AP
Composer
Arvo Pärt
1935–Born in Paide. His tintinnabuli style, heard in Für Alina, Spiegel im Spiegel and Tabula Rasa, made him one of the most performed living composers in the world.
Their story →
Photo: Hans Markus Antson / Visit Estonia · Mist at sunrise, Kõrvemaa
Discover Estonia
What Estonia is famous for
Estonia is a small country with a large footprint: a state that runs on the internet, a nation that sings in its tens of thousands, and a landscape of forests, bogs and islands that covers most of its land. These are the things it is best known for.
01
A digital society
Few countries have moved as much of public life online. An Estonian can start a company, sign a contract, see a doctor's prescription or vote from a laptop, and the state asks for the same information only once.
- The X-Road, since 2001, links public and private databases securely.
- Every resident's ID card, since 2002, carries a legally binding digital signature.
- Internet voting in national elections since 2005; in 2023 more than half of all votes were cast online.
- e-Residency, since 2014, offers a digital identity to people anywhere in the world.
- Skype, Wise and Bolt were built by Estonian founders and engineers.
- Tallinn hosts NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
02
Song, music and culture
Estonians sang their way to freedom. The song festival, held since 1869, gathers tens of thousands of singers on one stage, and the country's composers are performed in concert halls across the world.
- The song and dance celebrations are recognised by UNESCO as part of the intangible heritage of humanity.
- Arvo Pärt, born in Paide in 1935, is among the most performed living composers in the world.
- The Singing Revolution of 1987–1991 is remembered as a peaceful road to independence.
- Kihnu island's cultural space, Seto leelo singing and the smoke sauna of Võromaa are on UNESCO's lists.
- Tallinn's medieval Old Town is a World Heritage Site.
- Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language, closely related to Finnish, with fourteen grammatical cases.
03
Forests, bogs and islands
Half of Estonia is forest, a fifth is wetland, and its coast is scattered with more than two thousand islands. Wolves, bears and lynx still live here, an hour's drive from the capital.
- Lahemaa, founded in 1971, was the first national park in the Soviet Union.
- In Soomaa the spring flood is so wide it is called the fifth season.
- The Baltic Klint, a limestone escarpment, runs along the north coast.
- The Kaali crater on Saaremaa was made by a meteorite a few thousand years ago.
- Everyone's right lets anyone walk, pick berries and mushrooms in the forests.
- Let's Do It!, begun in Estonia in 2008, grew into World Cleanup Day.
04
A history of endurance
The Republic was declared on 24 February 1918, defended in the War of Independence, occupied in 1940 and restored on 20 August 1991, without a shot being fired.
- The Tartu Peace Treaty of 2 February 1920 ended the War of Independence.
- On 23 August 1989 about two million people joined hands from Tallinn to Vilnius in the Baltic Way.
- Western democracies never recognised the Soviet occupation, and the state continued in exile.
- Since 2004 Estonia has been a member of both NATO and the European Union.
05
Sport and achievement
For a nation of 1.4 million, Estonia has an unusual record of Olympic and world champions, from the ski track to the rally stage.
- Erki Nool, decathlon gold, Sydney 2000; Gerd Kanter, discus gold, Beijing 2008.
- Andrus Veerpalu and Kristina Šmigun won Olympic golds in cross-country skiing.
- Ott Tänak became World Rally Champion in 2019.
- Paul Keres was one of the strongest chess players of the twentieth century.
06Famous Estonians
Ten Estonians the world knows
Composers and code writers, a chess legend and a world rally champion: ten of the people the country is famous for.
LK
Architect
Louis Kahn
1901–1974Spent his early childhood in Kuressaare on Saaremaa before emigrating to the United States. Designed the Salk Institute, the Kimbell Art Museum and the National Assembly of Bangladesh.
Their story →JT
Engineer and investor
Jaan Tallinn
1972–One of the engineers behind Kazaa and Skype, which connected the world by voice. He now funds research into the long-term risks of artificial intelligence.
Their story →TH
Entrepreneur
Taavet Hinrikus
1981–Skype's first employee. In 2011 he co-founded TransferWise, now Wise, which made sending money abroad cheap and transparent.
Their story →OT
Rally driver
Ott Tänak
1987–From the gravel roads of Saaremaa to the world title: in 2019 he and co-driver Martin Järveoja became World Rally Champions.
Their story →CK
Model
Carmen Kass
1978–Born in Paide, she became one of the leading models of the late 1990s and 2000s. A keen chess player, she has also led the Estonian Chess Federation.
Their story →PK
Chess grandmaster
Paul Keres
1916–1975Born in Narva. Winner of the great AVRO tournament of 1938 and four times runner-up in the Candidates: the strongest player never to become world champion, it is often said.
Their story →JL
Semiotician
Juri Lotman
1922–1993Professor at the University of Tartu who founded the Tartu–Moscow school of semiotics and taught generations how to read culture as a language.
Their story →KE
Naturalist
Karl Ernst von Baer
1792–1876Born at Piibe in Järvamaa. Discovered the mammalian egg cell in 1827 and is regarded as a founder of embryology. His statue stands on Toome Hill in Tartu.
Their story →FG
Navigator
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
1778–1852Born on Saaremaa. In January 1820 the expedition he led was among the first to sight the continent of Antarctica.
Their story →Selected from the People collection of Minu Eesti, eestivabariik.ee, where each has a fuller story. Photographs from Wikimedia Commons. eestivabariik.ee