Entering our fourth year, we take a look back at the top 10 most popular stories, published by Estonian World in 2015.
When we posted our first article on a beautiful summer day in July 2012, at a local cafe in Camden Town, London, we could not have possibly imagined that three and half years down the line, Estonian World would be the most popular English language media outlets about Estonia and Estonians in the world.
Just like in the world in general, last year was more turbulent for our publication than the previous one – but despite of better expectations, we still had more readers than ever before. On social media, no other Estonian English media site comes even close in terms of engagement.
These stories were the ten most popular ones last year. We don’t disclose the exact readership numbers, but all these articles had at least 10,000 reads, the most popular ones multiple times over. Thanks for reading and we wish everyone all the best for this year!
10. Five things you need to know if you’re hiring an Estonian
Claire Millard, a Brit living in Tallinn, analysed the differences between Southern and Northern Europeans, comparing Estonians with coconuts. Yep, with coconuts.
9. INFOGRAM: Estonia has the second best public wifi in the world
According to a new survey, based on users’ experiences, Estonia provides the second best public wifi in the world, while Lithuania has emerged as the leader.
8. Sten Hankewitz: Grow up, Estonia
The refugee crisis split people’s opinions across Europe, but it is probably fair to say that the fiercest debates took place in Central and Eastern Europe, including Estonia. In fact, the country has not seen so aggressive disputes since regaining independence in 1991. At times, the falling-out over decision to accept handful of refugees (none has actually arrived to Estonia yet) got so out of hand that some Estonian human rights activists started to fear for their safety, as they were physically and verbally threatened by home-grown far-right extremists. It didn’t help that the xenophobic Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) had managed to win seven seats at the parliament, openly inciting hatred. Here, Estonian World’s deputy editor Sten Hankewitz voiced his concern about the racist tendencies that took hold in Estonia over the course of spring and summer 2015.
7. Estonia is Lonely Planet’s best value destination for 2016
Lonely Planet, the largest travel guide book publisher in the world, ranked the best value destinations for 2016 and Estonia is number one.
6. Estonian-Georgian movie “Tangerines” nominated for an Oscar
The Estonian-Georgian movie, “Tangerines” (“Mandariinid” in Estonian), was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category, thus becoming the first Estonian film nominated for an Academy Award. As it happened, “Ida” – a Polish drama film directed by Paweł Pawlikowski – won the coveted prize, but it nevertheless greatly increased Estonian confidence in their film industry.
5. 20 pictures of Soviet-era Estonia
Tomas Alexandersson, a young Swede, who moved to Tallinn, started collecting the postcards and travel brochures of the Soviet-era Estonia, ultimately dedicating an entire website to it. Estonian World published 20 pictures from Alexandersson’s collection.
4. Estonians beat Columbus to north America
Published on April Fools’ Day, our US-based author Andres Simonson wrote about the new evidence, which indicates that Estonians may have been the first Europeans to settle North America…
3. Top 12 most outstanding Estonian women in the world
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, Estonian World compiled a list of most outstanding Estonian women on the global stage, the first and so far the only Estonian media outlet to do so.
2. 100 ways to know that you are from Estonia
Every nation has its characteristics. Some time ago, a few Tallinn-based expats compiled a tongue-in-cheek list that distinguishes Estonians. Estonian World republished the list in a slightly modified form.
1. Top 12 most outstanding Estonians in the world 2014
In the run-up to the Estonian Independence Day, Estonian World took a look back at the previous year and compiled a list of the most outstanding Estonians in the world in 2014, the first Estonian media outlet to compile such a list. Look out for this year’s list, published soon!
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For comparison, see also our most popular stories in 2014. Cover illustration by Eiko Ojala.
