Pärnu County

Pärnu County
—  County of Estonia  —

Flag

Coat of arms
Country Estonia
Capital Pärnu
Government
 • Governor Andres Metsoja
Area
 • Total 4,807 km2 (1,856 sq mi)
Population (Jan 2009[1])
 • Total 88,466
 • Density 18.4/km2 (47.7/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code EE-67

Pärnu County (Estonian: Pärnu maakond), or Pärnumaa (German: Kreis Pernau), is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in 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. 88,466 people live in Pärnu County – constituting 6.6% of the total population in Estonia (as of January 2009).[1]

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

Contents

History

In Pärnu county there is the oldest known human settlement in Estonia, from town of Sindi 2 km upstream by Pärnu River, near village Pulli. 8500 years BC. Mesolithic historical period.

County Government

The County Government (Estonian: Maavalitsus) is led by Governor (Estonian: maavanem), who is appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years. Since 1 January 2010, the Governor position is held by Andres Metsoja.

Tourism

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

The county is subdivided into municipalities. There are 2 urban municipalities (Estonian: linnad – towns) and 19 rural municipalities (Estonian: vallad – parishes) in Pärnu County.

Urban municipalities:

Rural municipalities:

Geography

References

External links