Estonian population

The population of Estonia was 1 286 540 people as of January 1, 2013 ^[4] , after which the corrected estimate (taking into account the unregistered (non-permanent) population) as of the same date - 1320 174 people ^[5] , according to preliminary estimates January 1, 2014 - 1 311 870 people ^{[6] [7]} , according to the corrected estimate for the same date - 1 315 819 people ^{[5] [8] [9]} .

According to data for 2012, the average population density in Estonia is 28.6 persons / km². The highest population density in Harju County , the lowest - in Hiiu .

According to the published data of the Statistics Department of Estonia , in 2009 more people left for Estonia than arrived: 4,647 people left and 3,643 people arrived. Compared with 2008, the number of departures increased by 200 people, while arrivals remained at the same level ^[15] .

In 2010, a positive birth rate and population growth was achieved. ^[16] According to the Estonian Department of Statistics, the birth rate and mortality dynamics are as follows ^[17] :

Life expectancy at birth

According to Eurostat , among the EU countries in Estonia and Slovenia is the highest increase in life expectancy. ^[18]

Ethnic composition

The population of counties in 1881 included in the Republic of Estonia  

The following table shows the assessment of the Estonian Department of Statistics as of January 1, 2016 ^[20] :

The dynamics of the national composition of the population of Estonia in 1922 - 2010 : ^{[20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]}

The following table lists ethnic groups of less than 2 thousand according to the 2000 census ^[27] .

The national composition of the population of Estonia as a percentage of the data for 2009 was as follows ^[21] :

• Estonians 68.8%
• Russians 25.6%,
• Ukrainians 2.1%,
• Belarusians 1.2%,
• Finns 0.8%,
• other - 1.5%.

Ethnic composition of Estonian regions

2000

National composition of Estonian county census 2000: ^[28]

2011

National composition of counties of Estonia as estimated for 2011: ^[29]

2013

National composition of Estonian counties for 2017: ^{[30] [31]}

* including, by estimation for 2013: ^[31]

Citizenship

As a result of the application of the Estonian Citizenship Law, more than 15% of Estonian residents are not its citizens. The most numerous parts of this group are stateless persons (see: non-citizens of Estonia ). ^[33] and citizens of Russia .

Racism and xenophobia

According to a survey conducted in 2003 by the European Union's research center on racism and xenophobia, Estonian residents are among the most racist among the EU countries. ^[34]

Only Estonian is the state language, but Russian , as well as Ukrainian , English , Finnish , German , as well as Võru dialect and Seto are widely used in everyday life.

Russian and Russian-speaking population

The permanent Russian population of Estonia is about 25%. Persons for whom the Russian language is native make up about 30% ^[35] and are divided into three approximately equal groups: more than 100 thousand hereditary Estonian citizens ^[36] and citizens who received citizenship by naturalization, citizens of Russia (about 95 thousand) and stateless persons (slightly less than 100 thousand) ^{[37] [38] [39]} . For stateless persons, visa-free travel is established in EU countries and Russia (unlike Estonian citizens who require an entry visa to travel to the Russian Federation), they have the right to vote in local elections, but not in parliamentary elections or referendums ^[40] . These are mainly people who migrated to Estonia during the Soviet period and their descendants.

In the Prichuda region (the cities of Kallaste and Mustvoe, Peipsiyare volost), Russian Old Believers also lived, migrating to the territory of Estonia in the 18th and 19th centuries .

The number of people receiving Estonian citizenship by naturalization, which has varied since 1999 from 3 to 5 thousand a year, increased in 2004 and 2005 (7072 in 2005), declined sharply in 2008 and amounted to 2,124 people ^[44] .

Social problems of the Russian-speaking population

Unemployment among the Russian-speaking population is higher than among Estonians. One of the reasons is that many Russians worked at large enterprises of union importance, which unemployment has affected primarily because of a break in production ties.

According to political scientist Alexei Makarkin: ^[45]

Unemployment in northeastern Estonia, where Russians live compactly (97% are non-Estonians among the population of border Narva ), is twice as high as the national average. Another figure: in Tallinn in 2003, among Estonians under the age of 29 there were more than twice as many people with higher education than among Russians (in 1990 there were approximately equal numbers). Recall that many Russian residents of the country worked in large enterprises of union value, which unemployment has affected in the first place. Accordingly, poverty has sharply increased (on average, the salary of Russians is about 70% of the salary of Estonians), people began to lose perspective. It was these young people who took to the streets of Tallinn and some other cities in order to spit into the organized life of the country in which they turned out to be superfluous people, social outsiders .

Integration or assimilation

The government has applied several government programs to integrate non-Estonians into the Estonian society ^[46] . A key element of the integration programs was the training of non-Estonians in the Estonian language. ^{[47] [48]} In March 1998, the Foundation for the Integration of Non-Estonians was created. ^[49] There is a system of Russian-language general education (kindergartens, primary and secondary schools). ^[50] A law on the cultural autonomy of national minorities was adopted ^[51] , in practice, applicable only to 47.43% of the Russian-speaking community ^[52] , since only citizens of the Republic of Estonia ^{[44] [53]} are subject to its action, in the registration of Russian cultural autonomy the unification of the leader of the Russian Party, Stanislav Cherepanov, was refused ^[54] .

