Estonians Explained

Group:Estonians
eestlased
Flag:Map of the Estonian Diaspora in the World.svg
Flag Caption:Countries with significant Estonian population and descendants.
Pop: 1.1 million[1]
Regions: 925,892 [2]
Pop1:49,590–100,000[3] [4]
Pop2:29,128[5]
Pop4:24,000[6]
Pop3:25,509[7]
Pop6:7,778[8]
Pop5:10,000–15,000[9]
Pop7:7,543[10]
Pop8:6,286[11]
Pop9:5,092[12]
Pop11:2,868[13]
Pop12:2,560[14]
Pop13:2,000[15]
Pop14:1,676[16]
Pop15:1,658[17]
Pop16:1,482[18]
Langs:Primarily Estonian
also Võro and Seto
Rels:Majority irreligious
Historically Protestant Christian (Lutheranism)[19] [20]
Related:Other Baltic Finns
Especially Livonians, Setos, Võros, and Votians

Estonians or Estonian people (Estonian: eestlased) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who speak the Estonian language. Their nation state is Estonia.

The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other Finnic languages, e.g. Finnish, Karelian and Livonian. The Finnic languages are a subgroup of the larger Uralic family of languages, which also includes e.g. the Sami languages. These languages are markedly different from most other native languages spoken in Europe, most of which have been assigned to the Indo-European family of languages. Estonians can also be classified into subgroups according to dialects (e.g. Võros, Setos), although such divisions have become less pronounced due to internal migration and rapid urbanisation in Estonia in the 20th century.

There are approximately 1 million ethnic Estonians worldwide, with the vast majority of them residing in their native Estonia. Estonian diaspora communities formed primarily in Finland, the United States, Sweden, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

History

Prehistoric roots

Estonia was first inhabited about 10,000 years ago, soon after the ice from the Baltic Ice Lake had melted. Living in the same area for more than 5,000 years would put the ancestors of Estonians among the oldest permanent inhabitants in Europe.[21] On the other hand, some recent linguistic estimations suggest that Finno-Ugric language speakers arrived around the Baltic Sea considerably later, perhaps during the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1800 BCE).[22] [23] It has also been argued that Western Uralic tribes reached Fennoscandia first, leading into the development of Sami people, and arrived to the Baltic region later during the Bronze Age or its transition to Iron Age at the latest, which lead into the formation of Baltic Finnic population who would later become such groups as Estonians and Finns.[24]

The oldest known endonym of the Estonians is Estonian: maarahvas,[25] literally meaning "land people" or "country folk". It was used until the mid-19th century, when it was gradually replaced by Eesti rahvas "Estonian people" during the Estonian national awakening.[26] [27] Eesti, the modern endonym of Estonia, is thought to have similar origins to Aestii, the name used by the ancient Germanic tribes for the neighbouring people living northeast of the mouth of the river Vistula. The Roman historian Tacitus in 98 CE was the first to mention the "Aestii" people in writing. In Old Norse the land south of the Gulf of Finland was called Eistland and the people eistr. The first known book in the Estonian language was printed in 1525, while the oldest known examples of written Estonian originate in 13th-century chronicles.

National consciousness

Although Estonian national consciousness spread in the course of the 19th century during the Estonian national awakening,[28] some degree of ethnic awareness preceded this development.[29] By the 18th century the self-denomination Estonian: eestlane spread among Estonians along with the older Estonian: maarahvas.[25] Anton thor Helle's translation of the Bible into Estonian appeared in 1739, and the number of books and brochures published in Estonian increased from 18 in the 1750s to 54 in the 1790s. By the end of the century more than a half of adult peasants could read. The first university-educated intellectuals identifying themselves as Estonians, including Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1798–1850), Kristjan Jaak Peterson (1801–1822) and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803–1882), appeared in the 1820s. The ruling elites had remained predominantly German in language and culture since the conquest of the early 13th century. Garlieb Merkel (1769–1850), a Baltic-German Estophile, became the first author to treat the Estonians as a nationality equal to others; he became a source of inspiration for the Estonian national movement, modelled on Baltic German cultural world before the middle of the 19th century. However, in the middle of the century, the Estonians became more ambitious and started leaning toward the Finns as a successful model of national movement and, to some extent, toward the neighbouring Latvian national movement. By the end of 1860 the Estonians became unwilling to reconcile with German cultural and political hegemony. Before the attempts at Russification in the 1880s, their view of Imperial Russia remained positive.[29]

Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries stemming from important cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian and German rule and settlement.[30] According to a poll done in 2013, about half of the young Estonians considered themselves Nordic, and about the same number viewed Baltic identity as important. The Nordic identity among Estonians can ovelap with other identities, as it is associated with being Finno-Ugric and their close relationship with the Finnish people and does not exclude being Baltic.[31] In Estonian foreign ministry reports from the early 2000s Nordic identity was preferred over Baltic one.[32] [33]

After the Treaty of Tartu (1920) recognised Estonia's 1918 independence from Russia, ethnic Estonians residing in Russia gained the option of opting for Estonian citizenship (those who opted were called optandid – 'optants') and returning to their fatherland. An estimated 40,000 Estonians lived in Russia in 1920. In sum, 37,578 people moved from Soviet Russia to Estonia (1920–1923).[34]

Emigration

During the period of Tsarist rule of Estonia (1710-1917), over 100,000 Estonians migrated to the neighbouring areas of the Russian Empire, especially to the then capital city Saint Petersburg. According to the 1897 census, 6,852 native Estonian-speakers also lived in the Russian Partition of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in what is now Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia and western Ukraine, of which over 4,360 lived in territories of today's Poland.[35] [36]

During World War II, when Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Army in 1944, large numbers of Estonians fled their homeland on ships or smaller boats over the Baltic Sea. Many refugees who survived the risky sea voyage to Sweden or Germany later moved from there to Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia.[37] Some of these refugees and their descendants returned to Estonia after the nation regained its independence in 1991.

Over the years of independence, many Estonians have chosen to work abroad, primarily in Finland, but also in the UK, Benelux, Sweden, and Germany.[38]

Recognising the problems arising from low birth rate and emigration, the Estonian government has launched various measures to increase the birth rate and to lure migrant Estonians back to Estonia. For example, a campaign Talendid koju! ("Bringing talents home!")[39] has aimed to coordinate and promote the return of Estonians who have particular skills needed in Estonia.

Estonians in Canada

One of the largest permanent Estonian communities outside Estonia is in Canada, with about 24,000 people[6] (according to some sources up to 50,000 people).[40] In the late 1940s and early 1950s, about 17,000 arrived in Canada, initially in Montreal.[41] Toronto is currently the city with the largest population of Estonians outside of Estonia. The first Estonian World Festival was held in Toronto in 1972.

Genetics

Haplogroups

Y-chromosome haplogroups among Estonians include N1c (35.7%),[42] R1a (33.5%)[43] and I1 (15%). R1a, common in Eastern Europe,[44] was the dominant Y-DNA haplogroup among the pre-Uralic inhabitants of Estonia, as it is the only one found in the local samples from the time of the Corded Ware culture and Bronze Age. Appearance of N1c is linked to the arrival of Uralic-speakers.[45] It originated in East Eurasia[46] and is commonly carried by modern Uralic-speaking groups but also other North Eurasians, including Estonians' Baltic-speaking neighbors Latvians and Lithuanians. Compared to the Balts, Estonians have been noticed to have differences in allelic variances of N1c haplotypes, showing more similarity with other Finno-Ugric-speakers.[47] [48]

When looking at maternal lineages, nearly half (45.8%) of the Estonians have the haplogroup H . About one in four (24.3%) carry the haplogroup U, and the majority of them belong to its subclade U5.[49]

Autosomal DNA

Autosomally Estonians are close with Latvians and Lithuanians.[50] [51] However, they are shifted towards the Finns, who are isolated from most European populations.[52] [53] [54] Northeastern Estonians are particularly close to Finns, while Southeastern Estonians are close to the Balts; other Estonians plot between these two extremes.

Estonians have high steppe-like admixture, and less farmer-related and more hunter-gatherer-related admixture than Western and Central Europeans. The same pattern is found also in the Balts, Finns and Mordvins, for example.[55] Uralic peoples typically carry a Siberian-related component, which is also present in Estonians and makes up about five percent of their ancestry on average. Although they have a smaller share of it than other Balto-Finns, it is one factor that distinguishes them from the Balts. Estonians can also be modelled to have considerably more Finnish-like ancestry than Baltic-speakers.

