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37-957: In prehistoric times, Lääne-Virumaa was settled by Estonians of the Vironian tribe. The County Government ( Estonian : maavalitsus ) is led by a governor ( Estonian : maavanem ), who is appointed by the Government of Estonia . Since 2014, the governor position has been held by Marko Torm . The county seat is Rakvere. The county is subdivided into municipalities . There is one urban municipality ( Estonian : linnad – towns) and seven rural municipalities ( Estonian : vallad – parishes ) in Lääne-Viru County. Religion in Lääne-Viru County (2021) [1] 59°15′N 26°20′E  /  59.250°N 26.333°E  / 59.250; 26.333 Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( Estonian : eestlased ) are

74-699: A Baltic Finnic ethnic group who speak the Estonian language . Their nation state is Estonia . The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other Finnic languages , e.g. Finnish , Karelian and Livonian . The Finnic languages are a subgroup of the larger Uralic family of languages , which also includes e.g. the Sami languages . These languages are markedly different from most other native languages spoken in Europe , most of which have been assigned to

111-523: A high sharing of IBD ( identity-by-descent ) segments with other studied Balto-Finnic groups (Finns, Karelians and Vepsians ) and the Sami people, as well as with the Polish people. Aesti The Aesti (also Aestii , Astui or Aests ) were an ancient people first described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise Germania (circa 98 AD). According to Tacitus, the territory of Aesti

148-480: A poll done in 2013, about half of the young Estonians considered themselves Nordic , and about the same number viewed Baltic identity as important. The Nordic identity among Estonians can ovelap with other identities, as it is associated with being Finno-Ugric and their close relationship with the Finnish people and does not exclude being Baltic. In Estonian foreign ministry reports from the early 2000s Nordic identity

185-607: A popular luxury item during the life of Tacitus, with known sources at the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea . The Baltic amber trade , which appears to have extended to the Mediterranean Sea , has been traced by archaeologists back to the Nordic Bronze Age ; its major center was in the region of Sambia . This trade probably existed before the historical Trojan War in the 13th century BCE, as amber

222-576: A trade secret. The sending of presents and the promise to show future favors were in ancient times a cordial way of giving de jure recognition to another power. Sixth Century historian Jordanes makes two references to the Aesti in his book "The Origins and the Deeds of the Goths", which was a treatment of Cassiodorus' longer book (which no longer survives) on the history of the Goths. The first quote places

259-505: A transparent softness, sometimes blushing with the color of saffron, sometimes glowing with flame-like clearness. Then, gliding down to the margin of sea, and further purified by the rolling of the tides, it is at length transported to your shores to be cast upon them. We have thought it better to point this out to you, lest you should imagine that your supposed secrets have escaped our knowledge . We sent you some presents by our ambassadors, and shall be glad to receive further visits from you by

296-526: Is commonly carried by modern Uralic-speaking groups but also other North Eurasians, including Estonians' Baltic-speaking neighbors Latvians and Lithuanians . Compared to the Balts, Estonians have been noticed to have differences in allelic variances of N1c haplotypes, showing more similarity with other Finno-Ugric-speakers. When looking at maternal lineages , nearly half (45 %) of the Estonians have

333-466: Is found also in the Balts, Finns and Mordvins , for example. Uralic peoples typically carry a Siberian -related component, which is also present in Estonians and makes up about five percent of their ancestry on average. Although they have a smaller share of it than other Balto-Finns, it is one factor that distinguishes them from the Balts. Estonians can also be modelled to have considerably more Finnish-like ancestry than Baltic-speakers. Estonians have

370-473: Is its nature, or from what cause it is produced. In truth it lay long neglected amongst the other gross discharges of the sea; till from our luxury, it gained a name and value. To themselves it is of no use: they gather it rough, they expose it in pieces coarse and unpolished, and for it receive a price with wonder. The placement of the Tacitean Aestii is based primarily on their association with amber,

407-610: Is one of the substances in which the palace of Menelaus at Sparta was said to be rich in Homer 's The Iliad . Cassiodorus ' Variae , published in 537, contains a letter written by Cassiodorus in the name of Theodoric the Great , addressed to the Aesti: It is gratifying to us to know that you have heard of our fame, and have sent ambassadors who have passed through so many strange nations to seek our friendship. We have received

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444-651: The Finns as a successful model of national movement and, to some extent, toward the neighbouring Latvian national movement . By the end of 1860 the Estonians became unwilling to reconcile with German cultural and political hegemony. Before the attempts at Russification in the 1880s, their view of Imperial Russia remained positive. Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries stemming from important cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian and German rule and settlement. According to

