ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with Estonia's unique pioneering in two aspects of human relations: successful practice of peaceful methods during intense political struggle and implementation of cultural autonomy for ethnolinguistic minorities. It describes how Estonia's small size is not just a liability but also an asset. The chapter outlines country's geographical destiny as a bridge between Western and Eastern Europe, and indicates some of Estonia's cultural-scientific contributions. Estonia has a population of one million Estonians and half a million colonists and an area of close to 50,000 square kilometres. Estonia's most visible role in the world is pioneering in various types of social relations: peaceful methods of political struggle, cultural autonomy, the implications of smallness, and East-West relations. Much larger than Estonia in geographical area, Iceland has developed a modern culture on the basis of only a quarter million speakers of Icelandic—a process aided by the island's being sheltered by hundreds of kilometers of sea all around it.
