Valga, Estonia
| Valga | |||
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| Town and municipality | |||
Valga Town Hall, Central Library and Railway Station
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| Motto: 1 linn, 2 riiki (1 city, 2 countries) | |||
 Valga
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| Coordinates: 57°47′N 26°02′E / 57.783°N 26.033°ECoordinates: 57°47′N 26°02′E / 57.783°N 26.033°E | |||
| Country |
 Estonia
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| County |
 Valga County
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| First mention | 1286 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Kalev Härk (Social Democratic Party) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Town and municipality | 16.54 km2 (6.39 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 65 m (213 ft) | ||
| Population (2013) | |||
| • Town and municipality | 12,261 | ||
| • Density | 740/km2 (1,900/sq mi) | ||
| • Metro | in Valga-Valka 19,500 | ||
| Ethnicity | |||
| • Estonians | 64.3% | ||
| • Russians | 26.3% | ||
| • other | 9.1% | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
| Postal code | 68230 | ||
| Area code(s) | (+372) 76 | ||
| Vehicle registration | G | ||
| Website | www.valgalv.ee | ||
Valga (German: Walk) is a town in southern Estonia and the capital of Valga County. Until their separation in 1920, Valga and the town of Valka in northern Latvia were one town. They are now twin-towns. The area of Valga is 16.5 square kilometres (6.4 square miles) and that of Valka is 14.2 km2 (5.5 sq mi). Their populations are respectively 12,261 and 6,164. On 21 December 2007 all border-crossing points were removed and roads and fences opened between the two countries with both countries joining the Schengen Agreement.
The distance to Tartu is 89 km (55 mi), Pärnu 144 km (89 mi), Tallinn 245 km (152 mi), Riga 175 km (109 mi) and Pskov 170 km (106 mi).
Valga is situated at the junction of roads and railways.
The Hummuli–Tartu–Riga railway is connected via Tapa with the Tallinn–Narva–St Petersburg main line. After closing April 2008 for extensive repair work Edelaraudtee railway services from other parts of Estonia to Valga re-opened in January 2010. From 1 January 2014 all domestic train services in Estonia are operated by Elron who runs three services a day from Valga to Tartu. The journeys either operate as through services to Tallinn or have a connection available at Tartu. The journey to Tartu takes around one hour and 15 minutes.
Valga is also an international railway junction; since April 2008 three daily trains operated by Pasažieru Vilciens from Riga which previously terminated at Lugaži have been extended across the border to Valga. The journey time to Riga is between 3h12m and 3h30m.
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