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The coat of arms, the national colours and the national anthem officially became Estonia's after the War of Independence of 1918 - 1920, when the Republic of Estonia was internationally recognized. All three symbols had existed long before. www.einst.ee/ Description of the Flag, Legislation, Vertical Banner, Table Flag, Pennant. www.fotw.us/ The Estonian people are ethnically related to the Finns. The Estonian language is one of the Finno-Ugric languages and as such, along with its close relative Finnish as well as Hungarian, is one of the few official languages of the European Union that is not of Indo-European origin. en.wikipedia.org/ Estonians belong to the Balto-Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric peoples, as do the Finns and the Hungarians. Archaeological research confirms the existence of human activity in the region as early as 8,000 BC, but by 3,500 BC the principal ancestors of the Estonians had arrived from the east. Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries today stemming from deep cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian colonization and settlement. This highly literate society places great emphasis upon education, which is free and compulsory until age 16. About 20% of the population belongs to the following churches registered in Estonia: Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Estonian Orthodox Church subordinated to the Moscow Patriarchate, Baptist Church, Roman Catholic Church, and others. As of November 2006, 84.6% of Estonia's population held Estonian citizenship, 7.6% were citizens of other countries (primarily Russia), and 8.8% were of undetermined citizenship. Written with the Latin alphabet, Estonian is the language of the Estonian people and the official language of the country. Estonian is one of the world's most difficult languages to learn for English-speakers: it has fourteen cases, which can be a challenge even for skilled linguists. During the Soviet era, the Russian language was imposed for official use. www.state.gov/r/ |
