"text":"After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian rule, Estonia attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US and many other countries - it regained its freedom in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the last Russian troops left in 1994, Estonia has been free to promote economic and political ties with the West. It joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004, formally joined the OECD in late 2010, and adopted the euro as its official currency on 1 January 2011."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia"
"text":"Orthodox 16.2%, Lutheran 9.9%, other Christian (including Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 2.2%, other 0.9%, none 54.1%, unspecified 16.7% (2011 est.)"
"text":"air polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale burning power plants in northeast; however, the amounts of pollutants emitted into the air have fallen dramatically and the pollution load of wastewater at purification plants has decreased substantially due to improved technology and environmental monitoring; Estonia has more than 1,400 natural and manmade lakes, the smaller of which in agricultural areas need to be monitored; coastal seawater is polluted in certain locations"
"text":"the Estonian name is generally believed to be derived from \"Taani-linn\" (originally meaning \"Danish castle\", now \"Danish town\") after a stronghold built in the area by the Danes; it could also have come from \"tali-linn\" (\"winter castle\" or \"winter town\") or \"talu-linn\" (\"home castle\" or \"home town\")"
"text":"24 February 1918 (from Soviet Russia); 20 August 1991 (declared from the Soviet Union); 6 September 1991 (recognized by the Soviet Union)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Independence Day, 24 February (1918); note - 24 February 1918 was the date Estonia declared its independence from Soviet Russia and established its statehood; 20 August 1991 was the date it declared its independence from the Soviet Union restoring its statehood"
"text":"proposed by at least one-fifth of Parliament members or by the president of the republic; passage requires three readings of the proposed amendment and a simple majority vote in two successive memberships of Parliament; passage of amendments to the \"General Provisions\" and \"Amendment of the Constitution\" chapters requires at least three-fifths majority vote by Parliament to conduct a referendum and majority vote in a referendum; amended several times, last in 2015"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"civil law system"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Estonia"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"no"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"5 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal; age 16 for local elections"
"text":"<p>president indirectly elected by Parliament for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); if a candidate does not secure two thirds of the votes after 3 rounds of balloting, then an electoral college consisting of Parliament members and local council members elects the president, choosing between the 2 candidates with the highest number of votes; if a president is still not elected, the process begins again; election last held on 30-31 August 2021 (next to be held in 2026); prime minister nominated by the president and approved by Parliament</p>"
"text":"<em><br>2021</em>: Alar KARIS (independent) elected president; second round of voting in parliament with 72 of 101 votes<br><br><em>2016</em>: Kersti KALJULAID elected president with 81 of 98 votes in parliament (17 ballots blank) in the sixth round of voting; KALJULAID sworn in on 10 October - first female head of state of Estonia"
"text":"unicameral Parliament or Riigikogu (101 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by open- list proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)"
"text":"<em><br>2023:</em> percent of vote by party - Reform 31.2%, EKRE 16.1%, Center 15.3%, E200 13.3%, SDE 9.3%, Pro Patria 8.2%, Left 2.4%, Right 2.3%, Greens 1.0%; seats by party - Reform 37, EKRE 17, Center 16, E200 14, SDE 9, Pro Patria 8; composition - men 71, women 30, percent of women 29.7%"
"text":"Supreme Court (consists of 19 justices, including the chief justice, and organized into civil, criminal, administrative, and constitutional review chambers)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"the chief justice is proposed by the president of the republic and appointed by the Riigikogu; other justices proposed by the chief justice and appointed by the Riigikogu; justices appointed for life"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"circuit (appellate) courts; administrative, county, city, and specialized courts"
"text":"Center Party of Estonia (Keskerakond) or K [Juri RATAS]<br>Estonia 200 [Kristina KALLAS]<br>Estonian Conservative People's Party (Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond) or EKRE [Martin HELME]<br>Estonian Greens (Greens/EFA) [Marko KAASIK & Johanna Maria TOUGU]<br>Estonian Reform Party (Reformierakond) or RE [Kaja KALLAS]<br>Pro Patria (Isamaa) [Helir-Valdor SEEDER]<br>Social Democratic Party or SDE [Lauri LAANEMETS]"
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white; various interpretations are linked to the flag colors; blue represents faith, loyalty, and devotion, while also reminiscent of the sky, sea, and lakes of the country; black symbolizes the soil of the country and the dark past and suffering endured by the Estonian people; white refers to the striving towards enlightenment and virtue, and is the color of birch bark and snow, as well as summer nights illuminated by the midnight sun"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"barn swallow, cornflower; national colors: blue, black, white"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Mu isamaa, mu onn ja room\" (My Native Land, My Pride and Joy)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1920, though banned between 1940 and 1990 under Soviet occupation; the anthem, used in Estonia since 1869, shares the same melody as Finland's but has different lyrics"
"text":"advanced service-based EU and OECD economy; regional trade and telecommunications leader; recently rejected Baltic sea rail tunnel from Tallinn to Helsinki; flat income taxation; substantial welfare system; balanced budget culture; business-friendly climate"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities, including sub-sectors of central government, state government, local government, and social security funds"
"text":"the competitive telecom market continues to progress with a range of regulatory measures which have enabled alternative operators to chip away at the fixed-line market share; fixed-line infrastructure upgrades have been focused on fiber, and the legacy DSL network has gradually been replaced; limited commercial 5G deployments have been made though an expansion of service availability awaits the delayed auction of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band, which is expected to be held later in 2021 (2021)"
