thumb|right|Counties of Estonia (after the 2017 Administrative Reform)
<!--File:Eesti_maakonnad_2006.svg|450px|right|Counties of Estonia
poly 149 174 230 291 137 327 40 263 Hiiu County
poly 197 110 338 228 338 319 263 375 203 242 Lääne County
poly 225 294 271 387 233 585 38 511 21 363 Saare County
poly 534 33 567 172 515 174 492 245 421 185 342 240 246 141 Harju County
poly 531 35 567 168 514 176 572 197 569 221 594 244 597 263 666 247 693 192 670 170 666 85 Lääne-Viru County
poly 669 77 667 170 693 192 665 246 704 273 805 244 874 107 Ida-Viru County
poly 340 240 422 185 490 246 475 314 443 318 433 308 374 323 338 322 Rapla County
poly 270 375 337 318 373 327 433 307 486 314 477 352 453 361 449 408 484 421 446 495 345 546 Pärnu County
poly 476 309 515 173 573 197 569 223 594 243 596 275 546 317 505 340 484 335 491 313 Järva County
poly 454 365 479 348 482 334 505 338 545 319 597 366 602 379 591 454 560 462 527 507 458 486 487 418 445 401 Viljandi County
poly 597 367 546 316 597 265 665 246 707 274 735 310 684 344 Jõgeva County
poly 600 365 676 347 748 300 809 443 731 412 662 452 637 439 591 461 Tartu County
poly 525 512 556 461 637 442 662 453 658 495 632 501 652 588 622 598 Valga County
poly 656 492 660 452 732 412 806 445 840 514 756 522 753 501 Põlva County
poly 634 502 659 493 756 502 756 521 816 524 765 612 654 619 Võru County-->
The counties of Estonia () 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 or towns (), and rural municipalities or parishes (), which are by law required to cooperate in development of their county.
List
As of 2023, the sum total of the figures in the table below is 42,644 km<sup>2</sup>, of which the land area is 42,388 km<sup>2</sup>, so that 256 km<sup>2</sup> of water is included in the figures.
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+ List of counties of Estonia
!
!Coat<br>of arms !!County!!Capital!!Area<br>(km<sup>2</sup>)!!Population!!Pop. density<br>(per km<sup>2</sup>)
!GDP (mil. €)
!GDP per capita (€)
|-
|1
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px||Harju County||Tallinn||style="text-align:right"|4,327||style="text-align:right"|638,076|| style="text-align:right" |147.46|| style="text-align:right" |21,680||style="text-align:right"|34,615
|-
|2
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Hiiu County||Kärdla||style="text-align:right"|1,023|| style="text-align:right" |8,474|| style="text-align:right" |8.21|| style="text-align:right" |146||style="text-align:right"|17,225
|-
|3
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Ida-Viru County||Jõhvi||style="text-align:right"|2,972||style="text-align:right"|133,358|| style="text-align:right" |44.87|| style="text-align:right" |2,631||style="text-align:right"|19,778
|-
|4
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Jõgeva County||Jõgeva||style="text-align:right"|2,545||style="text-align:right"|27,739|| style="text-align:right" |10.90|| style="text-align:right" |466||style="text-align:right"|16,768
|-
|5
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Järva County||Paide||style="text-align:right"|2,674||style="text-align:right"|30,072|| style="text-align:right" |11.25|| style="text-align:right" |610||style="text-align:right"|20,405
|-
|6
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Lääne County||Haapsalu||style="text-align:right"|1,816||style="text-align:right"|20,688|| style="text-align:right" |11.40|| style="text-align:right" |320||style="text-align:right"|15,658
|-
|7
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Lääne-Viru County||Rakvere||style="text-align:right"|3,696||style="text-align:right"|59,608|| style="text-align:right" |16.13|| style="text-align:right" |1,074||style="text-align:right"|18,150
|-
|8
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Põlva County||Põlva||style="text-align:right"|2,165||style="text-align:right"|24,036|| style="text-align:right" |11.10|| style="text-align:right" |347||style="text-align:right"|14,450
|-
|9
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Pärnu County||Pärnu||style="text-align:right"|5,419||style="text-align:right"|87,418|| style="text-align:right" |16.13|| style="text-align:right" |1,587||style="text-align:right"|18,334
|-
|10
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Rapla County||Rapla||style="text-align:right"|2,765||style="text-align:right"|34,038|| style="text-align:right" |12.31|| style="text-align:right" |540||style="text-align:right"|15,985
|-
|11
