The Estonia Page > Culture

Contents:

Is Estonia the world's smallest country? Do polar bears live in Estonia? Does the sun ever shine in Estonia? What language is spoken in Estonia? What is there to know about Estonian history? Does Estonia have a King?

Why are Estonians called a 'singing nation'? What are Estonians like? Do ferns really blossom in Estonia? Who or what is a 'mulk' ? Where does Estonia get its electricity? What does an Estonian do at weekends?

Is Estonia the world's smallest country?

Tallinn, with its medieval city centre, is Estonia's capital. Over a third of the nation (415  299 people) live in Tallinn and about 70% of the population reside in cities in general. The larger of these in descending order are: the university town of Tartu (100 977 inhabitants); the industrial border town of Narva (74 572); and the summer capital Pärnu (51 927) - the popular holiday destination on the southwestern coast, where summer air and water temperatures can reach those of the Mediterranean region.

The closest major city to Tallinn is the Finnish capital Helsinki, located at a distance of 80 km on the opposite shore of the Gulf of Finland. Riga is only one day's drive away (307 km). It's also a relatively short trip to St. Petersburg (395 km) and Stockholm (405 km).

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Do polar bears live in Estonia?

The temperature in the summer months (June - September) is typically 15 - 18°C; in winter, -4 - -5°C .

During the winter, many of Estonia's islands are surrounded by ice; they are made accessible by temporary roads constructed on the ice, passing over the same straits in which many enjoy a refreshing summer swim. Estonian weather offers many surprises. Temperatures may fluctuate by 20°C; in the early morning the thermometer might read -12°C and by afternoon it may already be 10°C. In winter, there tends to be about 10 cm of snow on the ground consistently from late December through to the beginning of March.

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Does the sun ever shine in Estonia?

The sky over Estonia is cloudy for about half the year, and the hilly southeast region experiences up to 750 mm of precipitation due to Estonia's maritime climate. While seven thousand rivers and streams carry rainwater to the sea, bogs and wooded swamplands of different types cover over one fifth of the country - a world index topped only by the northern neighbour, Finland. Various kinds of forests comprise slightly under half of Estonia's territory. Wetlands, together with primeval forests, represent preserved communities which have for the most part been destroyed in Europe.

Estonia lies on the southern border of the northern European coniferous forest zone and on the northern border of the deciduous forests typical of central Europe. Scots pine, spruce, birch, aspen and alder are the most numerous species, although there are also oak, linden, ash, elm, rowan etc. Many plant and animal species live in Estonia which are rare or no longer found elsewhere in Europe.

The Elk, Roe Deer and Wild Boar are amongst Estonia's common large mammals. There are also Wolves, Brown Bears, Ringed Seals and Grey Seals. Among the 333 bird species recorded in Estonia, are 222 nesting species, including several types of eagle, Capercaillie and Black Stork quite rare in Europe.

About 10% of Estonia is a nature reserve. The main conservation areas are situated on the coast and islands for the protection of the nesting and transmigrating seabirds.

A different group of habitats, large untouched bogs and primeval forests, are protected inland. National parks also play an important role in maintaining the traditional landscape.

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What language is spoken in Estonia?

As is typical of small peoples, the Estonian identity is closely connected to the language; it is natural, therefore, that Estonians speak Estonian. It is used as a mother tongue by just under 1.1 million people. Approximately 950 000 of these live in Estonia; the remainder in Sweden, Canada, the United States, Russia and elsewhere. Estonian is one of the world's smallest cultural languages to include contemporary terminology for all major fields of life.

Estonian, different from most languages spoken in Europe, does not belong to the Indo-European group; it belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, which also includes Finnish and Hungarian. Estonian has 14 cases, but no articles or grammatical gender. Thus, the same pronoun is used to refer to a man, woman or even a thing. Estonian word order can be relatively lax, because relations between words are marked by case endings. For instance, the sentence:

koer the dog

hammustas bit

poissi the boy

means exactly the same if one changes the word order to:

koer poissi hammustas
or
poissi hammustas koer.

In the course of their joint history, Estonian has borrowed from Low German, High German, Swedish and Russian. These languages and Latvian are connected with Estonian largely through reciprocal loans; the relationship between the Indo-European languages and Estonian is originally as distant as English is from Turkish. The Estonian language uses, and has always used, the Latin alphabet; nowadays, 32 letters are used in spelling. There are 18 consonants and 9 vowels in Estonian. Foreigners are certainly not accustomed to the vowels 'õ', 'ä', 'ö' and 'ü' which have been added to the usual 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'. The role of vowels in Estonian is among the greatest in any European language, whereby a string of vowels can form meaningful words around the frame of few consonants. For example: hauaööõudused ('horrors of the night in the grave').

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What is there to know about Estonian history?

