Viljandi County | |||
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County of Estonia | |||
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Country | Estonia | ||
Capital | Viljandi | ||
Government | |||
• Governor | Lembit Kruuse | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 3,422.49 km2 (1,321.43 sq mi) | ||
Population (Jan 2016) | |||
• Total | 47,853 | ||
• Density | 14/km2 (36/sq mi) | ||
Ethnicity | |||
• Estonians | 95.4% | ||
• Russians | 2.5% | ||
• other | 2.9% | ||
ISO 3166 code | EE-84 | ||
Vehicle registration | D | ||
Website | www |
Viljandi County (Estonian: Viljandi maakond or Viljandimaa, German: Kreis Fellin), is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties. In January 2009 Viljandi County had a population of 55,657 – constituting 4.2% of the population of Estonia.
Viljandimaa, under the German name of Kreis Fellin, was an important centre of commerce and power in the Middle Ages. Today, there are a number of castle ruins there dating from this time.
Soomaa National Park is national park located partially within Viljandi County. Estonia. Soomaa ("land of bogs") protects 390 km², and is a Ramsar site of protected wetlands. The park was created in 1993.
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. Currently the Governor position is held by Kalle Küttis.
The county is subdivided into municipalities. There are 3 urban municipalities (Estonian: linnad – towns) and 9 rural municipalities (Estonian: vallad – parishes) in Viljandi County.