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Saare County||Kuressaare||style="text-align:right"|2,938||style="text-align:right"|31,919|| style="text-align:right" |10.86|| style="text-align:right" |518||style="text-align:right"|16,380
|-
|12
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Tartu County||Tartu||style="text-align:right"|2,993||style="text-align:right"|162,390|| style="text-align:right" |54.26|| style="text-align:right" |4,186||style="text-align:right"|26,151
|-
|13
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Valga County||Valga||style="text-align:right"|1,917||style="text-align:right"|28,114|| style="text-align:right" |14.67|| style="text-align:right" |425||style="text-align:right"|15,260
|-
|14
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Viljandi County||Viljandi||style="text-align:right"|3,422||style="text-align:right"|45,637|| style="text-align:right" |13.37|| style="text-align:right" |896||style="text-align:right"|19,692
|-
|15
| style="text-align:center;"|45x45px || Võru County||Võru||style="text-align:right"|2,305||style="text-align:right"|34,317|| style="text-align:right" |14.89|| style="text-align:right" |584||style="text-align:right"|17,041
|-
|}
History
thumb|left|Pre-Christian independent Estonian counties (maakond),
In the first centuries AD, political and administrative subdivisions began to emerge in Estonia. Two larger subdivisions appeared: the parish (kihelkond) and the county (maakond). The parish consisted of several villages. Nearly all parishes had at least one fortress. The defence of the local area was directed by the highest official, the parish elder. The county was composed of several parishes, also headed by an elder. By the 13th century the following major counties had developed in Estonia: Saaremaa (Osilia), Läänemaa (Rotalia or Maritima), Harjumaa (Harria), Rävala (Revalia), Virumaa (Vironia), Järvamaa (Jervia), Sakala (Saccala), and Ugandi (Ugaunia). Additionally there were several smaller elderships in central Estonia where danger of war was smallerVaiga, Mõhu, Nurmekund and Alempois. The exact number and borders of some elderships are disputed.
The first documented mentioning of Estonian political and administrative subdivisions comes from the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, written in the 13th century during the Northern Crusades.
left|thumb|Another map of the ancient counties of Estonia in the twelfth century.
The autonomy of the pre-Christian Estonian counties and parishes ended during the Livonian Crusade, as by mid-13th century all Estonian lands were divided as a result of the Catholic conquest between the Kingdom of Denmark, and three subdivisions of the Holy Roman Empire: the State of the Teutonic Order, the Bishopric of Dorpat, and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek.
In the 1580s, after the Livonian war as Sweden had conquered northern Estonia, Harju, Järva, Lääne and Viru counties were officially formed there. Southern Estonia, which belonged to Poland 1582–1625, was divided into voivodships of Pärnu and Tartu; the island of Saaremaa belonged to Denmark until 1645. All these territories became counties as they became part of the Kingdom of Sweden.
This administrative system remained mostly unchanged when Estonia was ceded by Sweden, and became part of the Russian Empire as a result of the Great Northern War (1700-1721). In 1793, the new Võru County was formed in the south of Tartumaa, Viljandi County between Tartu and Pärnu counties, and Paldiski County in the west of Harjumaa. In 1796, the 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 in 1918; e.g. 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 the 1944-1991 Soviet occupation of Estonia, multiple changes were made in administrative boundaries. Petseri County was ceded to Russia in 1945. Hiiumaa was separated from Läänemaa in 1946, Jõgevamaa from Tartumaa in 1949, and Jõhvimaa (modern Ida-Virumaa) from Virumaa in 1949. Counties were completely dissolved in 1950 as the Soviet Estonia was divided into raions (rajoon) and (until 1953) oblasts. Until the 1960s, the borders of raions often changed until 15 of them were left. Out of them, Põlva and Rapla raions became separate, whereas other raions roughly corresponded to the pre-1950 counties.
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.
See also
- Flags of Estonian counties
- Coats of arms of Estonian Counties
- ISO 3166-2:EE
- Municipalities of Estonia
- Administrative reform in Estonia
References
External links
- Local Government Reform Estonian Institute publication