Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia.
The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,335 square kilometres (17,504 sq mi).
Tallinn, the capital city, and Tartu, the University city, are the two largest urban areas.
Interesting facts
Population
The population of Estonia is 1.3 million people with 68% being ethnical Estonians, 22% Russians, 5% Ukrainians and 5% others. Estonia ranks 24th out of 27 in the European Union by population size and 20th by land area
History
Present-day Estonia has been inhabited by humans since at least 9,000 BCE. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Northern Crusades in the 13th century
Language
Estonian is a Finnic language of the Uralic family and the only official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population. Estonian is spoken natively by about 1.1 million people: 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 elsewhere.
Politics
Estonia is a developed country with a high-income advanced economy, ranking 31st in the Human Development Index. The sovereign state of Estonia is a democratic unitary parliamentary republic, administratively subdivided into 15 maakond (counties).
Nature
Forests cover over half of Estonian territory. More than 40% of them belong to the state and are certified as organic collection areas. Everyone can freely pick berries, mushrooms or just enjoy the freshest air, which ranks 4th in the world.
Digital society
The digital signature, with legal standing equal to one made with ink, has been in wide use since 2002. One of the most popular digital services among Estonians is the digital prescription – a centralized, paperless system for issuing and handling medical prescriptions.
