75 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
75 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
**Estonia** is a [liberal](Liberalism "wikilink")
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[capitalist](Capitalism "wikilink") [state](List_of_States "wikilink")
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in Eastern Europe near [Finland](Finland "wikilink"),
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[Russia](Russia "wikilink") and [Latvia](Latvia "wikilink").
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## History
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Estonia has been inhabited for around 11,000 years, with Ancient
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Estonians being some of the last Europeans to adopt
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[Christianity](Christianity "wikilink"). After centuries of successive
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rule by Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians, a distinct Estonian
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national identity began to emerge in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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This culminated in independence from Russia in 1920 after a brief War of
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Independence at the end of World War I. Initially democratic prior to
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the Great Depression, Estonia experienced authoritarian rule from 1934
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during the Era of Silence. During World War II Estonia was repeatedly
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contested and occupied by the Soviet Union and Germany, ultimately being
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incorporated into the former. After the loss of its *de facto*
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independence, Estonia's *de jure* state continuity was preserved by
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diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile. In 1987 the
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peaceful Singing Revolution began against Soviet rule, resulting in the
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restoration of *de facto* independence on 20 August 1991. Since then,
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Estonia has developed into a technologically advanced, socially
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progressive [social democracy](Social_Democracy "wikilink").
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## Positives
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- The capital city of Tallinn (population: 441,000 people) made public
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transport in the city completely free in 2013. This raised worker
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satisfaction (drivers no longer had to argue with fare evaders or
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sell tickets), reduced car use, increased the mobility of the poor;
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parents and pensioners. Contrary to the frequent predictions of
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skeptics, the quality of public transport was not lowered and
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vandalism did not increase. This is the largest area of the world
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with free public transport all year around.\[1\]
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- Estonia has one of the most well-educated populations in the world,
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considered to have the 13th highest quality education system in the
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world and with 89% of people aged 25-64 having finished high school,
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both above average for a first world country and some of the highest
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in the world.
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- Estonia provides free universal healthcare to all of its citizens
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and it works very well. Estonia has the lowest maternal death rate
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in the world and a life expectancy of 78.6 years, the third-highest
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of any post-communist state (after Slovenia and Czechia).
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- Estonia legalised homosexuality in 1992, just a year after
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independence from the homophobic USSR.
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- Estonia provides the longest amount of maternity leave of any
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country in the world.
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- Estonia is considered one of, if not the, freest country in the
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world. It scores highly on human development, gender equality,
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environmental protection, free time and peace indexes.
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- Estonia has embraced the internet. Most public spaces have free
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Wi-Fi, you can get most government documents or do business online,
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it is ranked 1st in internet freedom globally and held the first
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elections that you could vote online in in 2005.\[2\]
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## Negatives
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- Estonia still has a large amount of racial discrimination against
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the Russian and Roma minorities in the country.\[3\]
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- Homophobia is common.
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- Human trafficking is common.
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- Estonia is oddly unhappy compared to other 'first world' countries.
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## Major Social Struggles
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- 2012: [Estonian Health Worker
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Strike](Estonian_Health_Worker_Strike_\(2012\) "wikilink")
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<!-- end list -->
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1. <https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/08/public-transportation-brussels-free-tickets?fbclid=IwAR0PIf4V3xfb2pBW_WO6ncXMldnyJ6Q7WDTaGM-TX_n9jsnbwrvgCcCwFnM>
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2. <https://www.wired.co.uk/article/digital-estonia>
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3. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Estonia> |