Lääne County ( or Läänemaa, literally "Western land"; ; ) is one of the 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in western Estonia and borders the Baltic Sea to the north, Harju County to the northeast, Rapla County to the east, Pärnu County to the south, and the island counties of Saare and Hiiu to the west. In January 2009, Lääne County had a population of 23,810 – constituting 2.0% of the total population in Estonia.

County government

Until 2017 the County Government () was led by a governor (), who was appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years. Since 15 December 2011, the governorship was held by Innar Mäesalu.

Maavanem 1918–1941

  • Aleksander Saar 1917–1927
  • Artur Kasterpalu 1930–1941

Municipalities

The county is subdivided into municipalities. There is one urban municipality, Haapsalu ( – town) and 2 rural municipalities ( – parishes) in Lääne County.

thumb|Municipalities in Lääne County

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Rank !! Municipality !! Type !! Population<br/>(2018)!! Area<br/>km<sup>2</sup>

&nbsp;

Regarding the Orthodox&nbsp;congregations in the county, the &nbsp;St.Prince-Alexander.Nevsky congregation, subordinate to the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, is located in Haapsalu.

Baptist congregations in the county operate in the following places: Haapsalu, Palivere, Ridala, Sutlepa, Vormsi and Mäevalla. Also two&nbsp; Methodist&nbsp;&nbsp;congregations&nbsp; and an Adventist congregation operate in Haapsalu. A Pentecostal congregation operates in Palivere. There is also a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Haapsalu.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Religious affiliations in Lääne County, census 2000–2021*

|-

! rowspan="2"|Religion

! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|2000

! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|2011

! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|2021

|-

! Number

! %

! Number

! %

! Number

! %

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;" | Christianity || 5,109|| 22,3|| 4,418|| 21.3|| 4,050||23.6

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Orthodox Christians</small> || 921|| 4.0|| 1,052|| 5.0|| 1,290||7.4

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Lutherans</small> || 3,580|| 15.6|| 2,773|| 13.4|| 1,960||11.4

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Catholics</small> || 46|| 0.2|| 32|| 0.1|| 40||0.2

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Baptists</small> || 358|| 1.5|| 234|| 1.1|| 450||2.6

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Jehovah's Witnesses</small> || 74|| 0.3|| 93|| 0.4|| 90||0.5

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Pentecostals</small> || 70|| 0.3|| 46|| 0.2|| 80||0.4

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Old Believers</small> || -|| || 3|| 0.01|| -||

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Methodists</small> || 73|| 0.3|| 36|| 0.1|| 20||0.1

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Adventists</small> || 61|| 0.2|| 46|| 0.2|| 50||0.3

|-

|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Other Christians</small> || -|| || 103|| 0.5|| 70||0.3

|-

|style="background:#E0FFD0;"| Islam || 12|| 0.05|| 8|| 0.02|| -||

|-

| style="background:#FFFFC0;" | Buddhism|| -|| -|| 14|| 0.04|| -||

|-

| style="background:#F0E0FF;" | Other religions<small>**</small>|| 98|| 0.4|| 210|| 1.0|| 200||1.1

|-

| style="background:#F5F5F5;" | No religion|| 8,632|| 37.8|| 13,126|| 64.5|| 10,920||63.6

|-

| style="background:#DCDCDC;" | Not stated<small>***</small>|| 8,914|| 39.0|| 2,798|| 13.5|| 1,940||11.3

|-

! Total population<small>*</small> || colspan="2" | 22,840|| colspan="2" | 20,673|| colspan="2" |17,170

|-

| colspan="7" | *<small>The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.</small> Low German: Wiek) was an independent country on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Revala, Harjumaa, Alempois, and Sakala. Läänemaa had an area of approximately 1900 hides. Early in 1220 troops from Sweden, initially led by King John I, had invaded Läänemaa. The Swedish army took the Lihula stronghold and set up a small garrison. Swedish Jarl Karl Döve and Bishop Karl Magnusson of Linköping, both from the powerful House of Bjälbo, also remained in the castle. On August 8, 1220, the united Œselian and Rotalian armies encircled the castle at dawn. It was set ablaze in the course of the fierce battle that ensued. The Swedish troops tried to make their way out, but were killed on site apart from a few who succeeded in escaping to Tallinn, held by Denmark. The Jarl, the Bishop, and almost 500 other Swedes were killed, leaving no Swedish presence in Estonia at all. The short-lived Swedish attempt to gain foothold in Estonia was motivated by the quickly advancing Danish and Low German crusaders who had been able to conquer most of the area in the early 13th century. Defeat in the Battle of Lihula discouraged the Swedish expansion to Estonia for more than 300 years, and the country was left for the Teutonic Knights, Low German Bishops and Denmark to divide. In the meantime, Sweden focused on Finland and the Swedish-Novgorodian Wars. After the Livonian Crusade Läänemaa became the main territory of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, an independent Bishopric. Parts of the Bishop's castle are still preserved in Haapsalu.

Historic parishes (kihelkonnad)

  • Hanila
  • Cozzo (Karuse)
  • Corbe (Kõrve)
  • Lihula
  • Ridala
  • Soontagana (:et:Soontagana)
  • around Märjamaa

After the German conquest in 1227, Lääne County became the center of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, an independent principality within the Livonian Confederation. Parts of Bishop's castle are still preserved in Haapsalu.

See also

  • Matsalu National Park

References

  • Läänemaa Portal (in Estonian)