Friday | June 10, 2016
After arriving in Estonia, I took a short tour and learned quite a bit about the country.
Such as is the case with Latvia, Estonia celebrates two Independence days, both signifying their break from Russia with the Soviet Union. Those years were 1918 and 1991.
Estonia’s economy is doing extremely well for an interesting reason. In the early 2000s, the government made a huge investment in the internet and high tech companies. They are known as being the most technological savvy country in the world, and have the most access to high speed internet. Everyone in the country is given an ID card with a chip in it that serves as that person’s electronic signature. When the chip is swiped along any computer, that serves as an electronic signature valid for any document executed in the country. Similarly, students use these chips to take their exams, people use them for their drivers licenses, and they are used for all other types of governmental functions. By extension, E governance is a big deal and Estonia is the only country in the world that supports 100% online voting. Moreover, we believe that all citizens are required to vote. Also, every classroom in the country is an amazing resource for both students and faculty. With all these technological advances, Estonia is referred to as “the startup country.” This is the country that invented Skype and Hotmail.
Presently, Estonia is building an underwater tunnel, similar to the London – Paris Chunnel, to Finland.
One of the most fascinating sports in Estonia is “wife carrying.” In these competitions, men carry their wives or girlfriends across a course, most of which is through water, racing to finish first. The sport is said to have originated with an old gang initiation, in which men had to carry away the wives of other men. Since 1992, the World Wife Carrying Championships have been held annually in Finland. There is a coveted award given to the winner– the wife’s weight in beer!
Only 14% of the 440,000 Estonians claim religious beliefs, making Estonia the least religious country in the world. On other hand, it has the second highest adult literacy rate in the world– 99.8%. It also has the world’s biggest collection of folk songs. And finally, Estonian forests keep getting bigger, while the country’s population is drastically declining.
There is a strong prejudice against minorities in Estonia. No one may hold a dual citizenship of Russia and Estonia. Estonia is ever fearful that sooner or later Russia will invade them, as Russia did with Ukraine.
Comments