The first inhabitants came to Estonia around 11 000 years ago, soon after the withdrawal of the continental glaciers of the last Ice Age.

The first descriptions of Estonia and the tribes who lived there, whose collective name (Aestii in Latin) may descend from the Northern Germanic word for 'east', date from the centuries around Christ's birth.

In Viking times, boats were rowed from Estonia and through Estonian waters on trading and looting expeditions to what is now Russia, Central Asia and Constantinople. Estonians appeared as enemies and associates in Scandinavian sagas and on rune stones.

The eastern regions of the Baltic Sea attracted the attention of European merchants and missionaries. The Estonians were one of the last pagan peoples in Europe; they were christianised as a result of the well-organised crusades initiated in Denmark and Northern Germany at the beginning of the 13th century. Once the local upper-class became germanised, Estonians were reduced to the status of peasantry until the 19th century. Small feudal states emerged. Major towns in Estonia were incorporated into the powerful Hanseatic League and prospered; through them arrived the Reformation at the beginning of the 16th century.

At the turn of the 17th century, the ravaging Livonian War was fought in Estonia between Russians, Poles and Swedes. The accompanying famine and plague reduced the population by more than half. As a result of the war, Estonia fell under the Swedish rule for almost a century - this period is still remembered by Estonians as "the good old Swedish time".

In the early 18th century, the army of the Russian Tsar Peter The Great conquered Estonia in order to create a much sought-after 'window to the West'. A meagre third of the Estonian population survived the devastating war to become the subjects of the Russian Empire.

Despite the change in rule, the Russian powers did not essentially intervene in Estonian affairs; self-government by the local nobility, German-language administration and Lutheran religion retained authority, exacerbating the plight of Estonian serfs. Finally, in the early 19th century, serfdom was abolished.

The National Awakening in the mid-19th century brought rapid advances in the Estonian education system, general living conditions and the formation of the Estonians' own cultural environment. The fall of the Russian Empire in the revolutions following the First World War made the declaration of an independent Estonian Republic possible on 24 February 1918. In the War of Liberation (1918-1920), Estonian Armed Forces resisted the attacks of Russian communists and the Landeswehr, the Baltic German militia.

The first volunteers to defend the independence were 17-18 year-old schoolboys.

As time passes, the first period of independence (1918-40) looks ever sweeter.

Together with other new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, Estonia successfully built up its nation state. In 1921, Estonia became a member of the League of Nations. During her independence, which lasted barely over twenty years, the agriculturally-centred economy was rearranged to incorporate industry. State administrative structures and conditions for cultural activity in the native language were created. It was also a period of advancements in education and science.

In a secret agreement which supplemented the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939, Germany resigned Estonia to the Soviet sphere of influence; Soviet military bases were set up in Estonia that same year. Under the threat of full-scale military aggression, a Soviet-minded puppet government was boosted to power in 1940, and Estonia was incorporated into the Soviet Union. Shortly before the battles of the Second World War encroached upon Estonia, almost 10 000 Estonians, accused of resisting Soviet control, were jailed and deported to Russia.

The German forces that had invaded Estonia in the summer of 1941 remained there until 1944. In autumn of the same year, thousands of Estonian families, and almost all of the coastal Swedes who had settled along the Baltic Coast since the 13th century, fled from the invading Red Army across the sea to Sweden, Finland and Germany.

An outpost against the west, Estonia was packed with Soviet troops.

In March 1949, the Moscow powers, ignoring all human rights and laws including their own, deported over 20 000 people to Siberia; the majority of these were women and children. In the forests, a guerrilla war in opposition to the communists continued until the 1950s. The Soviet powers strove to achieve systematic Russification through the establishment of mines and heavy industry, whose operation relied on a foreign labour force imported from across the Soviet Union;

despite this, Estonia and the other Baltic States managed to preserve their national identities. The Resistance Movement, which had been continually gaining support from the mid 1980s onwards, reached its peak in the early 1990s; on 20 August, 1991 the Republic of Estonia was restored. The largest pro-independence demonstration drew together one third of Estonians.

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Does Estonia have a King?

Estonia does not have a state church. The contemporary Estonian government follows the principles of separation of power and its people elect a 101-member parliament every four years. Only Estonian citizens may participate in parliamentary elections. The Parliament chooses a president, who can be in office for a five year period for a maximum of two terms. The President is the Supreme Commander of the National Defence of Estonia. A party must gather 5% of the votes in order to become part of the Parliament. As a rule, the President asks the party leader who has collected the most votes to form the new government. The representational model based on party politics has strengthened over the last decade. In the years shortly following the restoration of independence, there were dozens of parties to represent a population of only 1.4 million; at present 6-7 parties have remained. The local authorities have developed in the same direction. All permanent residents of voting age (18) may participate in local government elections.

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Why are Estonians called a 'singing nation'?

It is hard to find an Estonian who has never attended the national song festival.

