County flags
The flags of the 15 counties of Estonia are all white and green, with the coat of arms of the respective county on the white part. This design was first established in 1938. The list also includes the historical flag of Petseri County, which in 1944 was occupied by Soviet forces and became Pechorsky District in Pskov Oblast, present-day Russia. The district was claimed by Estonia after the re-establishing of independence in 1991, but the claim was dropped in 1995. [1] The county governments along with county governors were abolished with the 2017 administrative-territorial reform, and their tasks were transferred to ministries, [2] so it is unusual to see these flags in use nowadays.
Counties 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 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 and rural municipalities, which are by law required to cooperate in development of their county.
A municipality is the smallest administrative subdivision of Estonia. Each municipality is a unit of self-government with its representative and executive bodies. The municipalities in Estonia cover the entire territory of the country.
Ida-Viru County is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most north-eastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale - the main mineral mined in Estonia. Oil shale is used in the production of shale oil and in thermal power plants. The capital of the county is the town of Jõhvi which is administratively united with the Jõhvi Parish; nevertheless, Narva is the largest town in the county in terms of population and at the same time the third largest city in Estonia after Tallinn and Tartu.
Rapla County is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in the western part of the country and borders Järva County to the east, Pärnu County to the south, Lääne County to the west, and Harju County to the north. In 2022 Rapla County had a population of 33,529 – constituting 2.5% of the total population of Estonia.
Lääne-Viru County is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, lääne means western and ida means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Ida-Viru County to the east, Jõgeva County to the south, and Järva and Harju counties to the west. In January 2013, Lääne-Viru County had a population of 58,806: 4.5% of the population in Estonia.
Tapa is a town in Tapa Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia, located at the junction of the country's Tallinn–Narva (west–east) and Tallinn–Tartu–Valga (north–south) railway lines. Tapa has the Estonian Defense Forces nearby Keskpolügoon. The Valgejõgi River passes Tapa on its northeastern side. Tapa has been known as both a railway and a military town throughout its history.
In Estonia, the population of ethnic Russians is estimated at 296,268, most of whom live in the capital city Tallinn and other urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. While a small settlement of Russian Old Believers on the coast of Lake Peipus has an over 300-year long history, the large majority of the ethnic Russian population in the country originates from the immigration from Russia and other parts of the former USSR during the 1944–1991 Soviet era of Estonia.
The coats of arms of the 15 counties of Estonia are presented below.
Kunda may refer to:
The Estonian Police was the law enforcement agency of Estonia. It was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. In 2010, the organization was superseded by the Police and Border Guard Board.
Petseri County was a county of Estonia established in 1918. Since 1944, however, most of the county has been administered as Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, first by the Russian SFSR and then, from 1991, by Russia. Estonia retains territories that today constitute Setomaa Parish in modern Võru County.
The Estonian Border Guard was the national security agency responsible for the border security of Estonia. It was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. The Border Guard also assisted with Search and Rescue missions. In 2010, the organization was superseded by the Police and Border Guard Board.
Northern Estonia is a geographical region of Estonia, consisting of the three northernmost counties - Harju County, Ida-Viru County and Lääne-Viru County. The largest towns of Northern Estonia are Tallinn, Narva, Kohtla-Järve and Rakvere. Northern Estonia is the most populous area in Estonia, with 60.3% of the population living there.
Estonia is a unitary country with a single-tier local government system. Local affairs are managed autonomously by local governments.
The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of Estonia for statistical purposes. The standard is developed and regulated by the European Union. The NUTS standard is instrumental in delivering the European Union's Structural Funds. The NUTS code for Estonia is EE and a hierarchy of three levels is established by Eurostat. Below these is a further levels of geographic organisation - the local administrative unit (LAU). In Estonia, the LAU 1 is counties and the LAU 2 are municipalities.
Metsiku is a village in Haljala Parish, Lääne-Viru County, in northern Estonia.
Electoral district no. 6 is one of the 12 multi-member electoral districts of the Riigikogu, the national legislature of Estonia. The district was established in 2003 when the existing electoral district no. 6 was split into two. It is conterminous with the county of Lääne-Viru. The district currently elects five of the 101 members of the Riigikogu using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2019 parliamentary election it had 44,583 registered electors.
Electoral district no. 6 was one of the multi-member electoral districts of the Riigikogu, the national legislature of Estonia. The district was established in 1995 following the re-organisation of electoral districts. It was abolished in 2003. It was conterminous with the counties of Ida-Viru and Lääne-Viru.
Electoral district no. 8 was one of the multi-member electoral districts of the Riigikogu, the national legislature of Estonia. The district was established in 1992 when the Riigikogu was re-established following Estonia's independence from the Soviet Union. It was abolished in 1995. It was conterminous with the counties of Järva and Lääne-Viru.