Tartu

City

From top to bottom: City Centre, Old Town of Tartu, University of Tartu

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto: Heade mõtete linn ("City of good thoughts")

Tartu

Location in Estonia

Coordinates: 58°23′N 26°43′E / 58.383°N 26.717°ECoordinates: 58°23′N 26°43′E / 58.383°N 26.717°E

Country

Estonia

County

Tartu County

First settled

5th century AD

First mentioned

1030

City rights

before 1262

Named for

Taara or tarvas (Aurochs)

Government

• Mayor

Urmas Klaas (Reform Party)

Area

• Total

38.80 km² (15 sq mi)

• Land

37.9 km² (14.6 sq mi)

• Water

1.3 km² (0.5 sq mi) 3.39%

Elevation

57.2 m (188 ft)

Highest elevation

79 m (259 ft)

Population (2016)

• Total

93,687

• Density

2,508.6/km² (6,497/sq mi)

Ethnicity

• Estonians

80.1%

• Russians

14.6%

• other

5.3%

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Postal code

50050 to 51111

Vehicle registration

Website

tartu.ee

Tartu (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈtɑrtˑˈtu], South Estonian: Tarto) is the second largest city of Estonia, following Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn.

Tartu is often considered the intellectual centre of the country, especially since it is home to the nation's oldest and most renowned university, the University of Tartu. The city also houses the Supreme Court of Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Research and Estonian National Museum. It is the birthplace of Estonian Song Festivals.

Situated 186 kilometres (116 miles) southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Tartu lies on the Emajõgi ("Mother river"), which connects the two largest lakes of Estonia. The city is served by Tartu Airport.

Since 1918 the Estonian name Tartu has been used, but as the town has come under control of various rulers throughout its history, there are various names for it in different languages. Most of them derive ultimately from the earliest attested form, the Estonian Tarbatu. In German, Swedish and Polish the town has been known and is sometimes still referred to as Dorpat , a variant of Tarbatu. In Russian, the city has been known as Юрьев (Yuryev, after Yuri, the baptismal name of Grand Prince Yaroslav I the Wise) and as Дерпт (Derpt, the Low German variant of Dorpat). Similarly, the city has been known as Tērbata in Latvian. Finnish-speakers use the toponym Tartto.

...
Wikipedia