Lääne-Viru County

Lääne-Viru County (Estonian: Lääne-Viru maakond or Lääne-Virumaa) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, lääne means western and ida means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Ida-Viru County to the east, Jõgeva County to the south, and Järva and Harju counties to the west. In January 2013, Lääne-Viru County had a population of 58,806: 4.5% of the population in Estonia.^[1]

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Virumaa
County
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Estonia
Capital	Rakvere
Area
• Total	3,695.72 km2 (1,426.93 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[1]
• Total	58,709
• Rank	5th
• Density	16/km2 (41/sq mi)
Ethnicity
• Estonians	87.3%
• Russians	9.2%
• other	3.6%
GDP [2]
• Total	€1.074 billion (2022)
• Per capita	€18,150 (2022)
ISO 3166 code	EE-60
Vehicle registration	R

History

In prehistoric times, Lääne-Virumaa was settled by Estonians of the Vironian tribe.

County government

Until 2017 the County Government (Estonian: maavalitsus), seated in Rakvere, was led by a governor (Estonian: maavanem), who was appointed by the Government of Estonia. Since 2014, the governor position was held by Marko Torm.

Municipalities

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

Rank	Municipality	Type	Population (2018)[3]	Area km2[3]	Density[3]
1	Haljala Parish	Rural	4,389	547	8.0
2	Kadrina Parish	Rural	4,958	355	14.0
3	Rakvere Parish	Rural	5,566	296	18.8
4	Rakvere	Urban	15,613	11	1,419.4
5	Tapa Parish	Rural	11,252	479	23.5
6	Vinni Parish	Rural	6,919	1,013	6.8
7	Viru-Nigula Parish	Rural	5,981	311	19.2
8	Väike-Maarja Parish	Rural	6,016	683	8.8

Religion

The largest number of congregations in the county are of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC): in Haljala, Kunda, Kadrina, Käsmu, Rakvere, Simuna, Tamsalu, Viru-Jaagupi, Viru-Nigula and Väike-Maarja under EELC's Viru Deanery and in Tapa under EELC's Järva Deanery.^[4]

Eastern Orthodox congregations in the county are predominantly under the administration of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church^[5] but some of them are also under the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.^[6]

Several congregations of Baptists, a catholic congregation in Rakvere and other Christian churches operate in the county.

Religious affiliations in Lääne-Viru, census 2000–2021*^[7]

Religion	2000		2011		2021
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Christianity	10,764	19.9	8,429	16.7	8,040	15.9
—Orthodox Christians	2,152	4.0	2,777	5.5	3,040	6.1
—Lutherans	7,498	12.9	4,755	9.4	3,730	7.5
—Catholics	162	0.3	98	0.2	120	0.2
—Baptists	294	0.5	166	0.3	190	0.4
—Jehovah's Witnesses	234	0.4	187	0.3	170	0.3
—Pentecostals	135	0.2	102	0.2	170	0.3
—Old Believers	10	0.01	20	0.03	-	-
—Methodists	136	0.2	77	0.1	40	0.08
—Adventists	143	0.2	76	0.1	160	0.3
—Other Christians	-	-	171	0.3	420	0.8
Islam	23	0.03	26	0.05	20	0.04
Buddhism	-	-	30	0.05	50	0.1
Other religions**	237	0.4	361	0.7	680	1.3
No religion	24,820	46.0	35,239	69.8	35,790	72.3
Not stated***	10,249	19.0	6,444	12.7	4,910	9.9
Total population*	53,957		50,425		49,490
*The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.[7] ".[7]

Geography

Gallery

• 
  Porkuni Castle gate tower
• 
  Palmse manor
• 
  Rakvere Castle
• 
  Mõdriku manor
• 
  Malla manor
• 
  Vihula windmill
• 
  Laekvere pine
• 
  Lake Neeruti Tagajärv
• 
  View from tower on the hill of Emumägi
• 
  Toolse Castle
• 
  Vainupea Chapel
• 
  Vihula Manor
• 
  Altja river
• 
  Sagadi manor
• 
  Viru bog in Lahemaa National Park
• 
  Mähu boulders in Lahemaa National Park
• 
  Rapeseed field near Laekvere