The population of Estonia, estimated at 1,423,316 in 2001, is the smallest of any republic of the former USSR. Population density is 31 persons per sq km (82 per sq mi); the northern portion of the country is more densely inhabited. Estonia is highly urbanized. Some 74 percent of the people live in cities or towns, with nearly one-third of the total population residing in the capital, Tallinn, located on the northern coast. Other important cities include Tartu, an industrial and cultural center, and Pärnu, Estonia’s leading seaside resort. Russians mostly reside in urban areas, especially in the northeast.

Estonia has experienced considerable internal migration since the mid-1950s. The population in the northern, industrially advanced part of the nation has increased appreciably at the expense of the southern and western regions, which are primarily agrarian. There was also extensive immigration from territories of the U.S.S.R., particularly from Russia, after Soviet annexation in 1940.