Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country 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 Ru ...

, the population of ethnic

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

(, ) is estimated at 285,819, most of whom live in the capital city

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and other urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. While a small settlement of Russian Old Believers on the coast of Lake Peipus has an over 300-year long history, the large majority of the ethnic Russian population in the country originates from the

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and other parts of the former

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during the 1944–1991

Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit (Republics of the Soviet Union, union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the Occupation o ...

Early contacts

The modern Estonian-language word for Russians ''vene(lane)'' is probably related to an old Germanic word ''veneð'' referring to the

Wends Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying ...

, speakers of a

Slavic language The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

who lived on the southern coast of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The troops of prince Yaroslav the Wise of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

defeated Estonian '' Chuds'' in ca. 1030 and established a fort of ''Yuryev'' (in modern-day

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

), which may have survived there until ca. 1061, when the fort's defenders were defeated and driven out by the tribe of ''Sosols''. Due to close trade links with the

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

and

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

republics, small communities of Orthodox merchants and craftsmen from these neighboring states sometimes remained in the Estonian towns of medieval ''

Terra Mariana Terra Mariana (Medieval Latin for 'Land of Mary (mother of Jesus), Mary') was the formal name for Medieval Livonia or Old Livonia. It was formed in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade, and its territories were composed of present-day Estonia a ...

'' for extended periods of time. Between 1558 and 1582, Ivan the Terrible of Russia (

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

) captured large parts of mainland Estonia, but eventually his troops were driven out by Swedish and Lithuanian-Polish armies.

17th century to independent Estonia

The beginning of continuous Russian settlement in what is now Estonia dates back to the late 17th century when several thousand

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Old Believers, escaping religious persecution in Russia, settled in areas then a part of the

Swedish empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

near the western coast of Lake Peipus. In the 18th century, after the Imperial Russian conquest of the northern Baltic region, including Estonia, from Sweden in the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

(1700–1721), a second period of immigration from Russia followed. Although under the new rule, power in the region remained primarily in the hands of the local Baltic German nobility, but a limited number of administrative jobs was gradually taken over by Russians, who settled in Reval (Tallinn) and other major towns. A relatively larger number of ethnic Russian workers settled in Tallinn and Narva during the period of rapid industrial development at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the share of ethnic Russians in the population within the boundaries of newly independent Estonia was 7.3%. About half of these were indigenous ethnic Russians living in the Petseri (Pechory) district and east of

Narva river The Narva, formerly also Narwa or Narova, flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer intermediate lake, Lake Peipus, all togeth ...

(" Estonian Ingria"), in the two areas which had been added to Estonian territory according to the 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu, but were transferred to the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

in 1944. In the aftermath of

Estonia became an independent state where ethnic Russians established Cultural Self-Governments according to the 1925 Estonian Law on Cultural Autonomy. The state was tolerant of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

and became a home to many Russian émigrés after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917.

World War II and Soviet Estonia

After the Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union in 1940, repression of both ethnic Estonians and ethnic Russians followed. According to Sergei Isakov, almost all societies, newspapers, organizations of ethnic Russians in Estonia were closed in 1940 and their activists persecuted. The country remained annexed to the Soviet Union until 1991, except for the period of

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

occupation between 1941 and 1944. In the course of population transfers, thousands of Estonian citizens were deported to the interior parts of Russia (mostly

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

), and huge numbers of Russian-speaking Soviet citizens were encouraged to settle in Estonia. During the Soviet era, the Russian population in Estonia grew from about 23,000 people in 1945 to 475,000 in 1991, and other Russian-speaking population to 551,000, constituting 35% of the total population at its peak. In 1939 ethnic Russians had comprised 8% of the population; however, following the annexation of about of land by the

in January 1945, including Ivangorod (then the eastern suburb of Narva) and the Petseri County, Estonia lost most of its inter-war ethnic Russian population. Of the estimated 20,000 Russians remaining in Estonia, the majority belonged to the historical community of Old Believers. Most of the present-day Russians in Estonia are recent migrants and their descendants who settled in during the Soviet era between 1945 and 1991. After the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1940. The Stalinist authorities carried out repressions against many prominent ethnic Russians activists and White emigres in Estonia. Many Russians were arrested and executed by different Soviet war tribunals in 1940–1941. After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, the Baltic States quickly fell under German control. Many Russians, especially Communist party members who had arrived in the area with the initial occupation and annexation, retreated; those who fell into the German hands were treated harshly, many were executed. After the war, Narva's inhabitants were for the most part not permitted to return and were replaced by refugees and workers administratively mobilized mostly among Russians, as well as other parts of the Soviet Union. By 1989, ethnic Russians made up 30.3% of the population in Estonia. During the Singing Revolution the International Movement of the Workers of the ESSR organised the local Russian resistance to the independence movement and purported to represent the ethnic Russians and other Russophones in Estonia.

