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

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
Religion	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

Gallery

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

^ ^a ^b "Population by sex, ethnic nationality and County, 1 January". stat.ee. Statistics Estonia. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
^ "GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BY COUNTY". stat.ee.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Elanike demograafiline jaotus maakonniti". Kohaliku omavalitsuse portaal. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
^ ^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

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.