Counties of Estonia
Counties (Estonian: maakond, plural maakonnad) are the state administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands. County governments (maavalitsus) were abolished at the end of 2017, with their duties split between state authorities and local governments, and nowadays counties have no noteworthy independent competences. Counties are composed of municipalities of two types: urban municipalities (towns, linnad) and rural municipalities (parishes, vallad), which are by law required to cooperate in development of their county.
List
Population figures as of 2023.
Coat of arms |
County | Capital |
Area (km2) |
Population | Pop. density (inhab. /km2) |
GDP (mil. €)[3] | GDP per capita (€) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Harju County | Tallinn | 4,327 | 638,076 | 147.46 | 21,680 | 34,615 | |
2 | Hiiu County | Kärdla | 1,023 | 8,474 | 8.21 | 146 | 17,225 | |
3 | Ida-Viru County | Jõhvi | 2,972 | 133,358 | 44.87 | 2,631 | 19,778 | |
4 | Jõgeva County | Jõgeva | 2,545 | 27,739 | 10.90 | 466 | 16,768 | |
5 | Järva County | Paide | 2,674 | 30,072 | 11.25 | 610 | 20,405 | |
6 | Lääne County | Haapsalu | 1,816 | 20,688 | 11.40 | 320 | 15,658 | |
7 | Lääne-Viru County | Rakvere | 3,696 | 59,608 | 16.13 | 1,074 | 18,150 | |
8 | Põlva County | Põlva | 2,165 | 24,036 | 11.10 | 347 | 14,450 | |
9 | Pärnu County | Pärnu | 5,419 | 87,418 | 16.13 | 1,587 | 18,334 | |
10 | Rapla County | Rapla | 2,765 | 34,038 | 12.31 | 540 | 15,985 | |
11 | Saare County | Kuressaare | 2,938 | 31,919 | 10.86 | 518 | 16,380 | |
12 | Tartu County | Tartu | 2,993 | 162,390 | 54.26 | 4,186 | 26,151 | |
13 | Valga County | Valga | 1,917 | 28,114 | 14.67 | 425 | 15,260 | |
14 | Viljandi County | Viljandi | 3,422 | 45,637 | 13.37 | 896 | 19,692 | |
15 | Võru County | Võru | 2,305 | 34,317 | 14.89 | 584 | 17,041 |
History
In the first centuries AD,[. The exact number and borders of some elderships are disputed.
The first documented mentioning of Estonian political and administrative subdivisions comes from the
The autonomy of the Estonian counties and parishes ended after conquered and divided between
In the 1580s, after the
This administrative system mostly remained as Estonia went under Russian rule due to the Great Northern War, ending circa 1721. In 1793 were formed Võru County in the south of Tartumaa, Viljandi County between Tartu and Pärnu counties, and Paldiski County in the west of Harjumaa. In 1796 Paldiski County was joined with Harjumaa again. Until 1888 Võrumaa and Viljandimaa were not wholly independent from Tartumaa and Pärnumaa, respectively.
Several changes were made to the borders of counties after Estonia became independent, most notably the formation of Valga County (from parts of Võru, Tartu and Viljandi counties) and Petseri County (area acquired from Russia with the 1920 Tartu peace treaty).
During Soviet rule, Petseri County became a part of Russia in 1945. Hiiumaa seceded from Läänemaa in 1946, Jõgevamaa from Tartumaa in 1949 and Jõhvimaa (modern
Counties were re-established on 1 January 1990 in the borders of the Soviet-era raions. Due to the numerous differences between the current and historical (pre-1940) layouts, the historical borders are still used in ethnology, better representing cultural and linguistic differences.
County governments were abolished at the end of 2017, with their duties split between state authorities and local governments. Nowadays counties have no noteworthy independent competences, but local governments are required by law to work together in developing their county.[5]
See also
- Flags of Estonian counties
- Coats of arms of Estonian Counties
- ISO 3166-2:EE
- Municipalities of Estonia
- Administrative reform in Estonia
References
- ^ "RV022U: Population by sex, age group and county, 1 January. administrative division as at 01.01.2018". Statistics Estonia.
- ^ "RV022U: POPULATION BY SEX, AGE GROUP AND COUNTY, 1 JANUARY. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION AS AT 01.01.2018". Statistics Estonia. 2021-05-12. Archived from the original on 2021-05-15. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
- ^ "Gross Domestic Product by County 2022". stat.ee.
- ISBN 0-8179-2852-9
- ^ "Local governments in Estonia" (PDF). Ministry of Finance. pp. 12, 18, 31. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
External links
- Local Government Reform Estonian Institute publication