Post-Soviet Estonia (1991–present)

Today most Russians live in Tallinn and the major northeastern cities of Narva, Kohtla-Järve, Jõhvi, and Sillamäe. The rural areas are populated almost entirely by ethnic Estonians, except for the coast of Lake Peipus, which has a long history of Old Believers communities. In 2011,

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

sociology professor

Marju Lauristin Marju Lauristin (born 7 April 1940) is an Estonian politician, and former Member of the European Parliament and Minister of Social Affairs. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. Lauristin is ...

found that 21% were successfully integrated, 28% showed partial integration, and 51% were unintegrated or little integrated. There are efforts by the Estonian government to improve its tie with the Russian community with former Prime Minister Jüri Ratas learning Russian to better communicate with them. Former President

Kersti Kaljulaid Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonia, Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021, and was its first and only female head of state since the country declared independence in 1918. S ...

is also considered to be a defender of the interests of the Russian-speaking minority, having previously moved to

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

in order to "better understand the people and their problems". The younger generation is better integrated with the rest of the country such as joining the military via conscription and improving their Estonian language skills.

Citizenship

The restored republic recognised citizenship only for the pre-occupation citizens or descendants from such (including the long-term Russian settlers from earlier influxes, such as Lake Peipus coast and the 10,000 residents of the Petseri County), rather than to grant Estonian nationality to all Estonian-resident Soviet citizens. The Citizenship Act provides the following requirements for naturalisation of those people who had arrived in the country after 1940, the majority of whom were ethnic Russians: knowledge of the Estonian language, Constitution and a pledge of loyalty to Estonia. The government offers free preparation courses for the examination on the Constitution and the Citizenship Act, and reimburses up to 380 euros for language studies. Under the law, residents without citizenship may not elect the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

(the national parliament) nor the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, but are eligible to vote in the municipal elections. As of 2 July 2010, 84.1% of Estonian residents are Estonian citizens, 8.6% are citizens of other countries (mainly

) and 7.3% are "persons with undetermined citizenship". Between 1992 and 2007 about 147,000 people acquired Estonian or Russian citizenship, or left the country, bringing the proportion of stateless residents from 32% down to about 8 percent. According to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

's 2015 report, approximately 6.8% of Estonia's population are not citizens of the country. In late 2014 an amendment to the law was proposed that would give Estonian citizenship to children of non-citizen parents who have resided in Estonia for at least five years.

Language requirements

The perceived difficulty of the language tests became a point of international contention, as the government of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and a number of human rights organizations objected on the grounds that they made it hard for many Russians who had not learned the language to gain the citizenship in the short term. As a result, the tests were altered somewhat, due to which the number of stateless persons steadily decreased. According to Estonian officials, in 1992, 32% of residents lacked any form of citizenship. In May 2009, the Population register reported that 7.6% of residents have undefined citizenship and 8.4% have foreign citizenship, mostly Russian. As the Russian Federation was recognized as the

successor state Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory (and populace) that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th ...

to the Soviet Union, all former USSR citizens qualified for natural-born citizenship of Russia, available upon request, as provided by the law "On the RSFSR Citizenship" in force up to the end of 2000.

Socioeconomic status

According to a 2016 report by the European Centre for Minority Issues, the Russian-speaking population in Estonia faced significant challenges in the labor market and education after the post-Soviet transition, which fostered a persistent perception of inequality among minority groups. Today, health conditions and access to healthcare are similar for both majority and minority populations. However, accumulated disadvantages affect marginalized Russian-speaking communities, who experience higher rates of extreme poverty, incarceration, homelessness, drug abuse, and HIV/AIDS. These issues contribute to social exclusion and may hinder the right to health for ethnic Russians and other minorities. Additionally, the reduced use of Russian in healthcare services has emerged as a new challenge, given Estonia's demographic composition. Estonian statistics show that ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers are disproportionately represented in a number of areas, including: * 83% of persons registered as HIV-positive * 70-85% of prostitutes * nearly 60% of prison inmates * 98% of injecting drug users * 66.4% of the homeless population in Tallinn

