For ten consecutive years Estonia has outperformed its peers to have the most competitive tax code in the OECD. According to the Tax Competitiveness Index 2023, Estonia's transparent and straightforward tax system attracts investments with no corporate income, capital, or property transfer taxes. A clear advantage of Estonia’s tax system is that companies and individuals alike, spend less time on tax compliance than they would in any other country in the OECD.
Ernst Hermann Schlichting was a Baltic German painter who was born in Tallinn in 1812. His father, Christian Schlichting, was a merchant and former mayor of Tartu. Ernst Schlichting attended the Tartu Gymnasium from 1827 to 1831 and later studied in St.Petersburg. During his career he took study trips to Finland, Sweden, Norway and Germany and earned an income from painting portraits and landscapes. Ernst was also a lithographer and teacher and his sister Wilhelmine was also a painter. He died in Dresden in 1890.
September 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the Great Flight (Suur põgenemine) that saw thousands of people flee Estonia to escape the country's second Soviet occupation. After the devastation Estonians encountered during the first Soviet occupation (1940 -1941), they did not want to endure that horror again, therefore when the Red Army advanced into Estonia again in 1944, many people abandoned their homes to find safety abroad.
During World War II, between 70,000 - 80,000 people fled Estonia and sought refuge in nearby Sweden, Finland and Germany. After 1945 many of those Estonian refugees emigrated to different corners of the world, finding new homes in places such as Australia, Canada and the United States of America.
A refugee database has been created and can be found on the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory website. The database contains information about Estonian residents who fled the country during World War II. You can search for relatives on the datbase here.
While Estonians consider themselves quiet by nature, they still feel the need to make conversation when they see someone they know. A recent study on small talk reveals that rather than politeness, they associate it with the need to fill an awkward silence, such as when riding in an elevator with someone they know or seeing a distant relative at a party.
To read the full ERR News article, please click here.
Estonia once again scores highly in world rankings, this time for climate change protection. The Estonian government have implimented a number of policies, most notably reductions of emissions, to make it one of the most environmentally friendly countries in the world.
Estonia's first illustration festival will take place at Tartu's Aparaaditehas tomorrow. The one day event will bring together a selection of works by illustrators, artists and graphic designers from all over Estonia. The festival will offer visitors the chance to buy and support the work of illustrators, with prints, stickers, illustrated textiles and much more on sale.
More information about the festival can be found here.
Today is Grandparents Day in Estonia. There are 337,181 grandparents living in Estonia, and together they make up 25% of the Estonian population.
The highest share of grandmothers live in Hiiu County (42.7%). It also has the highest percentage of grandfathers (28.1%).
Gone but not forgotten, Tallinn's 'Uus turg' (new market). It was located in the centre of the city and was a hub of activity from 1896 -1948.
Landgeist has released a new map showing the percentage of Europeans who read at least one book per year. People over the age of sixteen are included on the map that reveals people living in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark love their books. Estonia scored highly and are among Europe's top readers at 70.7% of the population reading at least one book per year. Avid readers tend to read dozens of books each year.
