Lääne-Viru County

County of Estonia

County in Estonia

Lääne-Viru County

Lääne-Virumaa

County

Flag

Coat of arms

Country| Estonia
Capital| Rakvere
Area

• Total

| 3,695.72 km2 (1,426.93 sq mi)
Population

(2022[1])

• Total

| 58,709
• Rank| 5th
• Density| 16/km2 (41/sq mi)
Ethnicity

• Estonians| 87.3%
• Russians| 9.2%
• other| 3.6%
GDP

[2]

• Total| €1.074 billion (2022)
• Per capita| €18,150 (2022)
ISO 3166 code| EE-60
Vehicle registration| R
Website| laane-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

[edit]

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

## County government

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

The largest number of congregations in the county are of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC): in Haljala, Kunda, Kadrina, Käsmu, Rakvere, Simuna, Tamsalu, Viru-Jaagupi, Viru-Nigula and Väike-Maarja under EELC's Viru Deanery and in Tapa under EELC's Järva Deanery.[4]

Eastern Orthodox congregations in the county are predominantly under the administration of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church[5] but some of them are also under the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.[6]

Several congregations of Baptists, a catholic congregation in Rakvere and other Christian churches operate in the county.

Religious affiliations in Lääne-Viru, census 2000–2021*[7] 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.[7]
".[7]

## Geography

[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

|

## Gallery

[edit]

* Porkuni Castle gate tower

* Palmse manor

* Rakvere Castle

* Mõdriku manor

* Malla manor

* Vihula windmill

* Laekvere pine

* Lake Neeruti Tagajärv

* View from tower on the hill of Emumägi

* Toolse Castle

* Vainupea Chapel

* Vihula Manor

* Altja river

* Sagadi manor

* Viru bog in Lahemaa National Park

* Mähu boulders in Lahemaa National Park

* Rapeseed field near Laekvere

## References

[edit]

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. ^ "The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Congregations". Retrieved 16 February 2025.
5. ^ "Eesti Apostlik-Õigeusu Kirik. Kogudused". Retrieved 16 February 2025.
6. ^ "Moskva Patriarhaadi Eesti Õigeusu Kirik. Kontaktid". Retrieved 16 February 2025.
7. ^ a b c Official census data from Statistics Estonia:
* 2000 Census:
* "2000 Census: RL229: Population by religion".
* "2000 Census: RL231: Population by religion and ethnicity".
* 2011 Census:
* "2011 Census: RL0451: Population by religion".
* "2011 Census: RL0454: Population by religion and ethnicity".
* 2021 Census:
* "2021 Census: RL21451: Population by religion".
* "2021 Census: RL21454: Population by religion and ethnicity".

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lääne-Viru County.

* Lääne-Viru County Government – Official website
* Lääne-Virumaa County Infoserver – map and tourism info

Geographic locale

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities of Lääne-Viru County

Urban municipalities|

* Rakvere

Rural municipalities|

* Haljala
* Kadrina
* Rakvere
* Tapa
* Väike-Maarja
* Vinni
* Viru-Nigula

* v
* t
* e

Counties of Estonia

* Harjumaa
* Hiiumaa
* Ida-Virumaa
* Järvamaa
* Jõgevamaa
* Läänemaa
* Lääne-Virumaa
* Pärnumaa
* Põlvamaa
* Raplamaa
* Saaremaa
* Tartumaa
* Valgamaa
* Viljandimaa
* Võrumaa

* v
* t
* e

Cities and towns of Estonia

* Abja-Paluoja
* Antsla
* Elva
* Haapsalu
* Jõgeva
* Jõhvi
* Kallaste
* Kärdla
* Karksi-Nuia
* Kehra
* Keila
* Kilingi-Nõmme
* Kiviõli
* Kohtla-Järve
* Kunda
* Kuressaare
* Lihula
* Loksa
* Maardu
* Mõisaküla
* Mustvee
* Narva
* Narva-Jõesuu
* Otepää
* Paide
* Paldiski
* Pärnu
* Põltsamaa
* Põlva
* Püssi
* Rakvere
* Räpina
* Rapla
* Saue
* Sillamäe
* Sindi
* Suure-Jaani
* Tallinn
* Tamsalu
* Tapa
* Tartu
* Tõrva
* Türi
* Valga
* Viljandi
* Võhma
* Võru

Jaanilinn (Ivangorod) and Petseri (Pechory) were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945 and are currently part of Russia.

59°15′N 26°20′E﻿ / ﻿59.250°N 26.333°E﻿ / 59.250; 26.333

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Israel

Geographic|

* MusicBrainz area

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