According to ehistorylib, in 2005, Estonia had a population of 1.3 million people, composed of Estonians and a variety of other ethnic groups. The main language spoken was Estonian, with Russian as the second official language. The economy in 2005 was largely based on services, such as telecommunications and IT, as well as industry and agriculture. Foreign trade was an important part of the economy and Estonia had strong ties to Finland, Sweden, Russia and Germany. Foreign relations in 2005 were mostly positive with the country becoming a member of both NATO and the European Union in 2004 and having strong diplomatic ties to most countries around the world. Politically, Estonia was a democratic republic under President Arnold Rüütel who had been in power since 2001 following independence from the Soviet Union. In 2005 there were multiple political parties operating in the country including both left-wing and right-wing parties as well as a number of independent media outlets which helped to ensure press freedom.
Yearbook 2005
Estonia. The coalition government’s long-standing disintegration became acute when Prime Minister Juhan Parts of Conservative Res Publica in February dismissed the Liberal Reform Party’s Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland. The formal reason was that secretly stamped documents disappeared from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ archives. After a few weeks, the Reform Party was avenged by voting with the opposition in a declaration of confidence in the party’s party brother Justice Minister Ken-Marti Vaher. As a result, Parts and the entire government resigned.
The task of forming a new government went to the Reform Party leader Andrus Ansip, who negotiated a coalition between his own liberal party and the left-wing Center Party as well as the rural party Folkförbundet. The Anip government took office in April.
According to countryaah, Tallinn is the capital and one of the major cities within the country of Estonia. Estonia’s troublesome relationship with Russia was further complicated during the year when President Arnold Rüütel declined President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to join Moscow in May at the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. In Estonia, the end of the Second World War marked the beginning of a near half-century Soviet occupation.
- Also see abbreviationfinder.org for how the acronym EE stands for the country of Estonia and other meanings of this two-letter abbreviation.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, however, traveled to Moscow and, together with his Russian colleague, was able to sign the border agreement that Moscow had for years refused to sign. But the joy was short-lived. In June, Russia unilaterally revoked the agreement, as the Estonian Parliament had added a preface with indirect references to the Soviet occupation of Estonia.
In August, 14 people were killed when a Finnish helicopter crashed in the Gulf of Finland just off the coast of Estonia. The helicopter was on its way from Tallinn to Helsinki and, according to the preliminary investigation, experienced technical problems shortly after take-off.
An Estonian government commission investigated Swedish data on military transport aboard the Estonia ferry in 1994 during the year. A parliamentary commission that examined the same issues was also extended mandate.
Country data
Area: 45,227 km2 (world ranking: 129)
Residents: 1,315,000
Population density: 29 per km2 (as of 2017, world ranking: 153)
Capital: Tallinn (Reval)
Official languages: Estonian
Gross domestic product: 23.0 billion euros; Real growth: 4.9%
Gross national product (GNP, per resident and year): 18,190 US$
Currency: 1 euro (Euro) = 100 cents
Embassy
Hildebrandstr. 5, 10785 Berlin
Telephone 030 25460602,
Fax 030 25460601
www.estemb.de
Government
Head of State: Kersti Kaljulaid, Head of Government: Jüri Ratas, Outside: Sven Mikser
National Day: 24.2. (Establishment of the Republic of Estonia 1918)
Administrative structure
15 districts
State and form of government
Constitution of 1992
Republic
Parliament: Reichstag (Riigikogu) with 101 members, election every 4 years
Election of the head of state every 5 years by parliament
Suffrage from 18 years.
Population: Estonians, last census 2011: 1,294,455 residents.
70% ethnic Estonians, 25% Russians, 2% Ukrainians, 1% Belarusians, 0.6% Finns Proportion of foreigners 2017: 14.9% (mainly Russians)
Cities (with population): (As of 2018) Tallinn (Reval) 430,805 pop., Tartu (Dorpat) 93,715, Narva 56,103, Pärnu (Pernau) 39,375, Kohtla-Järve 34,394, Viljandi 17,525, Rakvere 15,413, Maardu 15,189, Kuressaare 13,276, Sillamäe 12,93489, Võru 12,022
Religions: 54% religionless or atheists; 16% Orthodox, 10% Lutherans; Minorities of Catholics, Muslims, Jews (status: 2006)
Languages: Estonian; recognized minority languages: German, Swedish, Yiddish; other minority languages: Russian, Finnish, Latvian, Romany
Workers by economic sector: Agriculture. 4%, industry 30%, business 66% (2017)
Unemployment (in% of all labor force): 2017: 5.8%
Inflation rate (in%): 2017: 3.7%
Foreign trade: import: 14.7 billion euros (2017); Export: 12.9 billion euros (2017)
Climate
Estonia’s climate is generally cool-temperate to harsh with cold, frosty winters and moderately warm summers on a par with Northern Europe. The annual mean temperature in the capital Tallinn is 4.5 ° C. An average of 16.5 ° C is reached in July and −6.0 ° C in January. Despite the cold winter, the coasts mostly remain ice-free.
An annual mean of 650 millimeters of precipitation falls with a maximum in late summer.
