Religion 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. 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)". After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this antireligious legislation was annulled. Less
Estonians in Finland Estonians in Finland Estonians in Finland are immigrants from Estonia residing in Finland. In 2017, there were 52,424 Estonian immigrants in Finland, according to the UN. Estonians are Finland's second largest immigrant group, after Russians. Immigration from Estonia to Finland was low before 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Estonia's EU membership in 2004, emigration from Estonia to Finland increased rapidly. In 2017, there were 49,590 speakers of Estonian. Finland has the largest community of Estonians outside Estonia In 2012, 5,000 more people from Estonia emigrated to Finland than immigrated to Estonia. There are an estimated 100,000