History of Russians in Estonia
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (320,000 (est.) (24% of total population)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Tallinn, Ida-Viru County |
The population of Russians in Estonia is estimated at 320,000. Most Russians live in Estonia's capital city Tallinn and the major northeastern cities of Narva and Kohtla-Järve. Some areas in eastern Estonia near Lake Peipus have a centuries-long history of settlement by Russians, including the Old Believers' communities; however, the majority of today's Estonian Russians arrived during the Soviet era or are the descendants of those who did.
The Estonian name for Russians vene, venelane derives from an old Germanic loan veneð referring to the Wends, speakers of a Slavic language who lived on the southern coast of the Baltic sea.
Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kievan Rus' defeated Chuds in 1030 and established fort of Yuryev (in modern day Tartu), which survived until 1061 when the Kievans were driven out by the tribe of Sosols.
A medieval proto-Russian settlement was in Kuremäe, Vironia. The Orthodox community in the area built a church in the 16th century and in 1891 the Pühtitsa Convent was created on its site. Proto-Russian cultural influence had its mark on Estonian language, with a number of words such as "turg" (trade) and "rist" (cross) adopted from East Slavic.
In 1217, an allied Ugaunian-Novgorodian army defended the Ugaunian stronghold of Otepää from the German knights. Novgorodian prince Vyachko died in 1224 with all his druzhina defending the fortress of Tarbatu together with his Ugaunian and Sackalian allies against the Livonian Order led by Albert of Riga.
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