Estonia

Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Temperature

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

Estonia has only recognized Estonian as the official language. However, there is a large Russian minority living within its border which represents nearly 30 percent of its 1.3 million inhabitants.

Population

Population density

Emigration

Immigration

Literacy

Health

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

Other religions (share of the total population)

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

With a total expenditure of US$556 million, Estonia spends around 2.15 percent of its GDP on its military.

The Estonian Army called the Estonian defence force consists of ground forces, a Navy and an Air Force. Its main task is to defend the territorial integrity of Estonia and to an integrated part with the NATO block.

Military membership

It is a member of nine international military organizations making it the 38th most militarily interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Common Security and Defence Policy
Permanent Structured Cooperation
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Wassenaar Arrangement
Nuclear Suppliers Group
Australia Group
International Atomic Energy Agency
NATO

Military membership

International wars

Estonia has partaken in four international wars. These are:

Russian Civil War 1917-1919
Soviet occupation of the Baltic states 1940-1940
Guerrilla war in the Baltic states 1944-1953
Singing Revolution 1987-1991

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

It is a member of 18 international political organizations which makes Estonia the ninth most politically integrated state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Member state of the United Nations
United Nations Security Council
International Labour Organization
European Union
The Council of Europe
Energy Community
Council of the Baltic Sea States
HELCOM (Helsinki Commission)
Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS)
European Cooperation in Science and Technology
Union for the Mediterranean
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy
UNIDROIT
International Criminal Court
Interpol
Permanent Court of Arbitration
World Organization for Animal Health

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

Estonia is also the ninth most democratic state in the world. This is mainly due to its stable transition of power as well as a good representation of the electorate.

Democracy/Dictatorship

The Estonian politics are in the form of a parliamentary democracy where the Prime Minister is head of government.

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If you want to know more about other states, click on the flag on the right to discover Eswatini (Swaziland).

The relative Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity compares the purchasing power of this state with that of the rest of the world. The graph on the left shows how much purchasing power of 1$ compared to the purchasing power of other states

Being Russian for a land of the east, Estonia has been a central point of interest for larger European powers. Up until the 14th century, the area of Estonia has had several skirmishes with Scandinavian states as well as the Russians. When it was conquered by the kingdom of Denmark at the start of the 14th century, it was sold to Germany. It changed hands with Sweden at the start of the 16th century and change ownership again at the start of the 18th century when Russia took control of the area. Estonia briefly gained its independence during the interwar period, only to find itself being conquered by the Soviet Union at the end of the second world war. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Estonia gained its independence in August 1991. .

Estonia is located in the northeastern part of Europe and is a part of the Baltic states. Most of its terrain is flat or slightly hilled due to its location on the European pain. It is known to have many densely forested areas as well as some fields that are mainly being used for its agriculture. Most of its border is connected to water with the Gulf of Finland to its north, the Baltic Sea to its west and the Gulf of Riga to its south. Its direct land borders are with Russia to its east and Latvia to its south.

It has a total surface area of 45,453 square kilometers or 17,549 square miles which makes it the 129th largest state in the world being slightly smaller than the Dominican Republic and slightly larger than Denmark.

Estonia has several marshes and lakes located within its territory which, combined with its rivers, make up 2854 square kilometers or 1106 square miles. This makes Estonia the 80th state with the largest amount of water.

Below, a graph is shown which displays the absolute amount of water of each state in square kilometers and square miles.

With several thousands of rivers and canals, Estonia is covers for more than six percent by water. Most of the water is being used for the extraction of hydrocarbons from the ground. The remaining water is being used for its water treatment plants for mostly personal use.

The climate of Estonia is characterized by four seasons which are largely influenced by the Baltic Sea. Because of its northern location in Europe and its proximity to Russia, it is the 186th warmest state in the world with an average temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius or 41.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

During the summer period, which is from June to August, the average temperature goes up to nine degrees Celsius or 48.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

During wintertime, from December to February, the average temperature drops down to two degrees Celsius or 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Most of its rainfall occurs during the fall. In the months of September to December, Estonia receives around 60 percent of its total rainfall. With an annual average of 65.4 centimetres or 25.3 inches, Estonia is the 138th state with the highest amount of rainfall.

