Estonia

Estonia is a former Soviet Republic that gained independence in 1991 and joined the European Union in 2004. It is a parliamentary democracy with a population of about 1.3 million, of whom 14.9 percent are age 14 or younger and 17.6 percent age 65 and older. The population growth rate is negative (minus 0.632 percent), with 10.28 births per 1,000 population, 13.4 deaths per 1,000, and a net migration rate of minus 3.26 per 1,000. The total fertility rate (an estimation of the average number of children per woman) is 1.42. Life expectancy at birth is 67.4 years for men and 78.5 years for women. The population is about two-thirds Estonian and one-quarter Russian, with the remainder mostly coming from other former Soviet republics. It is a secular state and the population has a low degree of religious affiliation: about a third of Estonians belong to a Christian denomination, and most of the remainder are unaffiliated. Literacy is quite high and is equal (99.8 percent) for both men and women.

Estonia has a modern market economy, and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita ($21,200 in 2008) is one of the highest in central Europe and 44th out of 223 countries included in the CIA World Factbook. The population enjoys a high standard of communications: there are more mobile phones in use than there are people living in the country, and with Internet access commonly available (online voting was first used in local elections in 2005).

Maternal and child health services are provided on a par with western European countries. Per capita total expenditure in 2002 was $263, and the government provides over 75 percent of the total expenditures for health care. Major childhood immunization rates are near 100 percent, almost all births are attended by skilled personnel, and 56 percent of women use modern contraceptive methods. There are about 12,000 live births annually; the maternal mortality rate is 38 per 100,000 live births, the stillbirth rate in 5 per 1,000 total births, and the neonatal mortality rate 6 per 1,000 live births. In the rankings by Save the Children, an international organization devoted to serving the needs of children around the world, Estonia ranks 17 for maternal health (by comparison, the United States is ranked 26). The index is based on a number of categories, including female life expectancy, female education, child mortality, maternal mortality, modern contraceptive use, and participation in national government.