Estonian Australians

Estonian Australians (Estonian: Eestlased Austraalias) refers to Australian citizens of Estonian descent or Estonia-born persons who reside in Australia. According to the 2011 Census, there were 8,551 people of Estonian descent in Australia and 1,928 Estonia-born people residing in the country at the moment of the census, having a fall of 0.4 per cent compared to the 2006 Census. The largest Estonia-born community in Australia is in the state of New South Wales, with 731 people.[1]

Estonian Australians
Eestlased Austraalias (Estonian)
Total population
1,928 (by birth, 2011 Census)[1]
8,551 (by ancestry, 2011 Census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Estonia-born people by state or territory
 New South Wales731[1]
 Victoria365[1]
 Queensland290[1]
 Western Australia240[1]
Languages
Australian English · Estonian
Religion
Christianity (Predominantly Lutheranism)
Related ethnic groups
Finnish Australians, Estonian Americans

From 1940 to 1944, more than 70,000 Estonians fled to the West due to the Soviet and German occupations. Many settled in Australia.[2] The first voyage under Arthur Calwell's Displaced Persons immigration program, that of the USS General Stuart Heintzelman in 1947,[3] was specially chosen to be all from Baltic nations, all single, many blond and blue-eyed, in order to appeal to the Australian public.[4] Of the 843 immigrants on the Heintzelman, 142 were Estonian.[5]

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "The Estonia-born Community". Australian Government Department of Immigration. 19 November 2003. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  2. "Our new home: Estonian-Australian stories". migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au. 2007. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007.
  3. "First of the Fifth Fleet". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  4. J. Franklin, Calwell, Catholicism and the origins of multicultural Australia, Proc. of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 2009 Conference, 42-54.
  5. "Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild: USAT General Stuart Heintzelman". Retrieved 27 February 2017.


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