Ethnic Minorities and National Culture in Estonia

During the period after regaining independence, Estonians have gone from being a former national minority of the Soviet Union to a majority nationality compared to the representatives of other nationalities living in Estonia. Whilst Estonia was ethnically a relatively homogeneous country prior to World War II – Estonians formed 88% of the population of Estonia – according to the data of the Statistical Office, Estonians formed 65.2% of the total population of Estonia and the share of ethnic minorities was 34.8% in 2006.

The biggest ethnic minorities are Russians (25.7%), Ukrainians (2.1%), Belarusians (1.2%) and Finns (0.8%). More than 120 nationalities are represented in Estonia. 67.2% of permanent residents consider Estonian as their native language. This means that both according to nationality and native language, non-Estonians form one-third of the population of Estonia.

Some of these ethnic minorities have gathered into cultural associations that operate in the form of non-profit associations. By today, Estonian Swedes have followed the example of Ingerian Finns and created an organisation on the basis of the Cultural Autonomy Act that grants ethno-cultural minority groups a legal status, enabling them to communicate directly with the state, and also gives them the right to apply for funding for their activities from the state budget.

The remainder of the national culture societies are mostly assembled in 7 associations and alliances of national culture societies:

• LÜÜRA International Association of Alliances of National Culture (31 societies);
• Alliance of Nationalities of Estonia (20 societies);
• Association of Slavic Educational and Charitable Societies in Estonia (42 societies and 33 collectives);
• Ida-Viru County Round Table of National Culture Societies, an umbrella organisation of national culture societies operating in Ida-Viru County (18 societies);
• Alliance of Russian National Culture Organisations in Estonia (30 societies);
• Congress of Ukrainians in Estonia (10 societies), and
• Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia (9 societies).

There are also national culture organisations that operate outside alliances and unions.

The state programme “Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007” contains a separate sub-programme, which is dedicated to the education and culture of ethnic minorities. The Non-Estonians Integration Foundation supports the activities described in the state programme through project competitions.

Projects submitted by national culture societies that introduce their culture to Estonians in addition to fostering their own culture are provided support every year. Different ways are selected for introduction of their own culture – there are public events, lectures, exhibitions and seminars, broadcasts and information folders are prepared and websites are created. Estonian society becomes more aware of cultural differences and more tolerant of different cultures through these activities.

In addition to supporting the activities of national cultures, the Integration Foundation has also organised activities aimed at Estonians, whose purpose is to make people aware of the existence of ethnic minorities and introduce their culture, languages and traditions.

Publication of the series “Nationalities in Estonia” has started. The series consists of booklets introducing different nationalities that are sent to all Estonian schools. The first booklet “Nationalities in Estonia. Lithuanians,” compiled by Cecilija Rasa Unt and edited by Ita Serman, was published in April 2005. The booklet gives an overview of the history, national symbols and nature of Lithuania and also of Lithuanian people – what they are like. The booklet also gives information about Lithuanians in Estonia and elsewhere in the world. The booklet introducing Kazakhs “Nationalities in Estonia. Kazakhs,” compiled by Alija Abdvahitova and edited by Ita Serman was published in 2006 and the booklet introducing Russians “Nationalities in Estonia. Russians,” compiled by Roman Ljagu and edited by Ita Serman was published in 2007.

These materials are meant for basic schools and they have been sent to every school in Estonia. Booklets about Azerbaijanis and Uzbeks will be published in the same series in 2007.

A project was completed at the initiative of the Alliance of Nationalities of Estonia, with the support of the Office of the Minister of Population and in cooperation with ETV and the Non-Estonians Integration Foundation, which resulted in the creation of a 20-part TV series introducing ethnic minorities in Estonia – “Ethnic Mosaic.” The project was launched in 2004, when the first 9 films were completed as the first stage (Ethnic Mosaic I), 6 films were completed in 2005 (Ethnic Mosaic II) and 5 films in 2007 (Ethnic Mosaic III). A total of 20 short films were made and they were the first attempt to record the history, culture, educational life and everyday activities of ethnic minorities in Estonia on a wider scale. Video tapes of the films were sent to all schools in Estonia, where they are used as study materials.