The Estonian capital, Tallinn, is home to around 400,000 people. The capital that is closest located to Tallinn is Helsinki Finland with a distance of 93 kilometers or 58 miles. The capital that is furthest removed from Tallinn is Wellington New Zealand with a distance of 17,130 kilometers or 10,645 miles.

Estonia has been a member of the European economic zone since 2004 and has seen an annual increase of nearly 10 percent up until 2008. As a result of the financial crisis, the Estonian economy shrank with nearly 20 percent. Since 2010, its economy has started to recover and has been growing over the last decade. The majority of its market-based economy is represented by the services sector. Other large exports are its wood and hydrocarbons which are mainly exported to Finland Latvia and Sweden which combined represent just over 30 percent of total exports. Most of its imports is fairly evenly distributed between China Germany Russia and Finland which each represent just under 10 percent of total imports.

Estonia is the 60th most economically interconnected state in the world being a member of 14 economic organizations. It is a member of the following:

Bank for International Settlements
Council of Europe Development Bank
International Energy Agency
International Monetary Fund
Nordic Investment Bank
OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization
World Trade Organization
TRACECA Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia
International Energy Agency
Energy Charter Treaty
Energy Community
International Renewable Energy Agency

It has the 108th highest GDP in the world and is estimated to be US$24.5 billion. This represents 0.029 percent of total global GDP.

Its GDP per square kilometer is US$538,157 or US$1.4 million per square mile making it the 89th highest in the world.

Its GDP per capita is around US$18,400 which is the 47th highest in the world.

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) reflect the average yearly income. The figure below shows how much, on average, an inhabitant of another state earns for every $1 earned by a citizen of this state.

The purchasing power is the 40th highest in the world and is estimated to be US$35,816.

Its population density is the 151st highest in the world and stands at 29 people per square kilometer or 76 people per square mile.

Nearly 200,000 Estonians, or around 15 percent of its population, have migrated to other states. Estonia has seen two large waves of emigration. The first of which was right after the first world war when Estonia became independent. This has led to the freedom of movement for Estonians. The second wave of migration came when it became a member of the European Union in 2004. Because of the EU policy to work and settle freely within the European Union, many Estonians migrated to economically prosperous states such as Finland and Germany.

More than 160,000 people, or 12.3 percent of its population, have migrated to Estonia. Around 75 percent originated from Russia and mainly came to Estonia after the fall of the Soviet Union.

With a literacy rate of 99.5 percent, Estonia is the sixth most literate state in the world. Education in Estonia dates back more than 600 years with the arrival of religious schools. Currently, it has an education system that provides its services for free to children between the age of two and 18. Higher education is also freely provided by the Estonian government.

Since its independence, a new healthcare policy has been established which created large investments in its healthcare system. With an average life expectancy of 79.2 years, Estonia is the 54th highest in the world. Women reach the average age of 83.1 years while men reach the average age of 75 years.

Religion in Estonia is reflected by remnants of its history such as the Russian orthodox church, atheism, the Lutheran church as well as recent immigration from Islamic states. Because of its many religions, Latvia is the 37th most multi religious state in the world.

Christianity is practiced by 40.8 percent of the population. The Lutheran church and the Estonian Orthodox Church are the largest denominations within the Christian population. This makes Estonia the 127th most Christian state in the world.

On the right, the global share of Christians per state is displayed

Around 0.1 percent of the population adheres to Islam. Despite the absence of mosques, there are several Islamic centres located throughout Estonia. The majority of Muslims originated from Islamic regions within Russia and are mainly of the Sunni denomination.

Buddhism was introduced by an Estonian national that converted to Buddhism. From the beginning of the 20th century until the second half of the 20th century, there were many people converted in the Baltics. However, Buddhism has not grown significantly since then and is represented by 0.03 percent of the population.

Irreligion is the second largest group in Estonia and represents 39.93 percent of the total population. This is mainly a remnant of the atheist policies that were in place during the time of the Soviet Union.

There has been a revival of old local religions over the last decade. Among these are nature worshiping and neopaganism. In total, other religions represent 0.07 percent of the total population.

Jewish settlers arrived at the end of the 19th century and mainly originated from Russia. The Jewish population flourished until the second world war when Jewish synagogues were destroyed, and many Jews fled to other states. Currently, around 0.12 percent of the population is Jewish.

Hinduism gained a foothold by the end of the 20th century and is practiced by less than 1000 people, representing 0.004 percent of the population.