Estonia, a small country of 1.3 million in the Baltic region of Eastern Europe, is caught in the middle of the global demographic divide. Estonia is an economically stable nation that is facing depopulation. Located between Latvia and Russia, its economy is currently on par with rest of the EU, but economic restructuring, high mortality, and extending social problems in education and health are resulting in an aging population with low fertility (“Demographic Situation” 2010). Until the 1990’s when they gained independence, Estonia was controlled by the Soviet Union through a communist economic structure. After WWII, Estonia lost 200,000 of its people due to political restructuring and immigration back to Russia. About 17.5% of the Estonia’s population was lost, which did not allow for a post-war Baby Boom (“Demographic Situation” 2010). After gaining independence in 1991, the country shifted from a communistic economic approach to a more individualistic society, based on a market economy and private enterprise. While the country as a whole benefited from this form of society, individual citizens faced a large increase in unemployment do to the economic transition. Not only has this led to an increase in mortality from suicide (Estonia has one of the highest suicide rates in the European Union), but mortality in Estonia has been stated as their most critical demographic issues (“Demographic Situation” 2010).
