, Latvia to the south, and the Russian Federation to the east. Estonia is bounded by the Gulf of Finland to the north, the Baltic Sea to the northwest, the Gulf of Riga to the west. Apart from the main land of Estonia, it has several islands and islets in its territory. The largest islands are Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Estonia is a member of the United Nations, the European Union and of NATO. The literacy rate is almost 100%.

HISTORY:- The Vikings, Danes, Swedes, and Russians invaded the land before 13th century. Northern Estonia was ruled by the Danes power and the southern Estonia was ruled by the German Teutonic knights. In 1346, the Denmark Empire sold the northern part to the Germans. Russia invaded the country in 1481 and 1558, both of which were in vain. The German knights introduced serfdom to the land. During the Livonian War in 1561, the northern part came under Sweden and the southern part came under Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1625, entire Estonia was reigned by the Swedish Empire. In the Great Northern War, Estonian control was switched over from Sweden to Russia. In 1816, serfdom was abolished from Estonia. In 1918, Estonia declared independence. The Russian gained control over the region during the World War II, and the nation included in USSR as the 16th republic in 1940. The German Red Army occupied Estonia in 1941. The Russian troop regained the control over Estonia in 1944. United States, United Kingdom and other western powers declared USSR’s annexation over Estonia illegal. Finally on 20th August, 1991, Estonia became independent.

GEOGRAPHY:- Estonia is located at 59 00 N, 26 00 E in Eastern Europe. The country occupies total 45,226 sq km area on the surface of the world in which 43,211 sq km is land area. The coastline is 3,794 km long along with the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Riga and Gulf of Finland. The lowest point is Baltic Sea (0 m) and the highest point is Suur Munamagi (318 m). The nation possesses over 1,400 lakes in which Lake Peipus is the largest. The country is mostly consisted of marshy, lowlands. The northern region is flat and the southern region is hilly.

CLIMATE:- The climate of Estonia is mostly maritime, with wet, moderate winters and cool summers.

GOVERNMENT:- Estonia is a parliamentary republic. The constitution is adopted on 28th June 1992. The legal system is based on the civil law system. The three major branches of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the President (chief of state), the Prime minister (head of government), cabinet. The cabinet ministers are appointed by the Prime minister with the approval of the Parliament. The Parliament also appoints the President. The Prime minister is appointed by the President with the approval of the Parliament.

Legislative branch comprises the unicameral Parliament (101 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the National Court.

6 prominent political parties to represent in the Parliament are Estonian Reform Party, Pro Patria-Res Publica Union, Estonian People's Union, Estonian Social Democratic Party and the Estonian Greens. Suffrage is universal at the age of 18.

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Estonia is composed of 15 counties.

CULTURE:- Jaan Kross and Jaan Kaplinski are the most famous contemporary writers of Estonia. The Estonian Song Festival is the largets festival. Folklores like regilaulud and regivärss are also popular. The cuisine comprises simple peasant foods. Black bread, pork, potatoes and dairy products are the most popular foods of Estonia.

ECONOMY:- Estonia has a market based economy and it has one of the highest per capita incomes among central European nations. The World Bank ranks the nation as the high income country.

GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $23.35 billion; per capita $21,800.

Real growth rate: 7.3%.

Inflation: 6.3%.

Unemployment: 5%.

Arable land: 12.05%.

Agriculture: potatoes, vegetables; livestock and dairy products; fish.

Labor force: 688,000; industry 20%, agriculture 11%, services 69% (1999 est.).

Budget:

Revenues: $7.854 billion

Expenditures: $7.171 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 3.4% of GDP (2007 est.)

Debt - external: $23.08 billion (30 June 2007)

Industries: engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textile; information technology, telecommunications.

Natural resources: oil shale, peat, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud.

Exports: $11.31 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment 33%, wood and paper 15%, textiles 14%, food products 8%, furniture 7%, metals, chemical products (2001).

Imports: $14.71 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment 33.5%, chemical products 11.6%, textiles 10.3%, foodstuffs 9.4%, transportation equipment 8.9% (2001).

Major trading partners: Finland, Sweden, Germany, Latvia, Russia, Lithuania, U.S., Gibraltar (2006).

Monetary unit: Kroon

LANGUAGE:- Estonian is the official language spoken by 67% of the Estonian population. Russian is spoken by 30%.

CITIES:- The capital Tallinn is the largest city. Tartu, Narva, Kohtla-Järve, Pärnu and Viljandi are other major cities.

POPULATION:- The estimated population of Estonia is 1,315,912 with growth rate of –0.6%.

Density per sq mi: 76

Literacy: 100% (2003 est.)

RACE:-

Estonian 67.9%

Russian 25.6%

Ukrainian 2.1%

Belorussian 1.3%

Finn 0.9%

Other 2.2% (2000)

RELIGION:-

Evangelical Lutheran 13.6%

Orthodox 12.8%

Other Christian (including Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 1.4%

Unaffiliated 34.1%

Other and unspecified 32%

None 6.1% (2000 census)

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 10.28 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 13.35 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 7.45 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.56 years

Total fertility rate: 1.42 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 846

UNICEF:- Child nutrition, education, children and women protection are some of the priorities of UNICEF in Estonia.

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: total: 968 km (2006).

Highways: total: 56,856 km; paved: 13,384 km (including 99 km of expressways); unpaved: 43,472 km (2004).

Waterways: 500 km (2003).

Pipelines: gas 859 km (2007)

Ports and harbors: Kopli, Kuivastu, Muuga, Tallinn, Virtsu.

Airports: 19 (2007); paved runways: total: 12; unpaved runways: total: 7.

Heliports: 1 (2007)

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