Politics

Historically, the Estonian Centre Party has been the most popular party among Russian-speaking citizens. In 2012, it was supported by up to 75% of ethnic non-Estonians. In 2021, some pundits advanced as speculation that since 2019,

Conservative People's Party of Estonia The Conservative People's Party of Estonia (, EKRE) is a Estonian nationalism, nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Estonia led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012 with the merger of People's Union of Estonia and Est ...

support grew in the Russian community (notably in

Ida-Viru County Ida-Viru County ( or ; ) is one of the 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most northeastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale the main mineral mined in Estonia. Oil shale is used in the production of shale oil ...

which has a majority of Russians), despite the party's Estonian nationalism and oftentimes anti-Russian rhetoric and positions. This was speculated by them to be attributable to the party opposition to European Union federalism and the softening of the rhetoric of the party at the time on Russia, and to its then coalition with the Centre Party. However, despite these claims, the Conservative People's party underperformed in Ida-Viru County during the 2023 Estonian parliamentary election, with only 8.4% of the votes in that county, their lowest result. In that county, the leftist and Russian minority-oriented Estonian United Left Party performed a breakthrough during this election and obtained 14.9% of the votes. This party also performed better in

, where a significant Russian minority live, than in most other parts of Estonia.

By county

Notable Russians from Estonia

* Wilhelm Küchelbecker (1797–1846), Russian patriotic poet and Decembrist (1825) revolutionary; raised in Estonia. * Leonid Kulik (1883–1942), Russian

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

, led the (1927) first Soviet expedition to investigate the

Tunguska event The Tunguska event was a large explosion of between 3 and 50 TNT equivalent, megatons that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908. The explosion over ...

; born in Tartu. * Igor Severyanin (Igor Lotaryov, 1887–1941), poet; lived, married, and died in Estonia. * Nikolai Vekšin (1887–1951),

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fis ...

of the bronze medal winning Estonian 6 Metre boat at 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games. * Boris Nartsissov (1906–1982), Russian émigré poet; raised and educated in Estonia. * Nikolai Stepulov (1913–1968), won silver medal in boxing, lightweight class at 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. * Alexy II of Moscow (Aleksei Rüdiger, 1929–2008), former

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the

; born and raised in Estonia. * Svetlana Tširkova-Lozovaja (b. 1945), former fencer, representing USSR, won Olympic gold in team foil twice (1968, 1972); lives in Estonia since early age. * Mikhail Veller (b. 1948), Russian writer; works in Tallinn. * Marina Kaljurand (née Rajevskaja, b. 1962), Estonian politician,

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

, former foreign minister. * Anna Levandi (née Kondrashova, b. 1965), former

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

, representing USSR, won silver at 1984 World Championships; lives in Tallinn. * Valery Karpin (b. 1969), Russian football manager and former player, since 2021 manager of the Russia national team; born in

. * Anton Vaino (b. 1972), chief of staff of the executive office of the

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

; born in Tallinn. * Sergei Hohlov-Simson (b. 1972), Estonian former football player, played for

Estonia national football team The Estonia men's national football team () represents Estonia in international football matches and is controlled by the Estonian Football Association, the governing body for football in Estonia. Estonia's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium ...

from 1992 to 2004. * Kristina Kallas (b. 1976), Estonian politician, leader of the '' Estonia 200'' political party since its foundation in 2018. * Aleksandr Dmitrijev (b. 1982), Estonian football player with 107 international caps for

. * Tatjana Mihhailova-Saar (b. 1983), represented Estonia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

; family moved to Estonia at 2 months. * Konstantin Vassiljev (b. 1984), Estonian football player with 158 international caps (national record) for

. * Jevgeni Ossinovski (b. 1986), Estonian politician and former leader of the Estonian Social Democratic Party. * Leo Komarov (Leonid Komarov, b. 1987),

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player, representing

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, 2011 World Champion and

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

gold medallist; born in Narva. * Valentina Golubenko (b. 1990),

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Grandmaster, representing

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, world champion in girls' U18 category in 2008; lives in Estonia since early age. * Elina Nechayeva (b. 1991),

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. * Alika Milova (b. 2002), singer, represented Estonia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as , the winner of the with the song "Stefania (song), Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the eve ...

. *

Tommy Cash (rapper) Tomas Tammemets (born 18 November 1991), known professionally as Tommy Cash (stylised as TOMM¥ €A$H), is an Estonian Rapping, rapper, singer, dancer, and visual artist. He usually performs in English with a distinct non-native Accent (soci ...

(b. Tomas Tammemets, 1991), singer, represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.