Demography of Estonia. Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands

The name "Eesti," or Estonia, could be derived from the word "Aestii," the name given by the ancient Germanic people to the peoples living northeast of the Vistula River. The Roman historian Tacitus in 98 A.D. was the first to mention the "Aestii" people, and early Scandinavians called the land south of the Gulf of Finland Eistland, and the people eistr. Estonian and Finnish are very closely related, belonging to the same Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric language family. Although closely related, the two languages are not really mutually intelligible, although educated native speakers can read the other language with a greater or lesser degree of understanding. Both Estonian and Finnish are distantly related to the Ugric Hungarian language.

Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries and Germany stemming from the strong cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Danish, German and Swedish rule and settlement. This highly literate society places strong emphasis upon education, which is free and compulsory until age 16. The first known book in Estonian was printed in 1525.

Written with the Latin alphabet, Estonian is the language of the Estonian people and the official language of the country. One-third of the standard vocabulary is derived from adding suffixes to root words. The oldest known examples of written Estonian originate in 13th century chronicles. During the Soviet era, the Russian language was imposed in parallel to, and often instead of, Estonian in official use.

Between 1945 and 1989 the share of ethnic Estonians in the population resident within currently defined boundaries of Estonia dropped from 96% to 61%, caused primarily by the Soviet program promoting mass immigration of urban industrial workers from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, as well as by wartime emigration and Stalin's mass deportations and executions. In the decade following the reconstitution of independence, large scale emigration by ethnic Russians and the removal of the Russian military bases in 1994 caused the proportion of ethnic Estonians in Estonia to increase from 61% to 69% in 2006.

Modern Estonia is a fairly ethnically heterogeneous country, but this heterogeneity is not a feature of much of the country as the non-Estonian is concentrated in two of Estonia's counties. 13 of Estonia's 15 counties are over 80 percent ethnic Estonian, the most homogeneous being Hiiumaa, where Estonians account for 98.4% of the population. In the counties of Harju (including the capital city, Tallinn) and Ida-Viru, however, ethnic Estonians make up 60% and 20% of the population, respectively. Russians make up 25.6% of the total population, but account for 36% of the population in Harju county, and 70% of the population in Ida-Viru county.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

• 1,342,409 (official, January 1, 2007)
• 1,408,556 (July 2003 estimate)
• 1,431,471 (July 2000 estimate)
• 1,376,743 (last census March 31, 2000)
• 1,356,045 (official, January 1, 2003)

Age structure

• 0-14 years: 15.2% (male 103,367 female 97,587)
• 15-64 years: 67.6% (male 427,043; female 468,671)
• 65 years and over: 17.2% (male 75,347; female 152,318) (2006 est.)

Population growth rate

• -0.64% (2006 est.)

Births and deaths

Net migration rate

• -3.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio

• at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.84 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate

• 7.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

• total population: 72.04 years
• male: 66.58 years
• female: 77.83 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate

• 1.4 children born/woman (2006)

Nationality

• noun: Estonian(s)
• adjective: Estonian

Ethnic groups

Estonian 68.6%, Russian 25.6%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Belarusian 1.2%, Finn 0.8%, other 1.6% (2007)

The below table was taken from 2000 census. [1]

Religion

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,¹ 16% of Estonian citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 54% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 26% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force". This, according to the survey, would have made Estonians the most non-religious people in the then 25-member European Union. Historically, however, Estonia used to be a stronghold of Lutheranism due to its strong links to the Nordic countries.

Less than a third of the population define themselves as believers, of those the majority are Lutheran, whereas the Russian minority is Eastern Orthodox. Ancient equinoctial traditions are held in high regard. Today, about 32 % of the population are members of a church or religious group, thereof:

• 14.8 % Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
• 13.9 % Estonian Orthodox Church
• ca. 10,000 Muslims
• ca. 6,000 Baptists
• ca. 3,500 Roman Catholics

There are also a number of smaller Protestant, Jewish, and Buddhist groups.

Languages

Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Võro, English, Finnish, German, Livonian and others.

Literacy

• age 7 and over can read and write
• total population: 100% (1998 est.)

See also

• Estonianization

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Demographics of Estonia

• Baltic Germans
• Estonian Swedes
• History of Russians in Estonia
• Võros