# Estonia and Russia compared

Estonia and Russia side by side: 43 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 13 events their chronicles record of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/est-vs-rus
Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates)

Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Formation

- Estonia: 24 February 1918 — The independent Republic of Estonia is declared
- Russia: 882 — Oleg takes Kiev and Kievan Rus' becomes a single state

## Economy

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $43 B | 2024 | $2.17 T | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $31,428 | 2024 | $14,889 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | -0.1% | 2024 | 4.3% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 3.5% | 2024 | 8.4% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 151.0% | 2024 | 39.5% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1.4 m | 2024 | 144 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 79.3 yrs | 2024 | 73.4 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 70.7% | 2024 | 75.1% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 1.2 | 2024 | 1.4 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 81.6 | 2024 | 32.0 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 77.8 | 2024 | 50.5 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 76.6 | 2024 | 45.1 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 76.9 | 2024 | 38.0 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 82.5 | 2024 | 37.1 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 81.6 | 2024 | 29.8 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 7.8% | 2024 | 7.0% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 3.47 | 2022 | 5.11 | 2022 |
| Under-5 mortality | 2.0 | 2024 | 5.2 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 83.0% | 2024 | 97.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | 98.9% | 2024 | 76.3% | 2024 |

## Education

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 99.9% | 2011 | 99.9% | 2021 |
| Education spending | 5.2% | 2022 | 4.2% | 2023 |
| Primary enrolment | 97.8% | 2024 | 97.7% | 2023 |
| Secondary enrolment | 108.5% | 2024 | 92.5% | 2023 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 65.7% | 2024 | 60.4% | 2024 |

## Technology

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 1.8% | 2023 | 0.9% | 2024 |
| Researchers (per million) | 4,800 | 2023 | 2,639 | 2024 |
| Internet users | 92.2% | 2024 | 94.4% | 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 151 | 2024 | 186 | 2024 |
| High-tech exports | 18.4% | 2024 | 9.7% | 2021 |

## Geography

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 42,730 km² | 2023 | 16,376,870 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 57.1% | 2023 | 49.8% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 23.1% | 2023 | 13.2% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 7.8 | 2024 | 14.0 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 38.0% | 2021 | 3.5% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 1.7% | 2021 | 18.5% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 1.0% | 2021 | 9.7% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 2.1% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 0.3% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 |
| Copper (mined) | — | — | 1.3 Mt | 2025 |
| Iron ore | — | — | 86 Mt | 2025 |
| Gold (mined) | — | — | 310 t | 2025 |
| Cobalt (mined) | — | — | 7,700 t | 2025 |
| Nickel (mined) | — | — | 200 kt | 2025 |
| Rare earths | — | — | 2,600 t | 2025 |
| Bauxite | — | — | 5.7 Mt | 2025 |
| Zinc (mined) | — | — | 430 kt | 2025 |
| Phosphate rock | — | — | 14 Mt | 2025 |

## Military

| Metric | Estonia | Observed | Russia | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 3.4% | 2024 | 7.1% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $1.4 B | 2024 | $149 B | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 7,000 | 2020 | 1.5 m | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/EST.md and https://terralore.co/country/RUS.md.

## Entangled histories (13 events)

Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources.

- 1285: **Reval joins the Hanseatic League** — Tallinn, known as Reval, entered the Hanseatic League and grew into a wealthy port linking Russian trade to the markets of the Baltic and the North Sea. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn)
- 1558–1583: **The Livonian War** — A twenty-five-year struggle for Livonia pitted Russia against Sweden, Denmark and Poland-Lithuania, shattering the old crusader confederation as the towns and provinces sought new protectors. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Livonian War; Estonia: History)
- 1721: **Treaty of Nystad** — Sweden ceded Estonia and Livonia to Russia, which organised them into governorates and confirmed the privileges of the Baltic German nobility, beginning two centuries of Russian imperial rule. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Peace of Nystad; Estonia: History)
- 1816–1819: **Abolition of serfdom** — Serfdom was abolished in the Estonian and Livonian governorates ahead of the rest of Russia, freeing the peasantry and laying the social groundwork for the later national awakening. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Estonia: History)
- 1918–1920: **The War of Independence** — The Estonian army, with Finnish, British and other allied support, repelled the Soviet Red Army and the Baltic German Landeswehr, securing the survival of the new republic. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Estonia celebrates Independence Day: How was freedom declared in 1918?; Estonia: History)
- 2 Feb 1920: **Treaty of Tartu** — Soviet Russia recognised Estonian independence de jure and renounced 'voluntarily and forever' all sovereign rights over Estonia, ending the war and fixing the eastern border at Narva and Petseri. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Tartu Peace, 2 February 1920; Estonia marks the anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty; Treaty of Tartu)
- 23 Aug 1939: **The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact** — The secret protocol of the German-Soviet pact assigned Estonia to the Soviet sphere of influence, sealing the country's fate without its knowledge or consent. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Estonia in the grip of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II))
- Jun–Aug 1940: **Soviet occupation and annexation** — The Red Army occupied Estonia on 16-17 June 1940 and, after a staged election, the country was annexed into the Soviet Union in August, ending the independent republic. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II); Estonia in the grip of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
- from 1940: **Western non-recognition** — Following the Stimson Doctrine, the United States and many other states refused to recognise the Soviet annexation de jure, holding that Estonia remained a sovereign state under occupation. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: What Made the Restoration of Estonian Independence Possible? (non-recognition and state continuity); Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II))
- 14 Jun 1941: **The June deportation** — Soviet authorities deported more than 10,000 people from Estonia to Siberia in a single operation, most of them women, children and the elderly, days before the German invasion. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Commemoration in Tallinn of victims of the deportations of June 1941; Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II))
- 1944: **Soviet reoccupation** — After three years of Nazi occupation, the Soviet Union reconquered Estonia in 1944, beginning a second occupation marked by further mass deportations and armed 'Forest Brother' resistance. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II); Commemoration in Tallinn of victims of the deportations of June 1941)
- 1 May 2004: **Accession to the European Union** — Estonia joined the European Union, completing its post-Soviet return to Europe after a 2003 referendum in which two-thirds of voters approved membership. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Estonia and the European Union: Timeline of Relations)
- 2005 & 2014: **The unratified border treaty** — A border treaty with Russia, settling the post-war frontier at Narva and Petseri, was signed in 2005 and again in 2014 but remains unratified, leaving the boundary formally unconcluded. (from the Estonia chronicle; sources: Russian provocations and Estonia's borders: why international law matters; Foreign minister: We can initiate ratifying Estonia-Russia border treaty)

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center

Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/EST/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/RUS/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Estonia and Russia compared", terralore.co/compare/est-vs-rus, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.