If you ask an Estonian to sing, you'll meet with an embarrassed refusal. Yet Estonians, with their long tradition of song festivals dating from the time of the National Awakening in the mid-19th century, have earned themselves the title of a singing nation. The typical Estonian willingly sings in a choir; choral music is considered by many to be a symbol of the country at large.

The Estonian Literature Museum contains more than 1 300 000 pages of folk songs. As for the size of its folklore collection, Estonia comes second only to Ireland. At the song festivals, people don colourful folk costumes and head in their thousands for the Song Festival Field in Tallinn. Ever since the period of the National Awakening, Estonians have been eagerly attending concerts and theatre performances. The theatres in smaller cities can by no means be called provincial; they attract viewers from all over the country. It is quite possible to travel from one end of Estonia to the other in a single day. With such light summer nights, huge open air concerts have become all the rage in Estonia.

Estonians have always been regarded as people who are fond of reading books. The first book in Estonian, a Lutheran catechism, was published in 1525; the complete Bible translation in 1739. The enormous number of copies produced during Soviet times have been superseded by a multiplicity of titles. Despite the emergence of new cultural attractions, there isn't the slightest sign that books are becoming obsolete. Only recently, the whole nation kept its fingers crossed for Jaan Kross, nominated for the Nobel prize in literature. The written word seems to be closest to the Estonian heart - the annual meeting of our Writers' Union always receives more attention in society than the meetings of any other.

The first Estonian feature film was made in 1914. Besides Iceland, our film industry produces films for one of the smallest audiences in the world. This has not been a limitation; documentaries, feature films and animated cartoons are produced every year.The latter especially have taken the names of Estonian film makers into the international arena; their original cartoons, abounding in acutely ironic metaphors, have attracted keen attention and received many prestigious awards.

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What are Estonians like?

Estonians are third-generation city people at most, so almost all families have relatives living in the country. Childhood memories will undoubtedly include summers spent in the country.

The somewhat grim and reserved Estonian of the winter months undergoes a significant change in summer: he will ask friends out for a picnic, meet new people, and rather than glaring at anyone causing a disturbance in the street, he will burst into merry laughter.

A foreigner is well advised to bear in mind that in human relations, Estonians try to avoid sentimentality. Much of what other nationalities voice without hesitation, Estonians may reveal only once they know a person quite well.

Estonians are reputed to be quite stubborn and tend not to be impressed by someone's social standing alone. Any authority may be, indeed must be, ridiculed. Estonians' ironic jokes tend to be targeted primarily at themselves. An Estonian, deeply convinced that his own ideas are always the best, does not look kindly on anyone who wants to instruct or teach him. The sceptical nature of an Estonian - what he likes to call 'a sound peasant mind' - sometimes takes the form of sheer narrow-mindedness.

Neighbouring peoples have some justification when they taunt: 'put four Estonians together, and you'll get five parties'. As for Estonians' Lutheran work-ethic, their neighbours' opinion is that Estonians are capable of Prussian precision even when engaged in the most gross stupidity.

Ernest Hemingway has written that in every port in the world, at least one Estonian can be found; this speaks volumes about the nation's enterprising spirit.

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Do ferns really blossom in Estonia?

A few days after the summer solstice, on the evening of 23 June, Estonian cities become half empty. Everybody who can do so travels into the country, in order to celebrate one of Estonia's most significant holidays - St. John's Day. On that night, darkness lasts for only a few hours. Hundreds of bonfires are lit all over Estonia, people sing and dance around them, and when the flames have died down a bit, those who are brave enough leap through them to shake off the year's evils.

St. John's Day and Christmas are the most important festivals in Estonia. Christmas, celebrated after the winter solstice, falls in the darkest period of the year; it is primarily a family-centred holiday. Both the old and the young stand by a decorated, candle-lit Christmas tree waiting for Father Christmas to deliver the presents.

Afterwards, they all sit down to a festive dinner which usually consists of roast pork, black pudding with cowberry jam, and sauerkraut with roast potatoes.Traditionally, the lady of the house spends the last few evenings before Christmas in the kitchen, baking and sugar-frosting gingerbread men.

Other ancient customs are still practised which relate to the time of year. On Shrove Tuesday, in February, adults seize the chance to go sledging together with the children, on the pretext of the old custom. On St. Martin's Day (10 Nov.) and St. Catherine's Day (25 Nov.), children in costumes go from house to house, earning sweets with their singing and dancing.

In addition to these festivities, Estonians also have several national holidays. The most important falls on 24 February, when people celebrate the declaration of independence of 1918. Regardless of the weather, which in February may vary between mild thaw and fierce frost, a military parade takes place in the morning. In the evening, the majority of Estonians gather in front of their television sets to watch the President's reception - if they are not invited to attend themselves, that is.

It is every soldier's dream to carry a flag on the Independence Day parade.