Estonians have a high sharing of IBD (identity-by-descent) segments with other studied Balto-Finnic groups (Finns, Karelians and Vepsians) and the Sami people, as well as with the Polish people.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/estai/ Estai
  2. Web site: Population by ethnic nationality. Statistics Estonia. 6 June 2021. June 2020.
  3. Web site: Population. Statistics Finland. 4 April 2018. 6 June 2018.
  4. Web site: Up to 100 000 Estonians work in Finland. 27 December 2010. Baltic News Network. 4 October 2018.
  5. Web site: Table B04006 - People Reporting Ancestry - 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. United States Census Bureau. 17 September 2022. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20220917224633/https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?tid=ACSDT1Y2021.B04006. 17 September 2022.
  6. Web site: Canada-Estonia Relations. 17 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20131120072919/http://canadainternational.gc.ca/baltic_states-pays_baltes/bilateral_relations_bilaterales/estonia_relations_estonie.aspx?lang=eng. 20 November 2013. dead. dmy-all.
  7. Web site: Eestlased Rootsis. 7 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150217042332/http://rootsieestlasteliit.org/eestlased-rootsis. 17 February 2015. dead. dmy-all.
  8. Web site: Национальный состав населения. Federal State Statistics Service. 30 December 2022.
  9. Web site: United Kingdom. Ethnologue. 12 May 2016.
  10. Web site: 2054.0 Australian Census Analytic Program: Australians' Ancestries (2001 (Corrigendum)). Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2001. 17 September 2011.
  11. Web site: Pressemitteilungen – Ausländische Bevölkerung – Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis). www.destatis.de.
  12. http://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/statistikker/innvbef/aar/2016-03-03 "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, 1 January 2016"
  13. Web site: The distribution of the population by nationality and mother tongue. State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. 2001. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081205195839/http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=20&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1%20%20%20%20&n_page=2. 5 December 2008. dmy-all.
  14. Web site: Persons usually resident and present in the State on Census Night, classified by place of birth and age group. Central Statistics Office Ireland. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110806062421/http://www.cso.ie/statistics/placebirthagegroup.htm. 6 August 2011.
  15. Web site: Estemb in Belgium and Luxembourg. 17 March 2015. 21 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150221011944/http://www.estemb.be/estonia_and_belgium. dead.
  16. Web site: Usually resident population by ethnicity at the beginning of the year – 2018. csb.gov.lv.
  17. Web site: Statistikbanken. www.statistikbanken.dk. Population at the first day of the quarter by country of origin, region and time. Retrieved on 23 May 2024.
  18. http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?DM=SLNL&PA=37325&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=0&D5=a&D6=l&VW=T Official CBS website containing all Dutch demographic statistics
  19. Book: Ivković. Sanja Kutnjak. Haberfeld. M.R.. Measuring Police Integrity Across the World: Studies from Established Democracies and Countries in Transition. 10 June 2015. Springer . en . 9781493922796. 131. Estonia is considered Protestant when classified by its historically predominant major religion (Norris and Inglehart 2011) and thus some authors (e.g., Davie 2003) claim Estonia belongs to Western (Lutheran) Europe, while others (e.g., Norris and Inglehart 2011) see Estonia as a Protestant ex-Communist society..
  20. Web site: Is Estonia really the least religious country in the world?. Ringvee. Ringo. 16 September 2011. The Guardian. For this situation there are several reasons, starting from the distant past (the close connection of the churches with the Swedish or German ruling classes) up to the Soviet-period atheist policy when the chain of religious traditions was broken in most families. In Estonia, religion has never played an important role on the political or ideological battlefield. The institutional religious life was dominated by foreigners until the early 20th century. The tendencies that prevailed in the late 1930s for closer relations between the state and Lutheran church [...] ended with the Soviet occupation in 1940..
