| Info about Estonia | |
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 - 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 Western Europe. It joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.
| | Diseases | | degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
| | Languages | | Estonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7% (2000 census) | | Drug usage | | growing producer of synthetic drugs; increasingly 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 | | Ethnic division | | Estonian 67.9%, Russian 25.6%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Belarusian 1.3%, Finn 0.9%, other 2.2% (2000 census) | | HIV/AIDS prevalence rate | | 1.1% (2001 est.) | | Climate info | | maritime, wet, moderate winters, cool summers | | Natural Resources | | oil shale, peat, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud | | Economic data | | Estonia, a 2004 European Union entrant, has a modern market-based economy and one of the highest per capita income levels in Central Europe. Estonia's successive governments have pursued a free market, probusiness economic agenda and have wavered little in their commitment to promarket reforms. Tallin's priority has been to sustain high growth rates - on average 8% over the last four years. The economy benefits from strong electronics and telecommunications sectors and strong trade ties with Finland, Sweden, and Germany. The current government has pursued relatively sound fiscal policies, resulting in balanced budgets and low public debt. Rapid growth, however, had made it difficult to keep inflation and large current-account deficits from soaring, putting downward pressure on the country's currency. The government has not given up on joining the euro, but has repeatedly postponed its euro adoption target. Estonia's economy slowed down markedly and even fell into recession in mid-2008, primarily as a result of an investment and consumption slump following the real estate market bubble burst. | | Environmental issues | | air 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 80% less than in 1980; the amount of unpurified wastewater discharged to water bodies in 2000 was one-20th the level of 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 |
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