Ida-Viru County

Ida-Viru County (Estonian: Ida-Viru maakond), (Russian: Ида-Вируский уезд, Ида-Вирумаа) or Ida-Virumaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most north-eastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale - the main mineral mined in Estonia. As oil shale is used in thermal power plants, the earth in Ida-Viru contains most of Estonia's energy resources. The capital of the county is the town of Jõhvi which is administratively united with the Jõhvi Parish; nevertheless, Narva is the largest town in the county in terms of population and at the same time the third largest city in Estonia after Tallinn and Tartu. In January 2019 Ida-Viru County had a population of 136,240 – constituting 10.3% of the total population in Estonia.[1][2] It borders Lääne-Viru County in the west, Jõgeva County in the southwest and Russia (Leningrad Oblast) in the east.

Ida-Viru County
County of Estonia
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Estonia
Capital	Jõhvi
Largest town	Narva
Area [1]
• Total	2,972 km^2 (1,147 sq mi)
Population  (2019)[1]
• Total	136,240
• Rank	3rd
• Density	46/km^2 (120/sq mi)
Ethnicity
• Russians	73.1%
• Estonians	18.9%
• Ukrainians	2.3%
• other	5.7%
ISO 3166 code	EE-44
Vehicle registration	I

History

During the latter part of the period of Soviet rule of Estonia, Ida-Virumaa was called Kohtla-Järve district, and its administrative capital was Kohtla-Järve.

County Government

County Government (Estonian: maavalitsus), led by a governor (Estonian: maavanem), ceased to exist after administrative reform in 2017. The last governor of Ida-Viru county was Andres Noormägi.[3]

Demographics

The population of Ida-Viru county declined from 221,807 in 1990 to 168,656 in 2010.

In January 2017, the population of Ida-Virumaa was 143,880, which makes it the third largest county in Estonia (after Harju and Tartu counties, which include the capital Tallinn and country's second-largest city Tartu). 44.6% of the population are men and 55.4% women.[2]

In the aftermath of World War II, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union and large swaths of Ida-Viru County underwent ethnic cleansing by the Soviet authorities. Estonians, who were forced out of the major population centers, including Narva, were replaced by colonists from Russia. As a result of mass migration from the Soviet Union, Ida-Viru County is now the only county in Estonia where ethnic Russians have largely replaced the indigenous Estonian population.

By ethnic origin, on 1 January 2017, 73.1% of the population were Russians, 18.9% were Estonians, 2.3% were Ukrainians, 2.1% were Belarusians and 0.9% were Finns.[2]

Municipalities

Ida-Virumaa County is subdivided into eight municipalities, of which four are urban (Estonian: linnad — cities or towns) and four are rural (Estonian: vallad — parishes). There are 217 villages in Ida-Virumaa.

Municipalities of Ida-Viru County

Rank	Municipality	Type	Population (2018)[4]	Area km^2[4]	Density[4]
1	Alutaguse Parish	Rural	4,929	1,465	3.4
2	Jõhvi Parish	Rural	11,645	124	93.9
3	Kohtla-Järve	Urban	35,395	39	907.6
4	Lüganuse Parish	Rural	8,942	599	14.9
5	Narva	Urban	58,610	85	689.5
6	Narva-Jõesuu	Urban	4,828	411	11.7
7	Sillamäe	Urban	13,406	11	1,218.7
8	Toila Parish	Rural	4,807	266	18.1

Landmarks

• 
  Pühtitsa Convent
• 
  Lake Uljaste
• 
  Ash hills in Ida-Viru County
• 
  Avinurme church
• 
  Selisoo bog
• 
  Hermann Castle
• 
  Mäetaguse manor house
• 
  Sillamäe town hall

References

1. "Population number, area and density. administrative division as at 01.01.2018". Statistics Estonia. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
2. "Population by sex, ethnic nationality and County, 1 January". stat.ee. Statistics Estonia. 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
3. "Maavanem". Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
4. "Elanike demograafiline jaotus maakonniti". Kohaliku omavalitsuse portaal. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2018.

External links

• Ida-Virumaa Tourism Portal
• Ida-Virumaa Portal