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Basic Facts |
Country name |
conventional long form: Republic of Estonia
conventional short form: Estonia local long form: Eesti Vabariik local short form: Eesti former: Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic |
Gevernment type | parliamentary republic |
Capital |
name: Tallinn
geographic coordinates: 59 25 N, 24 45 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Flag description | pre-1940 flag restored by Supreme Soviet in May 1990 - three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white |
Currency | Estonian kroon (EEK) |
Internet country code | .ee |
Ports and terminals | Kopli, Kuivastu, Muuga, Tallinn, Virtsu |
Agriculture products | potatoes, vegetables; livestock and dairy products; fish |
Industries | engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textile; information technology, telecommunications |
Geography |
Location | Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia |
Coordinates | 59 00 N, 26 00 E |
Continent | Europe |
Area |
total: 45,226 sq km
land: 43,211 sq km water: 2,015 sq km note: includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea |
Boundaries |
total: 633 km
border countries: Latvia 339 km, Russia 294 km |
Coastline | 3,794 km |
Climate | maritime, wet, moderate winters, cool summers |
Terrain | marshy, lowlands; flat in the north, hilly in the south |
Natural resources | oil shale, peat, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud |
Natural hazards | sometimes flooding occurs in the spring |
People |
Population | 1,324,333 (July 2006 est.) |
Ethnic groups | Estonian 67.9%, Russian 25.6%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Belarusian 1.3%, Finn 0.9%, other 2.2% (2000 census) |
Religions | Evangelical Lutheran 13.6%, Orthodox 12.8%, other Christian (including Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 1.4%, unaffiliated 34.1%, other and unspecified 32%, none 6.1% (2000 census) |
Languages | Estonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7% (2000 census) |