Part of the Russian community opposes the integration program, seeing in it a plan for the assimilation of the Russian-speaking population. ^[55] Some political parties and public organizations of Russian-speaking people are dissatisfied with the fact that only those people (of any nationality) whose parents were Estonian citizens before 1940 automatically received Estonian citizenship. They require that all citizens of the former Estonian SSR receive citizenship of the Republic of Estonia without applying for it.

Currently, a person who may apply for Estonian citizenship may apply.

1. settled in Estonia until July 1, 1990, and has a residence permit at the time of the application, or
2. has at the time of filing of the application a residence permit of a long-term resident or a permanent right of residence.

If one of these conditions is fulfilled, then the person who wants to obtain Estonian citizenship must:

1. be at least 15 years old;
2. know the Estonian language “ at the level necessary for everyday life ” (the level of knowledge of the language is determined by passing an exam at the State Examination and Qualification Center);
3. pass an examination on the knowledge of the Constitution and the Law on Citizenship;
4. live in Estonia before filing an application on the basis of a residence permit or right of residence for at least 8 years, of which the last 5 years have been permanent;
5. prove the existence of legal permanent income in the last 6 months in the amount of about 1,000 Estonian kroons per month for each family member, including dependents;
6. have a registered residence in Estonia;
7. prove loyalty to the Estonian state;
8. take an oath of allegiance to him;

The procedure of waiting for a decision on granting or denying citizenship after the fulfillment of all these requirements takes a little over a year ^[56] .

Despite the opportunities provided, many are not trying to acquire citizenship. For example, parents of about three thousand children under 15 years old, who have the right to apply for a simplified procedure for obtaining Estonian citizenship for their children, have not yet taken advantage of this opportunity. Most of these potential citizens are in Tallinn and Ida-Virumaa ^[57] .

International community

20 сентября 2007 председатель Парламентской ассамблеи Совета Европы ( ПАСЕ ) Рене ван дер Линден заявил после посещения Эстонии, что страна слишком медлит с принятием в своё гражданство проживающего в стране русскоязычного меньшинства ^[58] . Также 28 сентября 2007 года ООН распространила заявление о своём предложении Эстонии сделать русский язык вторым государственным и учитывать интересы русскоязычных граждан ^[59] .

Несмотря на то, что русский язык не признан официальным, он используется различными правительственными учреждениями Эстонии ^{[60] [61] [62]} .

1 сентября 2007 года , впервые после восстановления Эстонией независимости в 1991 году , телеобращение главы государства к стране вещалось с субтитрами на русском языке ^[63] .

Согласно результатам опроса в 2005 году ^[64] , 16 % жителей страны ответили, что «они верят в существование Бога», в то время как 54 % ответили, что «верят в то, что существуют некие высшие силы», и 26 % — что «они не верят в Бога или иные высшие силы». Это, если верить исследованию, делает эстонцев самой нерелигиозной нацией из 25 членов Европейского союза . Исследование, проведенное в 2006—2008 годах Институтом Гэллапа , показало, что 14 % эстонцев ответили положительно на вопрос: «Является ли религия важной частью Вашей ежедневной жизни?», что стало наименьшим показателем среди 143 стран, принявших участие в опросе ^[65] .

Менее трети населения страны считают себя верующими, большинство из которых — лютеране, тогда как русское меньшинство относит себя к православию. Древние традиции равноденствий (например, ) поддерживаются с большим уважением. По данным переписи населения 2011 года, 29 % населения относят к одной из следующих религий:

Также имеют место небольшие группы прочих протестантских деноминаций , иудеев и буддистов . В Эстонии официально зарегистрировано несколько эстонских языческих организаций ( Маавалла Кода , Маауск , Таарауск ) ^[69] , а также зарегистрирована одна русская языческая община в Тарту (Vene Rahvausu Kogudus Eestis) ^[70] .

В Советской Эстонии власти активно вмешивались в церковные дела, деятельность религиозных организаций была крайне ограничена, хотя в некоторых храмах, в том числе православных, совершались богослужения. Действовал основанный в 1898 году Пюхтицкий Успенский женский монастырь . С 1946 по 1982 годы была строго запрещена публикация и ввоз религиозной литературы.

В настоящее время никаких ограничений на религиозную деятельность не существует. Среди верующих преобладают лютеране и православные (в том числе эстонцы ), встречаются также баптисты , методисты , адвентисты седьмого дня ( Эстонская конференция Транс-Европейского дивизиона ), католики , пятидесятникии др. В 1993 году был принят специальный закон о деятельности церквей и приходов. В настоящее время на территории Эстонии зарегистрировано 8 церквей, 8 приходных союзов и 66 частных приходов. В 1993 году была восстановлена деятельность Эстонской православной церкви , которая с 1996 подчиняется Константинопольскому патриархату. Действует и Русская православная церковь, подчиняющаяся Московскому патриархату. Взаимоотношения двух православных церквей являются одной из причин, затрудняющих эстонско-российский политический диалог.

• Эстонизация

• Перепись в Эстонии принесла больше вопросов, чем ответов Демоскоп Weekly
• Русские в ближнем зарубежье Демоскоп Weekly
• Численность населения 1881–2000 stat.ee
• Population Statistics , Population by Nationality (англ.)