Overview

Located on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, the Republic of Estonia is the northernmost of the three Baltic Republics. The country measures 17,413 square miles (45,100 sq. km.), including some 1,500 islands in the Baltic Sea. The population is approximately 72 percent urban in character, and the capital city is Tallinn. Estonia is bordered on the north by the Gulf of Finland, on the east by Lake Peipus and Russia, on the south by Latvia, and on the west by the Baltic Sea.

The 1992 census estimated the population of Estonia at 1,607,000. Of these inhabitants 65 percent are Estonian, while 30 percent are Russian, and the rest are Ukrainian and Byelorussian. The ethnic Russian immigration intensified during the Soviet period (1940-1991) and is concentrated in the east, especially around Narva. Lutherans constitute the largest religious group, although there are other Protestant denominations (principally Baptist) and a significant number of Eastern...