481-632: The Indo-European family of languages . Estonians can also be classified into subgroups according to dialects (e.g. Võros , Setos ), although such divisions have become less pronounced due to internal migration and rapid urbanisation in Estonia in the 20th century. There are approximately 1 million ethnic Estonians worldwide, with the vast majority of them residing in their native Estonia. Estonian diaspora communities formed primarily in Finland,

518-514: The road which you have thus opened up , and to show you future favors. The style of the letter proves that the nation was at that time independent, not ruled by the Ostrogoths . Apparently Cassiodorus considered it politically essential to establish friendly relations with the Nordic region. The letter also indicates that the Aesti were fully confident of the value of amber and had made out of it

555-428: The 1750s to 54 in the 1790s. By the end of the century more than a half of adult peasants could read. The first university-educated intellectuals identifying themselves as Estonians, including Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1798–1850), Kristjan Jaak Peterson (1801–1822) and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803–1882), appeared in the 1820s. The ruling elites had remained predominantly German in language and culture since

592-696: The Aestii beyond the Vidivarii, on the shore of the Baltic: "a subject race, likewise hold the shore of Ocean." The next quote concerns the subjugation of the Aesti by Hermanaric , king of the Gothic Greuthungi : "This ruler also subdued by his wisdom and might the race of the Aesti, who dwell on the farthest shore of the German Ocean ". In an 11th-century manuscript of King Alfred 's account of

629-827: The Baltic Sea considerably later, perhaps during the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1800 BCE). It has also been argued that Western Uralic tribes reached Fennoscandia first, leading into the development of the Sámi peoples , and arrived in the Baltic region later in the Bronze Age or the transition to the Iron Age at the latest. This lead into the formation of Baltic Finnic peoples , who would later become such groups as Estonians and Finns . The oldest known endonym of

666-468: The Estonians is maarahvas , literally meaning "land people" or "country folk". It was used until the mid-19th century, when it was gradually replaced by Eesti rahvas "Estonian people" during the Estonian national awakening . Eesti , the modern endonym of Estonia, is thought to have similar origins to Aesti , the name used by the Germanic peoples for the neighbouring people living northeast of

703-593: The United States, Sweden, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Estonia was first inhabited about 10,000 years ago, soon after the ice from the Baltic Ice Lake had melted. Living in the same area for more than 5,000 years would put Estonians' ancestors among Europe's oldest permanent inhabitants. On the other hand, some recent linguistic estimations suggest that Finno-Ugric speakers arrived around

740-418: The amber which you have sent us. You say that you gather this lightest of all substances from the shores of ocean, but how it comes thither you know not. But as an author named Cornelius (Tacitus) informs us, it is gathered in the innermost islands of the ocean, being formed originally of the juice of a tree (whence its name succinum), and gradually hardened by the heat of the sun. Thus it becomes an exuded metal,

777-487: The conquest of the early 13th century. Garlieb Merkel (1769–1850), a Baltic-German Estophile , became the first author to treat the Estonians as a nationality equal to others; he became a source of inspiration for the Estonian national movement, modelled on Baltic German cultural world before the middle of the 19th century. However, in the middle of the century, the Estonians became more ambitious and started leaning toward

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814-463: The course of the 19th century during the Estonian national awakening , some degree of ethnic awareness preceded this development. By the 18th century the self-denomination eestlane spread among Estonians along with the older maarahvas . Anton thor Helle 's translation of the Bible into Estonian appeared in 1739, and the number of books and brochures published in Estonian increased from 18 in

851-629: The haplogroup H . About one in four (24.2 %) carry the haplogroup U , and the majority of them belong to its subclade U5 . Autosomally Estonians are close with Latvians and Lithuanians. However, they are shifted towards the Finns , who are isolated from most European populations. Northeastern Estonians are particularly close to Finns, while Southeastern Estonians are close to the Balts; other Estonians plot between these two extremes. Estonians have high steppe -like admixture, and less farmer -related and more hunter-gatherer -related admixture than Western and Central Europeans. The same pattern

888-548: The language of Aestii as closer to that spoken in Britain than that spoken by other neighbouring tribes. The Old Prussian and modern Lithuanian names for the Vistula Lagoon , Aīstinmari and Aistmarės , respectively, appear to derive from Aesti and mari (" lagoon " or "fresh-water bay"), which suggests that the area around the lagoon had links with the Aesti. The ancient writers, beginning with Tacitus, who

925-554: The mouth of the Vistula . The Roman historian Tacitus in 98 CE was the first to mention the " Aesti " in writing. In Old Norse , the land south of the Gulf of Finland was called Eistland and the people eistr . The Wanradt–Koell Catechism , the first known book in Estonian, was printed in 1525, while the oldest known examples of written Estonian originate in 13th-century chronicles. Although Estonian national consciousness spread in

