New coin to commemorate Estonian as a written language

Next year the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) will release a new two-euro coin to commemorate 500 years of Estonian as a written language. The coin, featuring a special design, will go into circulation in the first half of 2025 to mark a very significant moment in Estonian culture - it will be 500 years since the first publication appeared written in Estonian, thus establishing Estonian as a literary language. The coin was designed by Svetlin Balezdrov and depicts four stylised books forming the letter E. The design is encircled by the words “Eesti kirjakeel 500” and the years 1525 and 2025.

The top EU exports by country

In 2023 the top exports of Estonia were cars (€899M), communication equipment (€883M), electricity (€433M), prefabricated buildings, whether or not complete or already assembled (€429M), and refined petroleum products (€417M). In the rest of Europe, cars, petroleum and vaccines remain hot commodities.

Here is an overview of Estonian export figures. More information came be found at Statistics Estonia

Beautiful Tallinn!

Tallinn is truly magical at night! During this time of year the pastel coloured sky provides a stunning backdrop to our beautiful capital city.

Aerial views of Tallinn

 These old aerial photographs of Tallinn were taken sometime during the 1930s.

 

 

Toompea castle grounds before the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn

This photograph was taken some time prior to 1894. Construction of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn took place from 1894 -1900. After Estonia became independent the church was scheduled for demolition in 1924 but it never happened.

First picture to appear in an Estonian newspaper

The first Estonian language newspaper was published in 1806 and was called Tarto maa rahva Näddali-Leht. At the time Estonia was under Russian rule and when Tzar Alexander I found out about the newspaper, he forbid any further printing of the publication and had copies destroyed. A total of 39 issues were printed. The first picture to appear in Tarto maa rahva Näddali-Leht was this image of a rural farm setting.

Finland and Sweden may be the happiest countries in the world but Estonia is the happiest in the Baltics

For several consecutive years Finland and Sweden have repeatedly scored highly on the global happiness ranking. While long cold winters often get people depressed in other parts of the world, this appears to have little effect on the Scandinavians. So what is their secret? What makes them so happy? The answer is actually quite simple; in Sweden and Finland there is civic and social harmony. People trust each other, the government, and society. 

In Estonia it may take some time to catch up with our Nordic neighbours' high level of happiness, but compared to Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia has the happiest people in the Baltics.

In the recent Estonian Social Survey, respondents were asked to assess how often they had felt happy during the previous four weeks. Half of the Estonian population (50.1 percent) admitted they are either always happy, or happy most of the time. Around a third (35.3 percent) reported feeling happy sometimes, while just over a tenth (11.3 percent) are rarely happy, and 3.3 percent are never happy.  In Lithuania, 48.1 percent of people surveyed said they were always happy or happy most of the time, and that figure was even lower in Latvia, where 36.8 percent of respondents said they were happy all or most of the time. Overall, life satisfaction continues to grow in Estonia.

Bank of Estonia to issue new two-euro coin dedicated to the Estonian national flower

On May 21 the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) will release a new two-euro coin dedicated to the cornflower.  The distinctive blue cornflower, Centaurea cyanus, was chosen as the Estonian national flower in 1968. The coin dedicated to the cornflower shows a stylised flower leaning towards the viewer in its natural environment of a windblown field of cereal. The cornflower has an eight-pointed motif at the centre that is an Estonian folk design and symbol that is commonly found in traditional patterns as a sign of luck and a symbol of love. The cornflower coin is part of a coin series depicting Estonian national symbols.

 

The cornflower coin was designed by Kaupo Kangro.

One million coins have been minted and will be available as coin rolls and commemorative coin cards from Omniva and the Eesti Pank Museum shop from 9am.

Estonia's population in numbers

As of the 1st of January 2024, there are 1,374,687 people living in Estonia. The natural increase was negative (-5,053 people), but the net migration was positive (+13,856 people). Estonia's population grew by 8,803 people last year. The chart below shows a breakdown of the figures.

Northern lights illuminate night sky across Estonia

Once again the northern lights have made a stunning display of colour across Estonia. The recent solar storm has enabled the aurora borealis to be seen in parts of the world where it's not usually visable. Here are some images recently been taken in Estonia. Beautiful!

 

 

Happy Mother's Day! Head emadepäeva!

Mothers give us so much in life and today we show them our appreciation. Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! You deserve to be spoilt today!

The greatest inspiration often comes from nature

Many country flags find their inspiration in nature. The Estonian landscape during winter often reminds us of our beloved national flag and warms our hearts whenever we see it appear naturally.  It is the same for several other countries. Here are a few from the Baltic and Nordic region of Europe.

Estonian salt candle holders

The arrival of spring brings with it new energy and inspiration for creative work. Today, to mark Europe Day, I have made these salt candle holders in the colours of the Estonian flag. They are so easy and fun to make. Simply fill a jar with salt, divide into portions then add food colouring to create the desired colour.  For the finishing touch, add a tea light on top. You can get really creative making these candle holders by experimenting with different colours, shades and layers.

New book of memories from Estonian children born in Siberia published

A new book has been published containing a collection of childhood stories from Estonian children who were born in Sibera following the Soviet deportations that took place during the 1940s. The book was compiled and published by the NGO "Siberis sündinud laste" ("Children born in Sibera"), which was founded two years ago and now has 200 members.

 

Sunnitud Sünnimaa. Siberi laste lood

The book features recollections from 84 Estonians of their childhood in Siberia. One of the book's authors is Virve Tuubel, who is also a methodologist at the ERM's Education Centre. Tuubel said that through the stories we can learn a lot about how people perceived the place where they were born and the living conditions they experienced as children.

In one story, a child describes his home, "that dirt floor, that one room. A lot of different kinds of people lived there together, but there were also rats, mice, cockroaches, lice, fleas, and mosquitoes in summer. And, he says that when he and his mother returned to Estonia, they were not very welcome here. We lived here and there," says Tuubel.

It's Eurovision week!

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden this week. The number of songs will be signficantly less compared to previous years with only 37 performances set to take the stage. Estonia's entry 5MIINUST x Puuluup is actually a double act, two bands who came together to create the hit song (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi, that won Eesti Laul eariler this year.

(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi, which translates as “We (really) don’t know anything about (these) drugs” is a collaboration between nu-folk act Puuluup, who are famous for their skills on the Talharpa, a rare wooden lyre from northern Europe and 5MIINUST, a hip-hop group. The upbeat song delivers humorous lyrics about a drug bust. (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi has the longest song title in the history of the competition.

5MIINUST x Puuluup are scheduled to perform in the second semi-final on May 9.  Good luck!

Storks in Estonia

Storks are migratory birds who like to spend their winters in the warmth of Africa then usually make an appearance in Estonia by the end of April. Storks can often be seen throughout the Estonian countryside enjoying the country's open landscapes in sparsely populated areas. White storks have long been associated with good luck in Estonia. In old Estonian folklore it is believed that if a family find a stork's nest on their property it will bring them harmony. Another ancient belief is if a newlywed couple tie a ribbon around a tree or pole supporting a stork's nest, they will have a good life together. Storks generally are a symbol of peace and they usually bring delight when spotted in nature.

 

A stork's nest recently spotted in Võru.