G3-247 Report ESTONIA MARKET REPORT


The age of enlightenment


The introduction of online gaming in Estonia’s established gaming market has had a dramatic effect, not least upon government finances


Human settlement began in Estonia around 13,000 years ago when the ice from the last glacial era melted. Eistland as it was once called, and still called in Icelandic, is a country in the Baltic region and bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, south by Latvia and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. Sweden and Finland lie across the Baltic Sea.


It is the most northern of the three Baltic republics and one of the least populous member states of the EU but since regaining independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 it has become one of the most eco- nomically successful in Eastern Europe.


The country was ruled at various times by Denmark, the German knights of the Livonian Order and Sweden. In the 18th century it ended up as part of the Russian Empire. It gained independence in 1918 after the end of World War I but this was short lived for just 22 years and it underwent many periods of democratic and authori- tarian rule.


8 2


Estonia was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940 however few nations recognised the annexation and the Estonians themselves considered it an illegal occupation.


The repressions followed with mass deportations and many of the country’s political leaders were killed or deported to remote areas of the USSR whilst repression actions were taken against ordinary people.


Today there is a large Russian population which accounts for about a quarter of the population and there has in the past been fear about the survival of the Estonian culture and language.


In the 1980s a movement for Estonian autonomy began in 1989 and the Singing Revolution was held, which is a landmark demonstration for independence when two million people formed a human chain stretching through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.


In 1991 Estonia declared formal independence during the Soviet military coup attempt in Moscow and the last of the Russian army left in 1994.


Estonia’s land border with Latvia runs 267 km whilst the Russian border is 290 km. The country has over 1,400 lakes and many rivers whilst forest covers 61 percent of Estonia and there are some 1,500 islands.


Estonia is divided into 15 counties with the capital and largest city being Tallinn with 400,000 population. These counties are then divided into municipalities – urban and rural. A maakond (county) is the biggest administrative subdivision whilst the government of each county is led by a governor who represents the national government at a regional level.


The current Prime Minister came into power in March 2014 and is the former Minister of Social Affairs and head of the Estonian Reform Party.


Meanwhile the country is considered a high income economy by the World Bank and is ranked 11th in the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom and the fourth freest economy in Europe.


The country has been described as the Baltic Tiger due to


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124