Lääne-Viru County

Lääne-Viru County
Lääne-Virumaa
County
Flag of Lääne-Viru County
Flag
Coat of arms of Lääne-Viru County
Coat of arms
Location of Lääne-Viru County
CountryEstonia
CapitalRakvere
Area
 • Total3,695.72 km2 (1,426.93 sq mi)
Population
 (2022[1])
 • Total58,709
 • Rank5th
 • Density16/km2 (41/sq mi)
Ethnicity
 • Estonians87.3%
 • Russians9.2%
 • other3.6%
GDP
[2]
 • Total€1.074 billion (2022)
 • Per capita€18,150 (2022)
ISO 3166 codeEE-60
Vehicle registrationR
Websitelaane-viru.maavalitsus.ee

Lääne-Viru County (Estonian: Lääne-Viru maakond or Lääne-Virumaa) 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.[1]

History

In prehistoric times, Lääne-Virumaa was settled by Estonians of the Vironian tribe.

County government

The County Government (Estonian: maavalitsus) is led by a governor (Estonian: maavanem), who is appointed by the Government of Estonia. Since 2014, the governor position has been held by Marko Torm. The county seat is Rakvere.

Municipalities

The county is subdivided into municipalities. There is one urban municipality (Estonian: linnad – towns) and seven rural municipalities (Estonian: vallad – parishes) in Lääne-Viru County.

Rank Municipality Type Population
(2018)[3]		 Area
km2[3]		 Density[3]
1 Haljala Parish Rural 4,389 547 8.0
2 Kadrina Parish Rural 4,958 355 14.0
3 Rakvere Parish Rural 5,566 296 18.8
4 Rakvere Urban 15,613 11 1,419.4
5 Tapa Parish Rural 11,252 479 23.5
6 Vinni Parish Rural 6,919 1,013 6.8
7 Viru-Nigula Parish Rural 5,981 311 19.2
8 Väike-Maarja Parish Rural 6,016 683 8.8

Religion

Religion in Lääne-Viru County (2021) [1]

  Unaffiliated (82.2%)
  Lutheran (7.5%)
  Orthodox (6.1%)
  Others Christians (2.6%)
  Others Religions or Unknown (1.5%)
Religious affiliations in Lääne-Viru, census 2000–2021*[4]
Religion 2000 2011 2021
Number % Number % Number %
Christianity 10,764 19.9 8,429 16.7 8,040 15.9
—Orthodox Christians 2,152 4.0 2,777 5.5 3,040 6.1
—Lutherans 7,498 12.9 4,755 9.4 3,730 7.5
—Catholics 162 0.3 98 0.2 120 0.2
—Baptists 294 0.5 166 0.3 190 0.4
—Jehovah's Witnesses 234 0.4 187 0.3 170 0.3
—Pentecostals 135 0.2 102 0.2 170 0.3
—Old Believers 10 0.01 20 0.03 - -
—Methodists 136 0.2 77 0.1 40 0.08
—Adventists 143 0.2 76 0.1 160 0.3
—Other Christians - - 171 0.3 420 0.8
Islam 23 0.03 26 0.05 20 0.04
Buddhism - - 30 0.05 50 0.1
Other religions** 237 0.4 361 0.7 680 1.3
No religion 24,820 46.0 35,239 69.8 35,790 72.3
Not stated*** 10,249 19.0 6,444 12.7 4,910 9.9
Total population* 53,957 50,425 49,490
*The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.[4]
".[4]

Geography

References

  1. ^ a b "Population by sex, ethnic nationality and County, 1 January". stat.ee. Statistics Estonia. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  2. ^ "GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BY COUNTY". stat.ee.
  3. ^ a b c "Elanike demograafiline jaotus maakonniti". Kohaliku omavalitsuse portaal. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Official census data from Statistics Estonia:
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59°15′N 26°20′E / 59.250°N 26.333°E / 59.250; 26.333