  21. https://books.google.com/books?id=rWB3Bv3vuyMC Unrepresented Nations and peoples organization By Mary Kate Simmons; p141
  22. Petri Kallio 2006: Suomalais-ugrilaisen kantakielen absoluuttisesta kronologiasta. — Virittäjä 2006. (With English summary).
  23. Web site: Häkkinen, Jaakko. 2009. Kantauralin ajoitus ja paikannus: perustelut puntarissa. – Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja . 92.
  24. Lang, Valter: Homo Fennicus – Itämerensuomalaisten etnohistoria, pp. 335–336. Finnish Literature Society, 2020.
  25. Ariste . Paul . 1956 . Maakeel ja eesti keel. Eesti NSV Teaduste Akadeemia Toimetised 5: 117–24; Beyer, Jürgen (2007). Ist maarahvas ('Landvolk'), die alte Selbstbezeichnung der Esten, eine Lehnübersetzung? Eine Studie zur Begriffsgeschichte des Ostseeraums . . 56 . 566–593 .
  26. Beyer . Jürgen . Are Folklorists Studying the Tales of the Folk? . Folklore . April 2011 . 122 . 1 . 35–54 . 10.1080/0015587X.2011.537132 . 144633422 .
  27. Paatsi. Vello. "Terre, armas eesti rahwas!": Kuidas maarahvast ja maakeelest sai eesti rahvas, eestlased ja eesti keel . Akadeemia . 2012. 24. 2. 20–21. 0235-7771 . et . 21 January 2020.
  28. Gellner . Ernest . 1996 . Do nations have navels? . . 2 . 3. 365–70 . 10.1111/j.1469-8219.1996.tb00003.x .
  29. Raun . Toivo U . 2003 . Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Estonian nationalism revisited . . 9 . 1. 129–147 . 10.1111/1469-8219.00078.
  30. Piirimäe, Helmut. Historical heritage: the relations between Estonia and her Nordic neighbors. In M. Lauristin et al. (eds.), Return to the Western world: Cultural and political perspectives on the Estonian post-communist transition. Tartu: Tartu University Press, 1997.
  31. Web site: 2021-12-28 . How Nordic is Estonia?: An overview since 1991 . 2023-10-12 . nordics.info . en.
  32. http://web-static.vm.ee/static/failid/220/eesti_elu.pdf Estonian foreign ministry report
  33. http://web-static.vm.ee/static/failid/273/Eesti%20elu.pdf Estonian foreign ministry report
  34. Web site: Лоткин И.В. . ru:Оптационная кампания и эвакуация граждан прибалтийских государств на историческую родину в начале 1920–х годов . http://library.krasu.ru/ft/ft/_articles/0089688.pdf . https://web.archive.org/web/20061010231851/http://library.krasu.ru/ft/ft/_articles/0089688.pdf . dead . 2006-10-10 . library.krasu.ru . ru.
  35. Web site: Привислинские губернии. Demoscope Weekly. 9 January 2024.
  36. Web site: Средняя Азия. Demoscope Weekly. 9 January 2024.
  37. Past, Evald, By Land and By Sea, Booklocker, 2015,
  38. Web site: The CIA World Factbook Country Comparison of net migration rate. cia.gov. 8 November 2011. 26 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181226005157/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2112rank.html. dead.
  39. Web site: Toome talendid Eestimaale tagasi – Talendid Koju!. talendidkoju.ee. 8 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20171220214705/http://www.talendidkoju.ee/. 20 December 2017. dead.
  40. Web site: Estonian Embassy in Ottawa. 17 March 2015. 5 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150705032311/http://www.estemb.ca/estonia_and_canada. dead.
  41. Web site: The Estonian Presence in Toronto. 17 March 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120312043108/http://www.tgmag.ca/magic/mt51.html. 12 March 2012. dmy-all.
  42. Lang, Valter: Homo Fennicus – Itämerensuomalaisten etnohistoria, pp. 93–95. Finnish Literature Society, 2020. .
  43. Tambets . Kristiina . Rootsi . Siiri . Kivisild . Toomas . Help . Hela . Serk . Piia . Loogväli . Eva-Liis . Tolk . Helle-Viivi . Reidla . Maere . Metspalu . Ene . Pliss . Liana . Balanovsky . Oleg . Pshenichnov . Andrey . Balanovska . Elena . Gubina . Marina . Zhadanov . Sergey . 2004 . The Western and Eastern Roots of the Saami—the Story of Genetic "Outliers" Told by Mitochondrial DNA and Y Chromosomes . The American Journal of Human Genetics . en . 74 . 4 . 661–682 . 10.1086/383203 . 1181943 . 15024688.
  44. Web site: Haplogroup R1a . 2023-10-12 . Eupedia . en.
