Estonians

Estonians or Estonian people (Estonian: eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group who speak the Estonian language. Their nation state is Estonia.

Quick facts: Total population, Regions with significant po... ▼

Estonians
eestlased

Countries with significant Estonian population and descendants.
Total population
c. 1.1 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Estonia 919,711 (2021)[2] Other significant population centers:
Finland	49,590–100,000[lower-alpha 1][3][4]
United States	29,128[5]
Sweden	25,509[6]
Canada	24,000[7]
United Kingdom	10,000–15,000[8]
Russia	7,778[9]
Australia	7,543[10]
Germany	6,286[11]
Norway	5,092[12]
Ukraine	2,868[13]
Ireland	2,560[14]
Belgium	2,000[15]
Latvia	1,676[16]
Denmark	1,606[17]
Netherlands	1,482[18]
Languages
Primarily Estonian also Võro and Seto
Religion
Majority irreligious Historically Protestant Christian (Lutheranism)[19][20] Currently Lutheran and regional Eastern Orthodox (Estonian Apostolic Orthodox) minority
Related ethnic groups
Other Baltic Finns Especially Livonians, Setos, Võros, and Votians

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 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, the United States, Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom and other European Union member states.