Eestlased Austraalias (
Estonian) | |
---|---|
Total population | |
2,665 (by birth,
2021 Census)
[1] 11,598 (by ancestry, 2021 Census) [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Estonian Ancestry by state or territory | |
New South Wales | 4,265 [1] |
Victoria | 2,408 [1] |
Queensland | 1,916 [1] |
Western Australia | 1,374 [1] |
Languages | |
Australian English · Estonian | |
Religion | |
Christianity (Predominantly Lutheranism) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Finnish Australians, Estonian Americans |
Estonian Australians ( Estonian: Eestlased Austraalias) refers to Australian citizens of Estonian descent or Estonia-born persons who reside in Australia. According to the 2021 Census, there were 11,598 people of Estonian descent in Australia and 2,665 Estonia-born people residing in the country at the moment of the census, having a increase of21 per cent compared to the 2016 Census. The largest Estonia-born community in Australia is in the state of New South Wales, with 4,265 people. [1]
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]