The Estonia ( Estonian Eesti in ), officially the République of Estonia ( Eesti Vabariik in Estonian) is a European country , located on the bank Orient ale of the the Baltic and Southerner of the Golfe of Finland, with the Southern of the Finland, with the Northern of the Latvia and with the western of the Russia. This country is generally gathered with the Latvia and the Lithuania in a unit Géopolitique called Baltic States but whose exact name should be country the Baltic . Indeed, the linguistically Baltic countries are only the Latvia and the Lithuania, the Estonian being a Finno-ugric language very near to the Finnois. Estonia belongs to the European Union since May 1st 2004 and envisaged to adopt the Euro on January 1st 2008. It is member of NATO since the March 29th 2004.

History

See also: History of Estonia

Policy

See also: Political of Estonia

Estonia is a parliamentary Démocratie since the re-establishment of independence in 1991.

The mandate of the President of the Republic is 5 years. He is elected with the first ballot by the Riigikogu (Parlement of 101 deputies, elected officials every four years) if he obtains the majority of two thirds, and with the second turn, if necessary, by an electoral college composed of the 101 deputies of the Riigikogu and of a number of town councilors defined in each new election. Its main thing capacity is to appoint the Prime Minister who must obtain the confidence of the Riigikogu. Five political parties are currently represented with the Riigikogu since the elections of 2007 and thus exceeded the threshold of eligibility of 5%.

National currency

The national currency is the Estonian Couronne ( eesti kroon ; international abbreviation: EEK), introduced in June 1992 with fixed parity against the German mark (1 DEM = 8 EEK), been dependant on the Euro since 1999. Fact part of the Mechanism of European foreign exchange rate II (MCE II) since the June 27th 2004 (like the Slovenia and the Lithuania), in way initially to be able to adopt the Euro in January 2007, 1 euro = 15,6466 EEK, about 15%). The national faces of the parts of the Estonian euro are already adopted. But a too important inflation (approximately 4% over 12 months) as well as possible delays the passage to the euro at January 1st 2008.

Administrative areas

See also: Areas of Estonia

Estonia includes/understands 15 administrative “areas” or counties, called maakonnad (in the singular maakond ) - - maa means country or more precisely ground :

- the French names should be rather written in the form country Harju , country Hiiu , etc

Geography

See also: Geography of Estonia

  • See List of the islands of Estonia

Of a surface (45 227 km ²) near to that of the Netherlands (that defined by the peace treaty of Tartu in 1920 was of 47.549 km ²), Estonia is most septentrional of the Baltic country, largely opened in the west on the the Baltic, in north on the Golfe of Finland (3 794 km of coasts), bordered in the east by the Russia (border of 294 km) and in the south by the Latvia (border of 339 km).

The distance from Tallinn to Helsinki is only of 85 km whereas one needs 307 km to go to Rīga, 395 km to join Saint-Pétersbourg and 405 for Stockholm.

Its population represented in 2004 1.351.000 inhabitants. The main cities are: Tallinn (400 378 inhabitants), Tartu (101 169 inhabitants), Narva (74  572 inhabitants), Pärnu (51  927 inhabitants). Demography is marked by a significant loss of population since the end of the year 1990 (- 4,9/1000 in 1998; -3,8/1000 in 1999), because of the departure of part of the Soviet population, as in the other Baltic countries, but especially of a very low Fertility rate (1,37 child per woman in 2000).

The relief of Estonia is characterized by a rather weak altimetry and a great number of lakes and rivers. The climate is characterized by one rather cold winter, one soft and a little rainy spring, a relatively hot summer and a length and soft autumn (average temperature in July +16 °C; average temperature in February -9 °C).

Economy

See also: Economy of Estonia

Demography

See also: Demography of Estonia

Culture

See also: Culture of Estonia


Others

  • Capital: Tallinn (400 378 inhabitants)
  • Population: 1.351.000 inhabitants (estimate at January 1st 2004). 0-14 years: 17,08%; 15-64 years: 68,14%; + 65 years: 14,78% (2001)
    (ethnic composition: Estonians 68,6%, Russians 25,6%, Ukrainians 2,1%, Belorusses 1,3%, Finnish 0,8%)
  • Religions: Lutheranism, Russian orthodoxy, baptism, Catholicism, old beliefs.
  • Surface: 45.226 km ²
  • Density: 30 hab. /km ²
  • Land borders: 633 km (Latvia 339 km; Russia 294 km)
  • Littoral: 3.794 km
  • Ends of altitude: 0 m > + 318 m
  • Life expectancy of the men: 65,2 years (in 2001)
  • Life expectancy of the women: 76,9 years (in 2001)
  • Growth rate of the population: - 0,55% (in 2001)
  • Birth rate: 9,54 ‰ (in 2003), 13.001 births in 2003
  • Death rate: 13,39 ‰ (in 2003), 18.355 deaths in 2003
  • infantile Death rate: 5,7 ‰ (in 2003)
  • Fertility rate: 1,37 child/woman (in 2001)
  • Rate of migration: -0,76 ‰ (in 2001)
  • Independence: February 24th 1918 (restored the August 20th 1991 after five decades of Soviet occupation, to see History of Estonia)
  • Telephone lines: 476.078 (in 1998)
  • Cellphones: 475.000 (in 2000)
  • Radios: 1 million (in 1997)
  • Television stations: 605.000 (in 1997)
  • Users of Internet: 309.000 (in 2000)
  • Many suppliers of access Internet: 28 (in 2000)
  • Roads: 30.300 km (including 29.200 tarred km) (in 2000)
  • Railways: 1.018 km (in 1995)
  • inland Waterways: 320 km
  • Many airports: 32 (including 8 with tarred tracks) (in 2000)
  • Many cases of infections to the HIV: 4442 (in 2004)

See too

References

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