Kärdla

Kärdla (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈkærˑ'dlɑ]; Swedish: Kärrdal; German: Kertel) is the only town on the island of Hiiumaa, Estonia. It is the capital of Hiiu County and the centre of Hiiumaa Parish.

Kärdla
Town
The town square of Kärdla.
Kärdla Location of Kärdla by the Baltic Sea Show map of Baltic Sea Kärdla Location in Estonia Show map of Estonia Kärdla Location in Europe Show map of Europe
Coordinates: 58°59′53″N 22°44′48″E
Country	Estonia
County	Hiiu
Municipality	Hiiumaa Parish
Town status	1938
Area
• Total	4.5 km^2 (1.7 sq mi)
Population  (2018)[1]
• Total	3,287
• Rank	28th
• Density	730/km^2 (1,900/sq mi)
Ethnicity
• Estonians	98.2%
• others	1.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	92401 to 92420
Area code(s)	(+372) 46
Vehicle registration	H

Geography

Kärdla is located on the north-eastern coast of Hiiumaa, by the Tareste Bay. Southeast of the town is the Kärdla meteorite crater, which is 455 million years old. Several small rivers flow through the town. There are also artesian wells in Kärdla.

History

Kärdla was first mentioned in 1564 as a village inhabited by Swedes. Its growth was greatly influenced by the cloth factory founded in 1830. A port was built in 1849. Both the port and the factory were destroyed in World War II.

Kärdla officially became a borough in 1920 and a town in 1938. In 2013 the town was merged with Kõrgessaare Parish to establish Hiiumaa Parish, therefore Kärdla lost its municipality status.

Population

Population census
Year	1897	1922	1934	1959	1970	1979	1989	2000	2010
Pop.	1,718	1,580	1,524	2,688	2,969	3,426	4,126	3,672	3,634
±% p.a.	—	−0.33%	−0.30%	+2.30%	+0.91%	+1.60%	+1.88%	−1.05%	−0.10%

Kärdla harbor

Kärdla Airport

Transport

Road transport from Estonian mainland to Hiiumaa involves a 90-minute (28 km (17 mi)) ferry crossing from Rohuküla to Heltermaa, which is 25 kilometres (16 miles) by road from Kärdla. There are about 10 ferry departures a day operated by TS Laevad.[2] In the summer weekends, getting car space on the ferry usually requires advance booking. There are about 2 scheduled buses a day between Tallinn (the capital of Estonia) and Kärdla.[3]

There are no scheduled passenger boats directly to Kärdla.

Kärdla is served by Kärdla Airport, with regular flights to Tallinn.

Kärdla town itself is small enough to get around on foot. Bicycle rental is available and there is a good bicycle path built from Kärdla towards Kõrgessaare.

Events

June's first weekend annual Hiiumaa Children's festival takes place.

In first week of August coffee-loving people of Kärdla expect visitors to Kärdla Cafés' Day celebrated just for one day in their own gardens, serving coffee and home-made pastry.

Notable people

• Hillar Eller (1939–2010), politician
• Heiki Nabi (born 1985), Olympic wrestler
• Eveli Saue (born 1984), biathlete and orienteer
• Erkki-Sven Tüür (born 1959), composer

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Estonia

Twin towns – Sister cities

Kärdla is twinned with:

• - Georgioupoli, Greece[4]

References

1. Population by sex, age and place of residence after the 2017 administrative reform, 1 January. Statistics Estonia.
2. Praamid.ee. Ferry schedules and booking.
3. "Bus schedules and booking". T pilet.
4. "Twinnings" (PDF). Central Union of Municipalities & Communities of Greece. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

External links

• Media related to Kärdla at Wikimedia Commons
• Kärdla travel guide from Wikivoyage