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Religion in Estonia (2011)[1][2]
Estonia, although nominally a Protestant country,[3] is one of the least religious countries in world, with only 14% of the population declaring religion an important part of their daily life.[4] Among the religious population there are followers of 90 affiliations, Orthodox Christians and Lutheran Christians are the most prevalent.[5] According to Ringo Ringvee, "religion has never played an important role on the political or ideological battlefield" and that the "tendencies that prevailed in the late 1930s for closer relations between the state and Lutheran church were ended with the Soviet occupation in 1940". He further states that "the chain of religious traditions was broken in most families" under the Soviet policy of state atheism.[6][3]
In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights brought Christianity to Estonia and during the Protestant Reformation, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church became the established church.[8] Robert T. Francoeur and Raymond J. Noonan write that "In 1925, the church was separated from the state, but religious instruction remained in the schools and clergymen were trained at the Faculty of Theology at Tartu University. With the Soviet occupation and the implementation of anti-Christian legislation, the church lost over two thirds of its clergy. Work with children, youth, publishing, and so on, was banned, church property was nationalized, and the Faculty of Theology was closed."[9] Aldis Purs, a professor of history at the University of Toronto writes that in Estonia, as well as Latvia, some evangelical Christian clergy attempted to resist the Soviet policy of state atheism by engaging in anti-regime activities such as Bible smuggling.[10] The text titled World and Its Peoples: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, published by the Marshall Cavendish, states that in addition to the Soviet antireligious campaign in Estonia, which mandated the confiscation of church property and deportation of theologians to Siberia, many "churches were destroyed in the German occupation of Estonia, from 1941 through 1944, and in World War II (1939-1945)".[3] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this antireligious legislation was annulled.[11]
According to the Gallup showed that 14% of Estonians answered positively to the question: "Is religion an important part of your daily life?", which was the lowest among 143 countries polled.[13]
Less than a third of the population define themselves as believers; of those, the majority are Lutheran, whereas the Russian minority is Eastern Orthodox. There are also a number of smaller [16]
1Population, persons aged 15 and older.
Tallinn, Sweden, Soviet Union, Tartu, Estonian language
Nontheism, Religion, Criticism of religion, Secular humanism, Antireligion
Estonia, Soviet Union, Tallinn, European Union, History of Europe
Estonia, Sweden, Estonian language, Russia, Soviet Union
United Kingdom, France, European Union, Belgium, Germany
Estonia, Estonian language, History of Estonia, Languages of Estonia, Television in Estonia
Estonia, History of Estonia, Languages of Estonia, Television in Estonia, Cinema of Estonia