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Pärnu County

Coordinates: 58°25′N 24°35′E / 58.417°N 24.583°E / 58.417; 24.583
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pärnu County
Pärnumaa
Coat of arms of Pärnu County
Location of Pärnu County
CountryEstonia
CapitalPärnu
Area
 • Total4,806.68 km2 (1,855.87 sq mi)
Population
 (2022[1])
 • Total85,705
 • Rank4th
 • Density18/km2 (46/sq mi)
Ethnicity
 • Estonians89.5%
 • Russians6.8%
 • other3.3%
GDP
 • Total€1.587 billion (2022)
 • Per capita€18,334 (2022)
ISO 3166 codeEE-68
Vehicle registrationF
Websitewww.parnumaa.ee

Pärnu County (Estonian: Pärnu maakond or Pärnumaa; German: Kreis Pernau) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the north, Järva and Viljandi counties to the east, and Latvia to the south. In 2022, Pärnu County had a population of 85,705 – constituting 6.4% of the total population of Estonia.[1]

Pärnu County is the largest county of Estonia in terms of land area.

History

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In Pärnu county, there is the oldest known human settlement in Estonia, which is the town of Sindi, and it is 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) up the Pärnu River, near the village of Pulli. It dates back to 8500 BCE in the Mesolithic historical period.

County government

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The administrative reform in Estonia abolished county governments by the end of 2017. Before that, counties were led by a governor, who was appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years.

Previous county governors:

Tourism

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The city of Pärnu is a popular holiday resort for Estonians and increasingly for non-Estonians, e.g., from Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Russia.

Municipalities

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The county is subdivided into municipalities. There is one urban municipality (Estonian: linnad – towns) and six rural municipalities (Estonian: vallad – parishes) in Pärnu County.

Rank Municipality Type Population
(2018)[3]
Area
km2[3]
Density[3]
1 Häädemeeste Parish Rural 4,985 494 10.1
2 Kihnu Parish Rural 702 17 41.3
3 Lääneranna Parish Rural 5,494 1,352 4.1
4 Põhja-Pärnumaa Parish Rural 8,435 1,013 8.3
5 Pärnu Urban 51,649 855 60.4
6 Saarde Parish Rural 4,722 1,065 4.4
7 Tori Parish Rural 11,694 611 19.1
Municipalities of Pärnu County (since 2017)

Religion

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Religion in Pärnu County (2021) [1]

  Unaffiliated (80.2%)
  Lutheran (9.2%)
  Orthodox (7.0%)
  Others Christians (1.7%)
  Others Religions or Unknown (1.9%)
Religious affiliations in Parnü County, census 2000–2021*[4]
Religion 2000 2011 2021
Number % Number % Number %
Christianity 17,466 23.7 13,425 19.2 12,850 17.8
Orthodox Christians 5,473 7.4 5,008 7.2 5,030 7.0
Lutherans 10,899 14.8 7,274 10.4 6,590 9.2
Catholics 208 0.2 157 0.2 170 0.2
Baptists 323 0.4 219 0.3 180 0.2
Jehovah's Witnesses 159 0.2 198 0.2 170 0.2
Pentecostals 216 0.2 151 0.2 140 0.1
Old Believers 9 0.01 14 0.02 - -
Methodists 71 0.09 54 0.07 90 0.1
Adventists 108 0.1 77 0.1 60 0.08
—Other Christians - - 273 0.3 420 0.5
Islam 28 0.03 32 0.05 150 0.2
Buddhism - - 81 0.1 150 0.2
Other religions** 359 0.4 576 0.2 1,020 1.4
No religion 30,849 42.0 45,062 64.7 49,220 68.4
Not stated*** 24,785 33.7 10,412 14.9 8,510 11.8
Total population* 73,487 69,587 71,950
*The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.[4]
".[4]

Geography

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References

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  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. ^ a b c Official census data from Statistics Estonia:
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58°25′N 24°35′E / 58.417°N 24.583°E / 58.417; 24.583