==Geography==
Between 57.3 and 59.5 degrees latitude and 21.5 and 28.1 degrees longitude, Estonia lies on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea on the level, northwestern part of the rising East European platform. Average elevation reaches only 50 meters (160 ft.).
The climate resembles New England's. Oil shale and limestone deposits, along with forests that cover 47% of the land, play key economic roles in this generally resource-poor country. Estonia boasts more than 1,500 lakes, numerous bogs, and 3,794 kilometers of coastline marked by numerous bays, straits, and inlets. Tallinn's Muuga port offers one of Europe's finest warm water harbor facilities.
Estonia's strategic location has precipitated many wars fought on its territory between other rival powers at its expense. In 1944, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) granted Russia the trans-Narva and Petseri regions on Estonia's eastern frontier. Russia and Estonia signed a border treaty in 2005 recognizing the current border. Estonia ratified the treaty in June 2005, but Russia subsequently revoked its signature to the treaty, due to a reference the Estonian Parliament inserted regarding the Peace Treaty of Tartu.
*Area: 45,226 sq. km. (17,462 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined.
*Cities: Capital--Tallinn Capital—Tallinn (2008 pop. 397,617), situated in the north of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Other cities--university cities—university town of Tartu (102,414); the primarily Russian-speaking industrial towns of Narva (66,435) and Kohtla-Järve (45,093) in the north-east of Estonia; Pärnu on the western coast (44,016); and Viljandi in the rural south (20,117). The last population census was held in 2000. *Terrain: Mostly flat, with some undulating terrain in the east and southeast, average elevation 50 m. Steep limestone banks and 1,520 islands mark the coastline. Land use--12use—12.05% arable land, 47.4% forest and woodland, 22% swamps and bogs, 18.55% other. Coastal waters are somewhat polluted.*Climate: Temperate, with four seasons. Annual precipitation averages 50-75 50–75 cm.
==People==
Written with the Latin alphabet, Estonian is the language of the Estonian people and the official language of the country. Estonian is very difficult to learn for English-speakers: it has fourteen cases, which can be a challenge even for skilled linguists. During the Soviet era, the Russian language was imposed for official use.
*Population (2008): 1,340,000.
*Annual growth rate: -0.65%. Birth rate--10rate—10.04/1,000. Death rate--13rate—13.25/1,000. Net migration--3migration—3.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006). Density--31Density—31/sq. km. Urban dwellers--70dwellers—70%.
*Ethnic groups: Estonians 68%, Russians 26%, Ukrainians 2%, Belarusians 1%, Finns 1%, other 2.2%.
*Religions: Evangelical Lutheran; the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox, subordinated to Constantinople; the Estonian Orthodox, subordinated to the Moscow Patriarchate; Baptist.
*Languages (2000 census): Estonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7%.
*Education: Years compulsory--9compulsory—9. Attendance--218Attendance—218,600 students at 550 schools, plus 50,800 university students. Literacy--99Literacy—99.8%. *Health: Infant mortality rate--7rate—7.73 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy--66expectancy—66.3 yrs. men, 77.8 yrs. women.
*Work force: 659,600.
Parliamentary elections take place every four years; members are elected by proportional representation. The most recent elections took place on March 4, 2007. A party must gather at least 5% of the votes to take a seat in Parliament. Citizens 18 years of age or older may vote in parliamentary elections and be members of political parties. In addition, resident non-citizens and those who have lived permanently in the area for at least 5 years preceding the election may vote in local elections, although they may not run for office.
After parliamentary elections, the President traditionally asks the party with the most votes to form a new government. The President chooses the Prime Minister--usually Minister—usually the leader of the largest party or coalition in the Parliament--with Parliament—with the consent of the parliament to supervise the work of the government. The Estonian government has a total of 14 ministers.
At the local level, Estonians elect government councils by proportional representation. The individual councils vary in size, but election laws stipulate minimum size requirements depending on the population of the municipality.
Estonians may vote via the Internet in local and parliamentary elections.
===Political Conditions===
Currently, half a dozen parties represent Estonia's 1.3 million citizens. The Reform Party, the Isamaa and Res Public Union, and the Social Democrats form the current government with 31, 19, and 10 seats in parliament, respectively. Other major parties include the Centre Party, the Estonian Greens, and the People’s Union.
Toomas Hendrik llves (Social Democrat Party), a former Ambassador to the United States, two-time Minister of Foreign Affairs, Estonian parliamentarian, and a former member of the European Parliament, is the President of Estonia. President Ilves narrowly defeated incumbent Arnold Rüütel in an electoral-college vote in September 2006, and he took office on October 9, 2006.
===Principal Government Officials=== *President--Toomas President—Toomas Hendrik Ilves *Prime Minister--Taavi Minister—Taavi Rõivas*Foreign Affairs--Urmas Affairs—Urmas Paet (Reform) *Internal Affairs--Juri Affairs—Juri Pihl (Social Democrats) *Social Affairs--Maret Affairs—Maret Maripuu (Reform)
===Foreign Relations===
==Defense==
Estonia's regular armed forces--the forces—the Estonian Defense Forces--in Forces—in peacetime number about 3,800 (Army 3,300, Navy 300, Air Force 200) persons, of whom about 1,500 are conscripts. The President of Estonia is the Commander in Chief of the Estonian Defense Forces. The National Defense Council, composed of the Chairman of the Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Chief of the Defense Forces, the Defense Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Chairman of the Parliamentary National Defense Committee, advise the President on national defense matters.
