page_title: Estonia
section_title: Restoration of Independence
hierarchical_section_title: Estonia / History / Restoration of Independence
caption_attribution_description: Eesti: Balti kett 22
context_page_description: Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland and of 2,222 islands in the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,227 km², water 2,839 km², land area 42,388 km², and is influenced by a humid continental climate. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and Tartu are the largest cities and urban areas in the country. Other notable cities include Narva, Pärnu, Kohtla-Järve and Viljandi. The official language of the country, Estonian, is the second-most-spoken Finnic language.
  The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. Ancient Estonians became some of the last European pagans to adopt Christianity following the Livonian Crusade in the 13th century. After centuries of successive rule by Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
context_section_description: The introduction of Perestroika in 1987 made political activity possible again, starting an independence restoration process known as the Singing Revolution. The environmental Phosphorite War campaign became the first major protest movement against the central government. In 1988 new political movements appeared, such as the Popular Front of Estonia which came to represent the moderate wing in the independence movement, and the more radical Estonian National Independence Party, which was the first non-communist party in the Soviet Union and demanded full restoration of independence. Reformist Vaino Väljas became the first secretary of Estonian Communist Party, and under his leadership on 16 November 1988 Estonian Supreme Soviet issued Sovereignty Declaration asserting the primacy of Estonian laws over Union laws. Over the next two years almost all other Soviet Republics followed the Estonian lead issuing similar declarations. On 23 August 1989 about 2 million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians participated in a mass demonstration forming a Baltic Way human chain across the three republics. In 1990 the Congress of Estonia was formed as representative body of Estonian citizens. In March 1991 a referendum was held where 77.7% of voters supported independence, and during the coup attempt in Moscow Estonia declared restoration of independence on 20 August, which is now the Day of Restoration of Independence, a national holiday.
  Soviet authorities recognised Estonian independence on 6 September, and on 17 September Estonia was admitted into the United Nations. The last units of the Russian army left Estonia in 1994.
  In 1992 radical economic reforms were launched for switching over to a market economy, including privatisation and currency reform. Estonian foreign policy since independence has been oriented toward the West, and in 2004 Estonia joined both the European Union and NATO.
caption: Baltic Way in Estonia.
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