"text":"country code - 372; landing points for the EE-S-1, EESF-3, Baltic Sea Submarine Cable, FEC and EESF-2 fiber-optic submarine cables to other Estonia points, Finland, and Sweden; 2 international switches are located in Tallinn (2019)"
"text":"the publicly owned broadcaster, Eesti Rahvusringhaaling (ERR), operates 3 TV channels and 5 radio networks; growing number of private commercial radio stations broadcasting nationally, regionally, and locally; fully transitioned to digital television in 2010; national private TV channels expanding service; a range of channels are aimed at Russian-speaking viewers; in 2016, there were 42 on-demand services available in Estonia, including 19 pay TVOD and SVOD services; roughly 85% of households accessed digital television services"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"Estonia operates two PC 5 or 6 class icebreakers in the Baltic Sea<br>note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 5 - year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 70-120 cm); PC 6 - summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 30-70 cm)"
"text":"Estonian Defense Forces: Land Forces, Navy, Air Force, Estonian Defense League (Reserves)<br><br>Ministry of Interior: Police, Border Guard Board, Internal Security Service (2023)"
"note":"<strong>note: </strong>the Estonian Defense Forces rely largely on reservists who have completed compulsory conscription in the previous 10 years to fill out its active duty and Territorial Defense units during a crisis; there are more than 40,000 trained reservists and approximately 230,000 Estonians are enrolled in the mobilization registry"
"text":"the Estonian military has a mix of Soviet-era and some more modern equipment, mostly from western European suppliers, as well as Israel, South Korea, and the US (2023)"
"text":"18-27 for compulsory military or governmental service for men; conscript service requirement 8-11 months depending on education; non-commissioned officers, reserve officers, and specialists serve 11 months; women can volunteer, and as of 2018 could serve in any military branch (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> conscripts comprise approximately 3,000-3,300 of the Estonian military's 7,000 active-duty personnel and serve in all branches, except for the Air Force; after conscript service, reservists are called up for training every 5 years; Estonia has had conscription since 1991<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> in 2020, women comprised about 10% of the full-time professional military force; the National Defense League includes a Women's Voluntary Defense Organization of about 3,000 members"
"text":"the Estonian military is a compact force that relies heavily on conscripts and reservists and the support of its NATO allies; Estonia’s defense policy aims to guarantee the country’s independence and sovereignty, protect its territorial integrity, including waters and airspace, and preserve constitutional order; Estonia’s main defense goals are developing and maintaining a credible deterrent to outside aggression and ensuring the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) can fulfill their commitments to NATO and interoperate with the armed forces of NATO and EU member states; the EDF’s primary external focus is Russia; since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Estonia has boosted defense spending, sent arms to Ukraine, and sought to boost the EDF’s capabilities in such areas as air defense, artillery, personnel readiness, and surveillance<br><br>Estonia has been a member of NATO since 2004 and is fully integrated within the NATO structure; since 2017, Estonia has hosted a UK-led multinational NATO ground force battlegroup as part of the Alliance’s Enhanced Forward Presence initiative; as the EDF Air Force does not have any combat aircraft, NATO has provided airspace protection for Estonia since 2004 through its Baltic Air Policing mission; NATO member countries that possess air combat capabilities voluntarily contribute to the mission on four-month rotations; NATO fighter aircraft have been hosted at Estonia’s Ämari Air Base since 2014; Estonia also hosts a NATO cyber security center; it cooperates closely with the EU on defense issues through the EU Common Security and Defense Policy and is a member of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, a pool of high-readiness military forces from 10 Baltic and Scandinavian countries designed to respond to a wide range of contingencies in the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, and High North regions; Estonia also has close defense ties with its Baltic neighbors and has bilateral military agreements with a number of European countries, as well as Canada and the US<br><br>the Estonian Army features a divisional headquarters, two infantry brigades, and an artillery battalion, plus supporting units; it would rely heavily on mobilized reserves during a crisis, which would be used to fill out active-duty units and staff territorial defense units; the Estonian Navy features a mine warfare flotilla; the EDF also has a special operations command (2023)"
"text":"<p>Russia and Estonia in May 2005 signed a technical border agreement, but Russia in June 2005 recalled its signature after the Estonian parliament added to its domestic ratification act a historical preamble referencing the Soviet occupation and Estonia's pre-war borders under the 1920 Treaty of Tartu; Russia contends that the preamble allows Estonia to make territorial claims on Russia in the future, while Estonian officials deny that the preamble has any legal impact on the treaty text; Russia demands better treatment of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Estonia implements strict Schengen border rules with Russia</p>"
"text":"70,604 (2022); note - following independence in 1991, automatic citizenship was restricted to those who were Estonian citizens prior to the 1940 Soviet occupation and their descendants; thousands of ethnic Russians remained stateless when forced to choose between passing Estonian language and citizenship tests or applying for Russian citizenship; one reason for demurring on Estonian citizenship was to retain the right of visa-free travel to Russia; stateless residents can vote in local elections but not general elections; stateless parents who have been lawful residents of Estonia for at least five years can apply for citizenship for their children before they turn 15 years old"
"text":"producer of synthetic drugs; important transshipment zone for cannabis, cocaine, opiates, and synthetic drugs since joining the European Union and the Schengen Accord; potential money laundering related to organized crime and drug trafficking is a concern, as is possible use of the gambling sector to launder funds; major use of opiates and ecstasy"