Estonia officially became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 29, 2004 after depositing its instruments of treaty ratification in Washington, DC. The United States and Estonia cooperate intensively in the defense and security field.
*Unemployment (2006): 4.5%.
*Natural resources: Oil shale, phosphorus, limestone, blue clay.
*Agriculture (3% of 2006 GDP): Products--livestock Products—livestock production (milk, meat, eggs) and crop production (cereals and legumes, potatoes, forage crops). Arable land--433land—433,100 hectares.*Industry (26% of 2006 GDP): Types--engineeringTypes—engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, and textiles.
*Services (70% of 2006 GDP): Transit, information technology (IT), telecommunications, business services, retail, construction, real estate.
*Trade: Exports (2005)--$7.85 billion. Partners--Finland Partners—Finland 26.5%, Sweden 12.9%, Latvia 8.8%, Russia 6.5%, Germany 6.2%, Lithuania 4.8%. Imports (2005)--$ 10.34 billion. Partners--Finland Partners—Finland 19.8%, Germany 13.8%, Russia 9.4%, Sweden 8.8%, Lithuania 6.1%, Latvia 4.7%.
*Exchange rate (2006): 12.2 kroon (EEK)=U.S.$1.
*Foreign direct investment (June 2006): Sweden 53.3%, Finland 20.3%, Netherlands 2.6%, U.K. 2.5%, Norway 2.5%, U.S. 2.4%, Germany 1.6%, Denmark 1.5%, Russia 1.3%.
The Estonian Finance Ministry predicts that the economy will grow by 8.7% in 2007. This compares with an estimated EU-wide GDP growth rate of 2.1% in 2006 and 2.4% in 2007. The unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2006 was 5.4%, below the EU-wide average of 8.5%.
====Foreign Trade====
Estonia is part of the European Union, and its trade policy is conducted in Brussels.
==History==
====Ancient====
Estonians are one of the longest-settled European peoples and have lived along the Baltic Sea for over 5,000 years. The Estonians were an independent nation until the 13th century A.D. The country was then subsequently conquered by Denmark, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and finally Russia, whose defeat of Sweden in 1721 resulted in the Uusikaupunki Peace Treaty, granting Russia rule over what became modern Estonia.
====First Period of Independence====
Independence remained out of reach for Estonia until the collapse of the Russian empire during [[World War I]]. Estonia declared itself an independent democratic republic in November 1918. In 1920, by the Peace Treaty of Tartu, Soviet Russia recognized Estonia's independence and renounced in perpetuity all rights to its territory.
The first constitution of the Republic of Estonia was adopted in 1920 and established a parliamentary form of government. Estonia's independence would last for 22 years, during which time Estonia guaranteed cultural autonomy to all minorities, including its small Jewish population, an act that was unique in Western Europe at the time.
====Soviet Period====
Leading up to [[World War II]], Estonia pursued a policy of neutrality. However, the Soviet Union forcibly incorporated Estonia as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, in which Nazi Germany gave control of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to the Soviet Union in return for control of much of Poland. In August 1940, the U.S.S.R proclaimed Estonia a part of the Soviet Union as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (E.S.S.R.). The United States never recognized Soviet sovereignty over Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania.
During the course of WWII, Germany occupied Estonia for three years. In 1944, Stalin retook the country and resumed the mass deportations of ethnic Estonians to Siberia that had been initiated in 1941. Together with migration into Estonia from other parts of the Soviet Union, this resulted in the share of ethnic Estonians in the country decreasing from 88% in 1934 to 62% in 1989.
====Re-establishing Independence====
In the late 1980s, looser controls on freedom of expression under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev reignited the Estonians' call for self-determination. By 1988, hundreds of thousands of people were gathering across Estonia to sing previously banned national songs in what became know as the "Singing Revolution."
The introduction of the Estonian kroon in June 1992, with only U.S.$120 million in gold reserves and no internationally backed stabilization fund, proved decisive in stabilizing foreign trade. For stability, the kroon was pegged by special agreement to the deutsche mark (DM) at EKR8 = DM1 and later to the Euro. The new Estonian currency became the foundation for rational development of the economy. Money began to have clear value; the currency supply could be controlled from Tallinn, not Moscow; and long-term investment decisions could be made with greater confidence by both the state and private enterprise. The central bank is independent of the government but subordinate to the parliament. In addition to its president, the bank is managed by a board of directors, whose chair is also appointed by parliament.
The fall of the Soviet Union and the rapid contraction of Estonia's market to the East during the early 1990s caused Estonia's economy to shrink 36% from 1990 to 1994. But economic reforms in Estonia and the ability of its economy to reorient toward the West allowed Estonia's economy to pick up in 1995 with 4.6% growth and 4.0% growth in 1996. Russia's financial crisis in 1999 led to the only year of decline in Estonia's GDP since 1994--but 1994—but the 0.7% decline was relatively small.
The 1994-2004 period was mainly dominated by the Estonian EU and NATO accession processes. Estonia was the first Baltic country to start direct accession talks with the EU. Estonia applied to join the EU in November 1995 and, while participating in accession negotiations, continued its program of major economic and social reforms. This gave Estonia a good opportunity to take into account EU objectives and to exploit the experience of existing EU member states when carrying out reforms. Examples of reform in the social area included the launch of unemployment insurance in 2002 and the 1999 implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which regulates safety and health requirements in the work place as well as the organizational aspects of the occupational health system.