Editing Estonian language (section)

===Official language===
Writings in Estonian became significant only in the 19th century with the spread of the ideas of the [[Age of Enlightenment]], during the [[Estophilia#Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840)|Estophile Enlightenment Period]] (1750–1840). Although [[Baltic Germans]] at large regarded the future of Estonians as being a fusion with themselves, the Estophile educated class admired the ancient culture of the Estonians and their era of freedom before the conquests by Danes and Germans in the 13th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jansen |first=Ea |title=Estonia: Identity and Independence |date=2004 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=90-420-0890-3 |editor-last=Subrenat |editor-first=Jean-Jacques |page=84 |translator-last=Cousins |translator-first=David |chapter=The National Awakening of the Estonian Nation |translator-last2=Dickens |translator-first2=Eric |translator-last3=Harding |translator-first3=Alexander |translator-last4=Waterhouse |translator-first4=Richard C. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kBZlHdp7tdcC&pg=PA84}}</ref>

When the [[Republic of Estonia]] was established in 1918, Estonian became the [[official language]] of the newly independent country. Immediately after [[World War II]], in 1945, over 97% of the then population of Estonia self-identified as native ethnic Estonians<ref name="Rannut">{{cite journal |last=Rannut |first=Mart |date=2004 |title=Language Policy in Estonia |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=996236 |journal=Noves SL.: Revista de sociolingüística |issue=1–2 (primavera – estiu) |page=4 |language=es}}</ref> and spoke the language.

When Estonia was invaded and reoccupied by the Soviet army in 1944, the status of Estonian effectively changed to one of the two official languages (Russian being the other one).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Colin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtSqB9oqDIC&pg=PA207 |title=Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education |last2=Jones |first2=Sylvia Prys |date=1998 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=1-85359-362-1 |location=Clevedon |page=207}}</ref> Many immigrants from Russia entered Estonia under Soviet encouragement.<ref name="Rannut" /> In the 1970s, the pressure of bilingualism for Estonians was intensified<!--, resulting in the rapid spread of knowledge of Russian among the country's population. The Russian language was termed as "the language of friendship of nations" and was taught to Estonian children, sometimes as early as in kindergarten-->. Although teaching Estonian to non-Estonians in local schools was formally compulsory, in practice, the teaching and learning of Estonian by Russian-speakers was often considered unnecessary by the Soviet authorities.<ref name="Rannut" />
In 1991, with the restoration of Estonia's [[History of Estonia#Regaining independence|independence]], Estonian went back to being the only official language in Estonia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leclerc |first=Jacques |title=Estonie |url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/estonie.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111175346/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/estonie.htm |archive-date=2012-11-11 |access-date=2014-08-23 |website=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde |language=fr}}</ref> Since 2004, when Estonia joined the European Union, Estonian is also one of the (now 24) [[languages of the European Union|official languages of the EU]].

The return of former Soviet immigrants to their countries of origin at the end of the 20th century has brought the proportion of native Estonian-speakers in Estonia now back above 70%. Large parts of the first- and second-generation immigrants in Estonia have now adopted Estonian (over 50% as of the 2022 census).<ref name="Rannut" />