Geographical Information Systems were used for the first time in Statistics Estonia for making the Census maps of the 2000 Population and Housing Census and for geo-referencing the Census results.
GIS helps to present the statistics, to organise the planned 2011 Population and Housing Census, to analyse and disseminate the Census results.
Maps
Thematic maps
Geo-referenced statistics
Census results of the 2000 Population and Housing Census
Generalized boundaries of Estonian administrative and settlement division
Exploring population statistics with the Internet-based mapping application Google Earth
MAPS
Thematic maps
Statistics Estonia has made thematic maps for about 90 years as thematic maps have been used since the first Republic of Estonia while presenting statistics. Thematic maps enable first and foremost to show the regional indicators, to present simply and clearly the spatial and temporal relationships between many statistical indicators. Thematic maps are relevant in presenting statistics.
Thematic maps presented on the website of Statistics Estonia provide statistics on different subject areas of the European countries, as well as counties and local government units of Estonia.
Thematic maps are available:
GEO-REFERENCED STATISTICS
Each phenomenon that can be described statistically has a spatial-temporal component. The GIS means of analysis increase significantly the potential to use statistics. Geo-referenced statistics support the decision making in planning on the state, regional and on local level. Geo-referenced statistics are highly needed in scientific research. In private sector geo-referenced statistics are mainly used for location based analyses and for specification of target groups.
Census results of the 2000 Population and Housing Census
All the census results of the 2000 Population and Housing Census (e.g. distribution of population by gender and age, ethnic nationality, command of languages, dwelling indicators, etc.) have been geo-referenced. The data have been presented as uniform territorial units or grids. The territory of Estonia has been divided into grids (1x1 km), cities 500x500 m. The data are available in MapInfo/ESRI format.
The grid based census results for the year 2000 have been used in local governments, in education and research institutions and in private companies

- in the surveys of urban sprawl
- in the surveys of social infrastructure
- in estimating the environmental impact
- in planning
- in the analysis of the optimal location of the rescue centres
- for specification of marketing target groups and for other purposes.
Geo-referenced statistics, census and thematic maps can be ordered
Generalized boundaries of Estonian administrative and settlement division
Generalized boundaries of Estonian administrative and settlement division are meant for compiling thematic maps and cartograms. Boundaries with different generalization stage can be used in different map scales.
Generalized boundaries of Estonian administrative and settlement division
Exploring population statistics with the Internet-based mapping application Google Earth
Customers have an opportunity to explore the Estonian population statistics on the Internet based mapping application Google Earth. The number of population, proportion of children, working-age and elderly people on city or rural municipality level, as well as the relation of dependant people to working-age persons can be viewed. The data are presented as of 1 January 2008.
The mapping application Google Earth should be installed in user’s computer prior viewing the statistics. The software can be downloaded free of charge from http://earth.google.com/.
To explore the population statistics on Google Earth the user should download and open the specific KML file http://www.stat.ee/public/kaardid/google-earth/Population-Statistics-in-Google-Earth.kml.
The persons interested in population statistics can view a more detailed instruction.