ECO FRIENDLY ACTIONS WHO ARE WE? WHAT WE HAVE DONE? E-MAGAZINNE OF ECO FRIENDLY | Seite 7

ESTONIA
A summary
Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by
the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the
east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and
Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and
islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 (17,505 sq mi) of land, and is influenced by a
humid continental climate.
The four biggest cities in Estonia are Tallinn(the capital),Tartu(the city of wisdom)
,Pärnu(the capital of summer),Narva(located at the Russian border).
We are very fond of the Estonian Song Festival (in Estonian: laulupidu) its one of the
largest amateur choral events in the world, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity. It is held every five years in July on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds
(Lauluväljak) simultaneously with the Estonian Dance Festival. The joint choir has comprised
more than 30,000 singers performing to an audience of 80,000.
The tradition of the song festival was born along with Estonian national awakening. The first
national song festival was held in Tartu in the summer of 1869. One of the organisers of the
first song festival was Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In the first three festivals only men's choirs
and brass orchestras participated. 822 singers and 56 brass players participated in the first
festival. Starting with the fourth festival, mixed choirs were also participating. Starting with
the sixth festival in 1896, the festival tradition moved to Tallinn.
Starting from 1947, the Soviet authorities forced foreign songs into the repertoire. Every
event was to include the State Anthem of the Estonian SSR, The Internationale, and the
National Anthem of the Soviet Union. Because of the inclusion of children's and boys' choirs
the total number of participants rose to 25,000 – 30,000 people. The Dance and Gymnastic
Festival of the First Estonian Games started in 1934 became predecessors of later National