The Ethnic Minorities of Estonia (original) (raw)
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Selectivity and destinations of ethnic minorities leaving the main gateway cities of Estonia
Population Space and Place, 2010
Changes in the spatial distribution of minority populations and factors responsible for such changes form an important research topic in the study of the contemporary immigrant societies of Europe and North America. This paper clarifies both the trends and determinants of the spatial redistribution of mainly Russian-speaking ethnic minorities in Estonia by focusing on out-migration from the gateway cities or the main minority concentration areas. We use individual data from the 2000 census. The main results show that the dominant flow of migration among members of ethnic minorities is out of the main gateway cities in Estonia, and this trend is very different from the situation during the Soviet period. All of the personal characteristics that measure intentional ties with the majority population and the host country, such as proficiency in Estonian, having an Estonian partner, and Estonian citizenship, exert a positive influence on both leaving these areas and settling in non-ethnic destinations, while the mere passage of time (generation replacement) has no straightforward influence on minority spatial redistribution. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Demographic Development of the Ingrian National Minority in Estonia
Finnish Yearbook of Population Research
The article focuses on the demographic development af the Ingrian minority in Estonia.In a broader framework the research underlying the article originates from acomparative study af national minority populations, coordinated by the EuropeanPopulation Committee. The article starts with a short overview af major changes inthe ethnic composition af the Estonian population, covering the implications af theSecond World War on national minorities and the emergence af aforeign-origin population.The analysis af the Ingrian minority draws on the data from the Estoniannational minority survey. Building on the life course approach and event history methodology,the survey was designed ta retrospectively reconstruct the trends in majordemographic processes and follow the continuity af minority-specific characteristicsacross three successive generations. The article discusses the size and age structureaf the Ingrian population, fertility and mortality patterns, ethnic intermarriage, languageand ...
Politics, Migration and Minorities in Independent and Soviet Estonia, 1918-1998
2003
The present study is the result of half a decade of work on and in Estonia; counting in first contacts with the country, even more years have passed since the language course in 1993 which started the process. It was made possible by the Graduates' College on Migration in Modern Europe at the University of Osnabrück's Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS), whose scholarship and infrastructure were liberally put to the disposition of all members of the Graduate's College between 1995 and 1998, including the present author. From the start of the actual research work in 1995, research visits to Estonia took place twice a year for between four and six weeks, resulting in a wealth of information in hard and 'soft' facts, augmented by further research visits within Germany. Many colleagues liberally dispensed with their time to discuss matters Estonian with the author, and provided material that would have been difficult to come by without their help. Apart from data collection and interviews with experts, the visits to a country that had internal and external problems in roughly inverse proportion to its size allowed for the special privilege to gage the mood of the population by keeping an ear on the ground, as it were. By trying to assess the immaterial determinants of value systems and collective mentalities in the country itself, by using the somewhat vaguely fixed and difficult to grapple thing called 'empathy', a gut feeling developed that may not be acceptable to everyone but proved to be helpful in developing and understanding for the situation of the country. These were the 'soft' facts alluded to above. A special thanks is due to the author's supervisors of the thesis, Professors Klaus J. Bade of IMIS, University of Osnabrück, and Gerhard Simon, of BIOst Cologne and the University of Cologne, for constant support even in rather unsettled times, for helping to clarify the underlying concept of the study, and especially for accepting a thesis by a German on an Estonian topic written in English at a German University. Not only this author's second working language is English but also most academics have English at least passively. This is also true for Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic states in particular. Not many colleagues, though, know German, and this is the main reason for composing this dissertation in English: if there should be anything by way of constructive comment from Estonian or Russian colleagues in Estonia after the dissertation process has been concluded, restricting oneself to German would not have resulted in any comment from the country this work deals with. Admittedly this language also allows for a wider readership than German would. To both professors, suur tänu. Thanks are also due to Mrs. Joan Hogg, B.A. (Durham), and Mr. John Hogg, M.A. (Durham), who kindly agreed to review the author's English and managed to return the files with the speed of lightning despite having a busy schedule themselves; all suggestions and corrections have been included in the versions that since then have still been added to and revised many times, hopefully not for the worse. Finally two people deserve mention whose support in every conceivable and even inconceivable way over the last two years and over the last thirty-two years, respectively, cannot be appreciated in words -Ms. Gerda Spellmeyer and Mr. Horst Demuth.
