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A Municipality (Estonian: omavalitsus) is the smallest administrative subdivision of Estonia. Each municipality is a unit of self-government with its representative and executive bodies. The municipalities in Estonia cover the entire territory of the country.
Municipalities in Estonia are of two types: urban municipalities, or towns (Est.: linnad, sg. – linn) and rural municipalities, or parishes (Est.: vallad, sg. – vald). There is no other status distinction between them.
Municipality may contain one or several populated places. Some urban municipalities are divided into districts (Est.: linnaosad, sg. – linnaosa) with limited self-government, e.g. Tallinn consists of 8 districts (Haabersti, Kesklinn, Kristiine, Lasnamäe, Mustamäe, Nõmme, Pirita, Põhja-Tallinn).
Municipalities range in population from Tallinn with 427,500 inhabitants to Ruhnu with 68.[1] As over two-thirds of the municipalities have a population of under 3,000, many of them have found it advantageous to co-operate in providing services and carrying out administrative functions.
Since October 2005 there are total of 227 municipalities in Estonia, 34 of them are urban and 193 are rural. The municipalities are listed below, by county:
Urban municipalities:
Rural municipalities:
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Urban municipalities:
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In each municipality there is a local government as well as a council.
The council (Estonian: volikogu) is a representative body elected by the residents of a municipality for a term of three years. The members of the council elect a chairman (Estonian: volikogu esimees), who organises the council’s work and represents the municipality.
The government (Estonian: valitsus) is an executive body formed by the council. It is headed by a mayor (Estonian: linnapea in towns, vallavanem in parishes), who is appointed for a four-year term. The mayor cannot be the chairman of the council. Other members of the government are chosen by the mayor with the approval of the council.
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