Viljandi County ( or Viljandimaa; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties as well as Latvia.
History
Viljandimaa, later under the German name Kreis Fellin, was an important centre of commerce and power in the Middle Ages. Today, there are numerous castle ruins there dating from that time.
County government
Viljandi's county government () had been led by a governor (), who used to be appointed by the government of Estonia for a term of five years. Jüri Ratas's first cabinet decided to abolish the institution, which went into effect in 2018. Lembit Kruuse was the final governor to serve the role.
Nature
A large part of Viljandi County is covered by the low Sakala Upland (highest point 147 m), only a small part of the upland in the southeast and the southwest extends outside the county borders. The parallel name Sakala is also used for the county.
Viljandi County also includes most of the Võrtsjärv Lowland (in the east) and in the north, a small part of the Central Estonian Plateau extends into the area of Viljandi County.
Soomaa National Park is located partially within Viljandi County, Estonia; Soomaa mans 'land of bogs'. It protects 390 km<sup>2</sup> and is a Ramsar site of protected wetlands. The park was created in 1993.
The county includes also Loodi Landscape Conservation Area and several other protected areas.
Municipalities
thumb|293x293px|Municipalities of Viljandi County
The county is subdivided into municipalities. There is one urban municipality ( – towns) and three rural municipalities ( – parishes) in Viljandi County.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Rank !! Municipality !! Type !! Population<br/>(2018) !! Area<br/>km<sup>2</sup>
|-
! 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 || 8,859|| 19.1|| 5,823|| 14.3|| 5,040||13.0
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Orthodox Christians</small> || 1,121|| 2.4|| 964|| 2.3|| 930||2.4
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Lutherans</small> || 7,178|| 15.5|| 4,373|| 10.7|| 3,390||8.8
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Catholics</small> || 104|| 0.2|| 37|| 0.09|| 60||0.1
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Baptists</small> || 130|| 0.2|| 95|| 0.2|| 210||0.5
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Jehovah's Witnesses</small> || 119|| 0.2|| 134|| 0.3|| 110||0.2
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Pentecostals</small> || 88|| 0.1|| 60|| 0.1|| 110||0.2
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Old Believers</small> || 1|| 0.002|| 5|| 0.01|| -||-
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Methodists</small> || 117|| 0.2|| 2|| 0.004|| -||-
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Adventists</small> || 1|| 0.002|| 69|| 0.1|| 60||0.1
|-
|style="background:#E0F0FF;"| <small>—Other Christians</small> || -|| -|| 84|| 0.2|| 170||0.4
|-
|style="background:#E0FFD0;"| Islam || 8|| 0.01|| 9|| 0.01|| 130||0.3
|-
| style="background:#FFFFC0;" | Buddhism|| -|| -|| 45|| 0.1|| 20||0.05
|-
| style="background:#F0E0FF;" | Other religions<small>**</small>|| 216|| 0.4|| 346|| 0.9|| 410||1.0
|-
| style="background:#F5F5F5;" | No religion|| 21,757|| 47.0|| 29,733|| 73.2|| 28,980||74.4
|-
| style="background:#DCDCDC;" | Not stated<small>***</small>|| 8,105|| 17.5|| 4,623|| 11.4|| 3,930||10.2
|-
! Total population<small>*</small> || colspan="2" | 46,243|| colspan="2" | 40,579|| colspan="2" |38,530
|-
| colspan="7" | *<small>The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.</small>