European Integration Studies, 2016
This study analyzes literature about migration and ethnic minorities in Estonia. Following initial iden tification and using content analysis process, existing literature were characterized into four major patterns: definition of immigrant population in Estonia, emigration and ethnic return migration in Es tonia, formation of ethnic minorities and their structure, and ethnic minorities and integration. Despite of having long historical background of emigration, return migration and ethnic minorities in Estonia; existing literature lacks focusing on refugees and ethnic minorities having background from outside Europe. New question emerged from the reviewed literature, whether Estonia is ready to accept quota refugees under EU quota system?
The Ethnic Dimensions of Suburbanisation in Estonia
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2013
Large scale suburbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon in East Central Europe and responsible for major socio-spatial changes in metropolitan areas. Little is known about the ethnic dimensions of this process. However, large minority population groups, mainly ethnic Russians, remained into the former member states of the Soviet Union after its dissolution in 1991. We use individual level Estonia Census data in order to investigate the ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation. The results show that ethnic minorities have a considerably lower probability to suburbanise compared to the majority population, and minorities are less likely to move to rural municipalities -the main sites of suburban change -in the suburban ring of cities. Individual characteristics that measure strong ties with the majority population and host society exert a positive effect on ethnic minority suburbanization, and on settling in rural municipalities. JEL Classification: J61, R21, R23
Types of Spatial Mobility and the Ethnic Context of Destination Neighbourhoods in Estonia
Most studies of the ethnic composition of destination neighbourhoods after residential moves do not take into account the types of moves people have made. However, from an individual perspective, different types of moves may result in neighbourhood environments that differ in terms of their ethnic composition from those in which individuals previously lived. We investigate how the ethnic residential context changes for individuals as a result of different types of mobility (immobility, intra-urban mobility, suburbanisation, and long-distance migration) for residents of the segregated post-Soviet city of Tallinn. We compare the extent to which Estonian-and Russian-speakers integrate in residential terms. Using unique longitudinal Census data (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011) we tracked changes in the individual ethnic residential context of both groups. We found that the moving destinations of Estonian-and Russianspeakers diverge. When Estonians move, their new neighbourhood generally possesses a lower percentage of Russian-speakers compared with when Russian-speakers move, as well as compared with their previous neighbourhoods. For Russian-speakers, the percentage of other Russian-speakers in their residential surroundings decreases only for those who move to the surburbs or who move over longer distances to rural villages. By applying a novel approach of tracking the changes in the ethnic residential context of individuals for all mobility types, we were able to demonstrate that the two largest ethnolinguistic groups in Estonia tend to behave as 'parallel populations' and that residential integration in Estonia is therefore slow.
Ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation in Estonia
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2013
Large-scale suburbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon in East Central Europe and is responsible for major socio-spatial changes in metropolitan areas. Little is known about the ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation, despite the existence of often sizeable Russian minority populations in some member-states of the former Soviet Union. We use individual-level Estonian census data from the year 2000 in order to investigate the ethnic dimensions of suburbanisation. The results show that ethnic minorities have a considerably lower probability of suburbanising compared to the majority population, and minorities are less likely to move to rural municipalities—the main sites of suburban change—in the suburban ring of cities.
The Formation and Development of the Estonian Diaspora
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2010
The Estonian diaspora was formed by two major, completed, waves of emigration and one further, emerging, wave of out-migration. The first mass emigration started in the mid-nineteenth century and lasted until World War I. During this period, demographic transition was taking place, yet there were limited options for urbanward migration within Estonia. This situation forced many Estonians to look for alternative destinations. Russia attracted migrants to its new agricultural lands and thus the Eastern sub-diaspora of Estonia took shape. The Western sub-diaspora emerged as a result of a second mass emigration in the form of a refugee exodus during World War II. The third and ongoing wave of emigration began at the end of the 1980s, and has broadened the geographical extent of the Western sub-diaspora. This paper outlines the formation of the Estonian sub-diasporas in the East and West, and clarifies the spatial and temporal changes they have undergone. While the formation of the Eastern sub-diaspora is relatively well studied, there are research gaps on the development of the Western one. This paper presents new archival evidence that documents the formation of the Western subdiaspora, particularly in relation to the period following the Soviet era. We also present data on emigration since Estonia regained independence. Key findings indicate that the Eastern sub-diaspora continues to contract, while the size of the Western element of the diaspora has remained stable throughout the postwar period. The continued viability of the Western sub-diaspora is a result of new emigration since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but this outwards migration is smaller in scale than the two earlier periods of mass emigration.