Rural decline threatens Estonia’s ancient isle of women

A Kihnu resident plucking duck feathers at home. On the island, it is common to find women doing all the work as the men are away at sea most of the time. — Photos: ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO/AFP

For centuries on a small, forested island in the Baltic Sea, women in headscarves and striped red skirts have done most of the work: from farming to lighthouse keeping, leading church services and even dressing up as Santa Claus at Christmas.

The men of Kihnu island, 10km off the coast of Estonia, are away at sea fishing for weeks or months at a time, leaving the women to run what is often dubbed one of the last matriarchal societies in Europe.