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glance<br />

Government<br />

official name: Republic of Estonia<br />

Type: parliamentary democracy<br />

head of state: President of the<br />

Republic Toomas Hendrik Ilves<br />

The unicameral parliament,<br />

Riigikogu, with 101 members,<br />

is elected every 4 years.<br />

Currency<br />

As from 2011 Estonia is the<br />

17th member of the euro-zone.<br />

Language<br />

The official language in Estonia is<br />

Estonian, a finno-ugric language<br />

closely related to finnish and distantly<br />

related to Hungarian. Also English,<br />

Russian, finnish and german are<br />

widely understood and spoken.<br />

Religion<br />

80% of all believers are Protestant<br />

Lutheran, but there are also greek<br />

Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Roman<br />

Catholics, baptists and Methodists.<br />

Main house<br />

of the<br />

university<br />

of Tartu.<br />

Education<br />

going to school is compulsory for 7-16<br />

year olds. Most of the 582 schools<br />

are state schools; 62 schools offer<br />

Russian-speaking instruction.<br />

The oldest of the universities, Tartu<br />

university was established in 1632 by<br />

gustav II Adolf, king of Sweden and is<br />

among the oldest in Northern Europe.<br />

Information<br />

society<br />

70 per cent of<br />

government<br />

population (15–74<br />

cabinet<br />

in Toompea.<br />

years) are Internet<br />

users, only<br />

approximately<br />

316 000 people in<br />

Estonia don’t use<br />

Internet.<br />

all Estonian<br />

schools are connected<br />

to the Internet.<br />

79 per cent of Estonian Internet users<br />

conduct their everyday banking via<br />

Internet.<br />

Nearly 90 per cent declare their<br />

incomes to the Tax board via Internet.<br />

In 2000 the government changed Cabinet<br />

meetings to paperless sessions<br />

using a web-based document system.<br />

Expenditures made in state budget<br />

can be followed on the Internet on-line.<br />

All of Estonia is covered with digital<br />

mobile phone networks.<br />

There are altogether 1155 wifi covered<br />

areas; most of them are free of charge.<br />

More at www.wifi.ee<br />

UsEfUl<br />

pHrasEs<br />

<strong>IN</strong> EsToNIaN<br />

National<br />

Holidays<br />

1 january – New Year’s day<br />

24 february – Independence day (1918)<br />

22 April – good friday<br />

1 May – Spring day<br />

23 june – Victory day<br />

24 june – Midsummer day<br />

20 August – day of Restoration<br />

of Independence (1991)<br />

24 december – Christmas Eve<br />

25 december – Christmas day<br />

old Thomas<br />

26 december – boxing day is the symbol<br />

of old Tallinn.<br />

kevad/spring 2011 I <strong>IN</strong><strong>TIME</strong> 7

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