  45. Saag . Lehti . Laneman . Margot . Varul . Liivi . Malve . Martin . Valk . Heiki . Razzak . Maria A. . Shirobokov . Ivan G. . Khartanovich . Valeri I. . Mikhaylova . Elena R. . Kushniarevich . Alena . Scheib . Christiana Lyn . Solnik . Anu . Reisberg . Tuuli . Parik . Jüri . Saag . Lauri . May 2019 . The Arrival of Siberian Ancestry Connecting the Eastern Baltic to Uralic Speakers further East . Current Biology . 29 . 10 . 1701–1711.e16 . 10.1016/j.cub.2019.04.026 . 6544527 . 31080083 . Metspalu . Ene . Rootsi . Siiri . Montinaro . Francesco . Remm . Maido . Mägi . Reedik . D’Atanasio . Eugenia . Crema . Enrico Ryunosuke . Díez-del-Molino . David . Thomas . Mark G. . Kriiska . Aivar . Kivisild . Toomas . Villems . Richard . Lang . Valter . Metspalu . Mait . Tambets . Kristiina.
  46. Tambets . Kristiina . Yunusbayev . Bayazit . Hudjashov . Georgi . Ilumäe . Anne-Mai . Rootsi . Siiri . Honkola . Terhi . Vesakoski . Outi . Atkinson . Quentin . Skoglund . Pontus . Kushniarevich . Alena . Litvinov . Sergey . Reidla . Maere . Metspalu . Ene . Saag . Lehti . Rantanen . Timo . 2018 . Genes reveal traces of common recent demographic history for most of the Uralic-speaking populations . Genome Biology . en . 19 . 1 . 139 . 10.1186/s13059-018-1522-1 . 1474-760X . 6151024 . 30241495 . free .
  47. Krūmiņa . Astrīda . Pliss . Liāna . Zariņa . Gunita . Puzuka . Agrita . Zariņa . Agnese . Lāce . Baiba . Elferts . Didzis . Khrunin . Andrey . Limborska . Svetlana . Kloviņš . Jānis . Gailīte Piekuse . Linda . 2018-06-01 . Population Genetics of Latvians in the Context of Admixture between North-Eastern European Ethnic Groups . Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences. . en . 72 . 3 . 131–151 . 10.2478/prolas-2018-0025 . 1407-009X. free .
  48. Lappalainen, Tuuli: Human genetic variation in the Baltic Sea region: features of population history and natural selection. PhD thesis. Helsinki University Print, Helsinki. 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10138/22129
  49. Web site: Distribution of European mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups by region in percentage . 2023-10-13 . Eupedia . en.
  50. Lang, Valter: Homo Fennicus – Itämerensuomalaisten etnohistoria, pp. 93–95. Finnish Literature Society, 2020.
  51. Tambets . Kristiina . Yunusbayev . Bayazit . Hudjashov . Georgi . Ilumäe . Anne-Mai . Rootsi . Siiri . Honkola . Terhi . Vesakoski . Outi . Atkinson . Quentin . Skoglund . Pontus . Kushniarevich . Alena . Litvinov . Sergey . Reidla . Maere . Metspalu . Ene . Saag . Lehti . Rantanen . Timo . 2018 . Genes reveal traces of common recent demographic history for most of the Uralic-speaking populations . Genome Biology . en . 19 . 1 . 139 . 10.1186/s13059-018-1522-1 . 1474-760X . 6151024 . 30241495 . free.
  52. Nelis . Mari . Esko . Tõnu . Mägi . Reedik . Zimprich . Fritz . Zimprich . Alexander . Toncheva . Draga . Karachanak . Sena . Piskáčková . Tereza . Balaščák . Ivan . Peltonen . Leena . Jakkula . Eveliina . Rehnström . Karola . Lathrop . Mark . Heath . Simon . Galan . Pilar . 2009-05-08 . Genetic Structure of Europeans: A View from the North–East . PLOS ONE . 4 . 5 . e5472 . 2009PLoSO...4.5472N . 10.1371/journal.pone.0005472 . 1932-6203 . 2675054 . 19424496 . free.
  53. Kushniarevich . Alena . Utevska . Olga . Chuhryaeva . Marina . Agdzhoyan . Anastasia . Dibirova . Khadizhat . Uktveryte . Ingrida . Möls . Märt . Mulahasanovic . Lejla . Pshenichnov . Andrey . Frolova . Svetlana . Shanko . Andrey . Metspalu . Ene . Reidla . Maere . Tambets . Kristiina . Tamm . Erika . 2015-09-02 . Calafell . Francesc . Genetic Heritage of the Balto-Slavic Speaking Populations: A Synthesis of Autosomal, Mitochondrial and Y-Chromosomal Data . PLOS ONE . en . 10 . 9 . e0135820 . 2015PLoSO..1035820K . 10.1371/journal.pone.0135820 . 1932-6203 . 4558026 . 26332464 . free.
  54. Khrunin . Andrey V. . Khokhrin . Denis V. . Filippova . Irina N. . Esko . Tõnu . Nelis . Mari . Bebyakova . Natalia A. . Bolotova . Natalia L. . Klovins . Janis . Nikitina-Zake . Liene . Rehnström . Karola . Ripatti . Samuli . Schreiber . Stefan . Franke . Andre . Macek . Milan . Krulišová . Veronika . 2013-03-07 . A Genome-Wide Analysis of Populations from European Russia Reveals a New Pole of Genetic Diversity in Northern Europe . PLOS ONE . 8 . 3 . e58552 . 2013PLoSO...858552K . 10.1371/journal.pone.0058552 . 1932-6203 . 3591355 . 23505534 . free.
  55. Salmela . Elina . 2023 . Mistä suomalaisten perimä on peräisin? . Duodecim . 139 . 16 . 1247–1255 . 0012-7183.

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