Estonians (Estonian: eestlased, previously maarahvas) are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. The Estonians speak a Finno-Ugric language, known as Estonian. Although Estonia is traditionally grouped as one of the Baltic countries, Estonians are linguistically and ethnically unrelated to the Baltic peoples of Latvia and Lithuania.
Estonia was first inhabited about 10,000 years ago, just a...
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Estonians (Estonian: eestlased, previously maarahvas) are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. The Estonians speak a Finno-Ugric language, known as Estonian. Although Estonia is traditionally grouped as one of the Baltic countries, Estonians are linguistically and ethnically unrelated to the Baltic peoples of Latvia and Lithuania.
Estonia was first inhabited about 10,000 years ago, just after the Baltic ice lake had retreated from Estonia. While it is not certain what languages were spoken by the first settlers, it is often maintained that speakers of early Finno-Ugric languages related to modern Estonian had arrived to what is now Estonia by about 5000 years ago. Living in the same area for more than 5000 years would put the ancestors of Estonians among the oldest permanent inhabitants in Europe. On the other hand, some recent liguistic estimations suggest that Fenno-Ugrian language arrived around the Baltic Sea considerably...
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