962-595: The neighbouring Gothic Tribes. Tacitus wrote that the Aesti were "the only people who collect amber— glaesum is their own word for it—in the shallows or even on the beach". Glaesum , an apparently Latinised word for amber (in Latin, sucinum ), is the only surviving example of the Aestian language. The word is quoted of being of Germanic origin, given its similarity to the Gothic word glas . Tacitus, however, describes

999-421: The other fruits of the earth, they labour with more assiduity and patience than is suitable to the usual laziness of Germans. Nay, they even search the deep, and of all the rest are the only people who gather amber. They call it glesum , and find it amongst the shallows and upon the very shore. But, according to the ordinary incuriosity and ignorance of Barbarians, they have neither learnt, nor do they inquire, what

1036-646: The period of Tsarist rule of Estonia (1710-1917), over 100,000 Estonians migrated to the neighbouring areas of the Russian Empire , especially to the then capital city Saint Petersburg . According to the 1897 census, 6,852 native Estonian-speakers also lived in the Russian Partition of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , in what is now Poland , Lithuania , Belarus , Latvia and western Ukraine , of which over 4,360 lived in territories of today's Poland. During World War II , when Estonia

1073-555: The return of Estonians who have particular skills needed in Estonia. One of the largest permanent Estonian communities outside Estonia is in Canada, with about 24,000 people (according to some sources up to 50,000 people). In the late 1940s and early 1950s, about 17,000 arrived in Canada, initially in Montreal . Toronto is currently the city with the largest population of Estonians outside of Estonia. The first Estonian World Festival

1110-681: The same customs and attire with the Suevians ; their language more resembles that of Britain. They worship the Mother of the Gods. As the characteristic of their national superstition, they wear the images of wild boars . This alone serves them for arms, this is the safeguard of all, and by this every worshipper of the Goddess is secured even amidst his foes. Rare amongst them is the use of weapons of iron, but frequent that of clubs. In producing of grain and

1147-507: The voyage from Hedeby to Truso by Wulfstan , held by the British Museum , includes ethnographic information on the medieval Aestii, in which the terms Esti , Est-mere and Eastland are used referring to Old Prussians . In the text, a summary description of the country and its riches is followed by a very detailed account of the people's funeral customs. It mentions the old trading port Truso of Old Prussians and also calls

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1184-557: The years of independence, many Estonians have chosen to work abroad, primarily in Finland , but also in the UK, Benelux , Sweden , and Germany . Recognising the problems arising from low birth rate and emigration, the Estonian government has launched various measures to increase the birth rate and to lure migrant Estonians back to Estonia. For example, a campaign Talendid koju! ("Bringing talents home!") has aimed to coordinate and promote

1221-614: Was invaded by the Soviet Army in 1944, large numbers of Estonians fled their homeland on ships or smaller boats over the Baltic Sea . Many refugees who survived the risky sea voyage to Sweden or Germany later moved from there to Canada , the United Kingdom , the United States or Australia . Some of these refugees and their descendants returned to Estonia after the nation regained its independence in 1991. Over

1258-687: Was held in Toronto in 1972. Y-chromosome haplogroups among Estonians include N1c (35.7%), R1a (33.5%) and I1 (15%). R1a, common in Eastern Europe, was the dominant Y-DNA haplogroup among the pre-Uralic inhabitants of Estonia, as it is the only one found in the local samples from the time of the Corded Ware culture and Bronze Age. Appearance of N1c is linked to the arrival of Uralic-speakers. It originated in East Eurasia and

1295-651: Was located somewhere east of the Suiones (Swedes). According to Tacitus, the Aesti live Upon the right of the Suevian Sea and have the same customs and attire as the Germanic Suevi . It has been suggested that the Aesti worshipped the mother of the gods, similar to the Nerthus cult among northern Germanic peoples. Though they were most likely of Baltic origin, they had extensively intermingled with

1332-542: Was preferred over Baltic one. After the Treaty of Tartu (1920) recognised Estonia's 1918 independence from Russia, ethnic Estonians residing in Russia gained the option of opting for Estonian citizenship (those who opted were called optandid – 'optants') and returning to their fatherland. An estimated 40,000 Estonians lived in Russia in 1920. In sum, 37,578 people moved from Soviet Russia to Estonia (1920–1923). During

1369-407: Was the first Roman author to mention them in his Germania , provide very little information on the Aestii. Although Tacitus never travelled to Magna Germania himself and only recorded information he had obtained from others, the short ethnographic excursus below is the most detailed ancient account of the Aestii that we have: "Upon the right of the Suevian Sea the Aestian nations reside, who use

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