Swedish People's League in the Baltic Sea Provinces (Swedish : Svenska Folkförbundet i Östersjöprovinserna; Estonian : Rootsi Rahvaliit) was a political party in Estonia, representing interests of the Swedish minority population.
The party was founded in 1917, and began publishing Kustbon the following year. [1] In March 1919, the party held its congress. [2]
Due to the small size of the Swedish minority, the party was unable to have any impact running alone. In the 1929 elections it formed an alliance with the German-Baltic Party, which resulted in a 20% increase in their combined vote share. [3] At the time the party was led by Hans Pöhl, a former members of the Christian People's Party. After Pöhl died in 1930, Mathias Westerblom took over as party leader. [3]
The party had its offices at Riddaregatan (Rüütli) 9, Tallinn, attached to Swedish Saint Michael Parish and the Swedish-language school. [4]
In 1935, the publication Kustbon was banned, as political organizations were no longer allowed to issue publications. Nya Kustbon was founded in its place, as a non-party publication. [5]
Politics in Estonia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Estonian parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government, which is led by the prime minister. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Estonia is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, and NATO.
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian as their native tongue.
The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomous areas of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. The representatives are members of parliament in their respective countries or areas and are elected by those parliaments. The Council holds ordinary sessions each year in October/November and usually one extra session per year with a specific theme. The council's official languages are Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish, though it uses only the mutually intelligible Scandinavian languages—Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish—as its working languages. These three comprise the first language of around 80% of the region's population and are learned as a second or foreign language by the remaining 20%.
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Postimees is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 employees.
Jüri Ratas is an Estonian politician who served as the prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021 and as the leader of the Centre Party from 2016 to 2023, and the mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member of the Centre Party until switching to Isamaa in 2024.
The history of Jews in Estonia starts with reports of the presence of individual Jews in what is now Estonia from as early as the 14th century.
Andres Küng was a Swedish journalist, writer, entrepreneur and politician of Estonian origin. He was born in Ockelbo in Gävleborg County to a family of refugees from Soviet occupied Estonia.
The culture of Estonia combines an indigenous heritage, represented by the country's Finnic national language Estonian, with Nordic and German cultural aspects. Over the centuries, the culture of modern Estonia has been significantly influenced by that of the Germanic-speaking world. Due to its history and geography, Estonia's culture has also been influenced by the traditions of the Baltic Germans and Scandinavians as well as the neighbouring Baltic, Slavic, and Finnic peoples.
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,335 square kilometres (17,504 sq mi). Tallinn, the capital city, and Tartu are the two largest urban areas. The Estonian language is the official language and the first language of the majority of the population of 1.4 million.
Joonas Tamm is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bulgarian First League side Botev Plovdiv and the Estonia national team.
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