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Who or what is a 'mulk' ?

A 'Mulk' is an inhabitant of southern Estonia's Mulgimaa (Mulkland), the Viljandi area; a character who has always been considered wealthy and enterprising, though arrogant and stingy. One of the most singular parts of the country is undoubtedly Southeast Estonia, or Võromaa. The dialect here differs so much from standard Estonian that it may well be considered a language in its own right. Even the Võromaa landscape, with its plentiful lakes and rolling hills, is considerably different from the flatlands of Northern Estonia. The inhabitants have every reason to feel proud of their culture and all the more so after publishing a reader in their own dialect; it contains newly-coined words which proves that their language is as much a language as any other.

Another highly unique area is that of the West Estonian islands. Saaremaa, the largest, is widely known for its windmills and, so they say, the best brewers in the country. The islanders' life has always been bound to the sea; the resilience of their womenfolk, kept busy toiling the land while their men were at sea, is truly legendary. People from the islands have a sing-song intonation, reminiscent of Swedish, which confirms their close ties with lands beyond the sea. An islander gives himself away on the mainland by stubbornly using 'ö' instead of 'õ'. The jokes of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa folk may be lost on other Estonians, just as is British humour on the Continent. The islanders claim that there have been only three major sea powers in world history: England, Hiiumaa and Saaremaa.

Regional differences also relate to cities. A visitor will certainly be told of the 'spirit of Tartu' in that city, which is incomprehensible for the arrogant and practical citizen of Tallinn. A Tallinner, on the other hand, might consider Tartu people to be stuck in the academic complacency of the early 1900s.

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Where does Estonia get its electricity?

 

Estonia is able to meet its own need for electricity, and even to export a surplus. Oil shale is excavated in the north and used in local power stations. Alternative energy sources like wind, water and peat have been thoroughly investigated in recent years. Peat is one of the most important natural resources in Estonia, and, moreover, is renewable. Since the country is not rich in mineral resources, its economy is primarily based on light industry and the service sector, i. e. tourism, trade and banking. Estonia is situated on a busy trading route between East and West and has always had excellent ports; foreign trade and transit are therefore ever increasingly important to the Estonian economy. After the restoration of independence, the share of the financial sector grew considerably and stablised. Today, foreign investors are involved in approximately 90 per cent of the Estonian Banking sector. In recent years, there has been a leap in information technology as well. The most influential industrial areas are: the capital Tallinn, its surrounding areas, and Northeast Estonia. Major employers are the paper, timber and textile industries. One tenth of the population receives its income from agriculture, fishery or forestry. The changing world compels people to find other ways to earn a living besides traditional cattle breeding and grain growing. Cultivating oilseed rape, growing strawberries, or keeping a farmhouse for tourists are some of the alternative occupations. When shopping for food, Estonians generally favour Estonian-made food items because of their good taste, affordable price, and the relatively small amount of preservatives they contain. Estonia exports various products: appliances of all kinds, electronic devices and components, and motor vehicle safety equipment. Small and medium-sized businesses predominate.	From Estonian bogs to Dutch greenhouses: peat is extensively used in and exported for horticulture. Coastal fishing, nearly vanished during the Soviet period, looks quite brisk again. The fishing industry employs almost a quarter of Estonian islanders. The Tiger Leap (Tiigrihüpe) is the government programme for propagating computer skills. IT-basics acquired at school are valuable asset for the future.

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What does an Estonian do at weekends?

This largely depends on the time of year. An athletic Estonian goes skiing in winter: mostly on flat land, although he tries to make use of even the smallest hill (the highest peak in Estonia reaches 318 m); people have even taken to snowboarding. Cross-country skiing is the sporting event which draws the largest television audience in Estonia. Athletics (track and field) is also popular, and in recent years football (soccer) has been gaining ground over basketball - which at one time was considered many to be a 'national game'.
When the weather improves, many Estonians leave the city for the weekends. Almost every family has a cottage in the country, with a small garden and orchard, so that the fridge can be loaded with all sorts of jams and preserves in the autumn. A walk in the forest here is one of the most enjoyable pastimes: people go there to pick berries or mushrooms, to hunt, or just for a nice stroll. At every river or lake, or on the ice in winter you're sure to see a fisherman or two.

An important weekend ritual is the Saturday sauna. Estonians dart from the hot steam room directly into the closest body of water, regardless of the weather. Summer activities naturally include a lot of sunbathing on the beach; Estonia boasts miles of beautiful sandy beaches, and water that may seem too chilly for a southerner is just right for any Estonian who wants to swim, play water polo or go windsurfing.

A proper weekend never passes without the sauna.

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The Estonia Page > Culture

This fact sheet is published by the Estonian Institute and is intended to be used for reference purposes. It may be freely used in preparing articles, speeches, broadcasts, etc. No acknowledgement is necessary.