Photo credit: Thatcher Hullerman Cook
12/20/2004

In Kopli, a section of Estonia's capital, Tallinn, a large percentage of the residents are Russian. Overall, Russian-speakers comprise approximately twenty-six percent of Estonia's population and about half the Russian-speaking population is stateless. Russians and Estonians don't interact much, so there are neighborhoods such as Kopli, and whole regions of Estonia, where the majority of the population is Russian-speaking. To acquire Estonian citizenship, Russians must pass language exam and constitution exams. Many Russians, because of their isolated living conditions, have little chance to practice Russian and develop adequate language skills to pass the test.