ESTHO'NIA (Esthonian Esti-ma, Esthland). A government of Russia, the most northern of the Baltic Provinces (q.v.), bounded by the Gulf of Finland on the north, the Government of Saint Petersbnrg on the east, Lake Peipus and the Gov ernment of Livonia on the south, and the Baltic Sea on the west (Map: Russia, C 3). Its area, including the islands of Dagii, Worms, Odensholm, and a large number of smaller islets, is over 7S00 square miles. The surface is low, partly swampy, and intersected by numerous streams and lakes. The soil is composed mostly of Silu rian rocks covered with sand or clay. Large blocks of granite are found in some parts, and turf deposits also occur. The climate is raw in the winter and hot in the summer, but is on the whole healthful. Agriculture, the chief ocenpa t ion of the inhabitants, is carried on by the most modern methods, and although the soil is not very favorable, the crops are extensive. Over 40 per cent, of the land is under meadows and heaths, and about 20 per cent. under forests, thus making the conditions very favorable for the raising of live stock, which is also a thriving industry. Manufacturing has reached a consid erable development. Cotton goods and liquors are chiefly produced. The trade is mostly tran sit, but of great importance. Reval, the chief
seaport and capital, has considerable shipping, and is connected by rail with Saint Petershurg. Population, in 1397, 413,000, consisting princi pally of Esthonians (nearly 90 per cent.), but in cluding also Germans, Russians, Swedes, and Jews. The a Finnish people, are blond, and dolichoecphalic. resembling the Germans and Russians, by whom they have been profoundly modified. When they first appear in history they are primitive. having no domestic animals, no grain except barley, and living in skin tents. They are the only group south of Finland that preserve the native speech. Most of the inhabi tants are Protestant. Divided between the Danes and the Germans in thirteenth century, Esthonia came entirely into the possession of the Germans with the purchase of the Danish portion by the Teutonic Knights in ]346. In 1561 it passed to the Swedes, from whom it was taken by Peter the Great in 1710, being formally ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Nystad, in 1721. From 1721 to 1882 Esthonia bad the title of a duchy.
Consult: Jordan, Beitroge lit Geographic und Statistik Esthlands (Reval, 1389) Rutenberg, Gesehichte der Ostseeprovinzen (Leipzig, MG).