Country Facts - Estonia

The People

Nationality
Estonian(s)

Ethnic Composition

Estonian	65.3%
Russian	28.1%
Ukrainian	2.5%
Belarusian	1.5%
Finn	1.0%
Other	1.9%

Religious Composition

Evangelical Lutheran	40%
Russian Orthodox	25%
Estonian Orthodox	25%
Baptist, Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Word of Life, Jewish	10%

Languages Spoken

Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other

Education and Literacy

Education is compulsory for 12 years. Adult literacy stands at 100 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 608,600 (2001)

By occupation:

Services	69%
Industry	20%
Agriculture	11%

Geography

Land Mass Total

17,461 sq mi (45,226 sq km)
Note: Includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea.

Land

16,683 sq mi (43,211 sq km)

Water

777 sq mi (2,015 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 393 mi (633 km)

Border countries: Latvia 210 mi (339 km), Russia 182 mi (294 km).

Coastline

2,357 mi (3,794 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: limits fixed in coordination with neighboring states
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Maritime, wet, moderate winters, cool summers.

Terrain

Marshy lowlands.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Baltic Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Suur Munam ägi 1,043 ft (318 m)

Natural Resources

Shale oil (kukersite), peat, phosphorite, amber, cambrian blue clay, limestone, dolomite, arable land.

Land use

Arable land	27%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	73%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Occasionally flooding occurs frequently in the spring.

Environment - current issues

Air is polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale burning power plants in northeast; however, the amount of pollutants emitted to the air have fallen steadily, the emissions of 2000 were 4.6 times smaller than in 1980; the amount of unpurified wastewater discharged to water bodies fell 20 times in 2000 compared to 1980; in connection with the start-up of new water purification plants, the pollution load of wastewater decreased; 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

Geography Note

The mainland terrain is flat, boggy, and partly wooded; offshore lie more than 1,500 islands.

Demographics

Population

1,415,681 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	16.4%	male 118,603	female 114,102
15-64 years:	68.5%	male 466,882	female 502,343
65 years and over:	15.1%	male 70,085	female 143,666

Growth Rate

-0.52% (2002)

Life Expectancy

70.02 years (2002)
female: 76.31 years
male: 64.03 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$10,000 (2001)

Infant Mortality

12.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.49 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.86 male(s)/female

Net migration rate

-0.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Estonia, as a new member of the World Trade Organization, is steadily moving toward a modern market economy with increasing ties to the West, including the pegging of its currency to the euro. A major goal has been achieved in its accession to the E.U. by 2004. The state of the economy is greatly influenced by developments in Finland and Sweden, two major trading partners. Inflation remains a persistent problem, as does the "gray" economy that operates on a wide scale. Estonia's trade deficit expanded to over 28 percent by the end of 2002, as markets for its exports in Europe stayed sluggish.

Unemployment

12.4% (2001)

Inflation Rate

5.8% (2001)

Industries

Engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textile; services; transit, information technology, telecommunications

Exports

US$3.4 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$4.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$14.3 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Finland 27.6%, Sweden 11%, Russia 8%, Latvia 7%, Germany 6%, US 2.0% (1999) (2001)

Top Import Partners

Finland 27%, Russia 10%, Germany 10%, Sweden 8% (2001)

Top Exports

Machinery and equipment 24%, wood products 20%, textiles 17%, food products 9%, metals, chemical products (1999)

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment 38.5%, chemical products 11.2%, textiles 9.5%, foodstuffs 8.6%, metals 8.1% (2000)

Debt - external

US$0 (2001)

Economic aid

Recipient: US$108 million (2000)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year.

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8:30a.m. to 5:30p.m.	Closed
Retail	8a.m. to 5:30p.m. Many large retailers in urban areas keep evening hours as late as 9p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to 4p.m.
Banks	9:30a.m. to 5:30p.m.	Some banks have Saturday hours until noon.
Government	9a.m. to noon, 1p.m. to 5p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Independence Day	February 24	February 24	February 24
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Spring Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Whit Sunday (Pentecost)²	June 8	May 30	May 15
Victory Day (Midsummer's Day)	June 23	June 23	June 23
St. John's Day (Summer Solstice)	June 24	June 24	June 24
Restoration of Independence	August 20	August 20	August 20
Christmas Day³	December 25	December 25	December 25
Second Day of Christmas	December 26	December 26	December 26

¹	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
²	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost.
³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press