Overview
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country located in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. The country is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Russia. Estonia's territory consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea.
Geography and Major Cities
The capital city of Tallinn, along with the city of Tartu, are Estonia's two largest urban areas. Estonia is one of the least populous member states of the European Union, with a population of nearly 1.4 million people.
Language and Population
The Estonian language, which belongs to the Finnic family, is the official language and the first language of the majority of the population.
Government and Economy
Estonia is a developed country with a high-income, advanced economy and is a member of the Eurozone. The country operates as a democratic unitary parliamentary republic, with a single-tier local government system consisting of 79 municipalities. Estonia ranks very high in international assessments for education, human development, press freedom, online public services, and is among the least corrupt countries in the world.
History
Ancient Settlement and Prehistory
Present-day Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. The oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which dates to the early 9th millennium BC, making it at least 11,000 years old. Early human habitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to the Kunda culture, while Neolithic ceramics of the Narva culture appeared around 5300 BC.
The Corded Ware culture, which introduced primitive farming and animal husbandry, began approximately 2800 BC. The first hillfort settlements were established in the Bronze Age, and a transition from hunter-fisher subsistence to single-farm-based settlement started around 1000 BC and was complete by around 500 BC.
The Viking Age
The Estonian coast served as a key trade hub and was both a target and starting point for numerous raids. Coastal Estonians, particularly the Saaremaa islanders, adopted a Viking lifestyle. Medieval Estonia was divided into eight major counties – Harjumaa, Järvamaa, Läänemaa, Revala, Saaremaa, Sakala, Ugandi, and Virumaa – which operated independently and formed only loose defensive alliances.
Christianisation and the Middle Ages
The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilizations in Europe to adopt Christianity. Following the declaration of a crusade by Pope Innocent III in 1199, the crusading German Swordbrothers started campaigning against Estonians in 1208. After years of raids and counter-raids, northern Estonia was conquered by the armies of King Valdemar II of Denmark in the Battle of Lyndanisse (Tallinn) in 1219. In 1227, Saaremaa became the last Estonian county to surrender and convert to Christianity.
In the 13th century, the newly Christian territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia was named Terra Mariana, later known as Livonia. North Estonia became part of the Kingdom of Denmark, while the rest was divided between the Swordbrothers and prince-bishops. In 1236, the Swordbrothers merged into the Teutonic Order as its regional branch, the Livonian Order. By 1346, the Teutonic Order had acquired the Estonian lands from the king of Denmark.
Tallinn, the capital of Danish Estonia, adopted the Lübeck law and received full town rights in 1248. The Hanseatic League controlled Baltic Sea trade, and four major Estonian cities became members: Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, and Viljandi.
Foreign Rule and Independence
After centuries of foreign rule by the Teutonic Order, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and the Russian Empire, a distinct Estonian national identity gained new momentum with the Age of Awakening in the mid-19th century. This culminated in the 1918 Estonian Declaration of Independence.
Estonia remained democratic throughout most of the interwar period but declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II. However, the country was repeatedly invaded and occupied, and ultimately annexed into the Soviet Union. Throughout the de facto Soviet occupation from World War II until 1991, Estonia's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile.
Following the 1988–1990 "Singing Revolution" against Soviet rule, full independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Estonia joined both NATO and the European Union in 2004.