KESK-EESTI - Population
The population of Kesk-Eesti stands at 142 730 (1st of January 2003), which represents 10.5% of the total Estonian population. It has the second lowest population density in Estonia at 15.7 inhabitants per km2, after Lääne-Eesti (14.8).
Characteristic to Kesk-Eesti is that the majority of people live in rural settlements. While the proportion of urban population in the region at 41.7% is much lower than the national average (69%), this is not exceptional as the share of urban population in some counties of the other regions is even lower. The reason is that towns in this region are small, with a population of less than 10 000. Only one city, Rakvere, has a population of over 15 000.
The population in Kesk-Eesti has decreased by 12.6% since 1990. In 2002, the number of births per 1 000 inhabitants was on average higher in the region than in Estonia as a whole. However, the birth rate had fallen from 15.6 per 1 000 population in 1990 to 10 per 1 000 population in 2002. The death rate in Kesk-Eesti is 13.3 deaths per 1 000 population which is very close to the Estonian average (13.5) and it is lower than in 1990 (14.1). Infant mortality rate (2.8) in Kesk-Eesti region in 2002 was one of the lowest in Estonia. Compared to the 1990s the infant mortality rate has declined remarkably like in the other regions of Estonia.
In Kesk-Eesti, the proportion of young people (under 25 years) in the total population is the highest in Estonia. At 1st of January 2003, it was 34.1%, as against 31.7% in Estonia as a whole. Compared to the national average, the population in the age group 25-64 years is under-represented in percentage terms (50%). At the same time, the share of the population aged 65 years and older was the same as the average for Estonia.
Life expectancy was in all counties of Kesk-Eesti in 2001 slightly higher than in Estonia as a whole.
The proportion of ethnic Estonians in the region is very high, at 89% (as against 68% in Estonia as a whole). This share is very close to the one registered in Lääne-Eesti region, where more than 90% of the population are ethnic Estonians.
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