Ida-Viru County
Template:Short description Template:Infobox settlement
Ida-Viru County (Template:Langx or Template:Lang; Template:Langx) is one of the 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most northeastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale Template:Endash the main mineral mined in Estonia. Oil shale is used in the production of shale oil and in thermal power plants. The capital of the county is the town of Jõhvi which is administratively united with the Jõhvi Parish; nevertheless, Narva is the largest town in the county in terms of population and at the same time the third-largest city in Estonia after Tallinn and Tartu.
In January 2019, Ida-Viru County had a population of 136,240 – constituting 10.3% of the total population in Estonia.<ref name="stat-PO0291U" /><ref name="County_population">Template:Cite web</ref> It borders Lääne-Viru County in the west, Jõgeva County in the southwest and Russia (Leningrad Oblast) in the east. It is the only county in Estonia where Russians constitute the majority of population (73.1% in 2010), the second highest being Harju (28%).
History
During the latter part of the period of Soviet rule of Estonia, Ida-Virumaa was called the Kohtla-Järve district, and its administrative capital was Kohtla-Järve.
County Government (Template:Langx), led by a governor (Template:Langx), ceased to exist after administrative reform in 2017. The last governor of Ida-Viru county was Andres Noormägi.<ref name=maavanem>Template:Cite web</ref>
Demographics
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In January 2017, the population of Ida-Virumaa was 143,880, which makes it the third largest county in Estonia (after Harju and Tartu counties, which include the capital Tallinn and country's second-largest city Tartu). 44.6% of the population are men and 55.4% women.<ref name="County_population"/>
By January 2020, the population of Ida-Virumaa had decreased to 134,259, of whom 33% were of native origin and 67% of foreign origin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As a result of migration, Ida-Viru County is now the only county in Estonia where ethnic Russians have become a majority.
By ethnic origin, on 1 January 2017, 73.1% of the population were Russians, 18.9% were Estonians, 2.3% were Ukrainians, 2.1% were Belarusians, and 0.9% were Finns.<ref name="County_population" />
According to the 2021 Estonian census, the population of Ida-Virumaa was 132,741. By ethnic origin, 97,231 (73.25%) were Russians, 24,490 (18.45%) were Estonians, 3,265 (2.46%) were Ukrainians, 2,720 (2.05%) were Belarusians, and 1,065 (0.80%) were Finns. Estonians are predominant in the more rural parishes to the west of country: Alutaguse (69.47%), Toila (64.27%), and Lüganuse (55.07%).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Religion
The following congregations of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC) operate in Ida-Viru County under the Viru Deanery of the EELC: Iisaku congregation, Illaku congregation, Jõhvi congregation, Lüganuse congregation, Narva congregation, Narva-Jõesuu congregation, Pühajõe congregation and Tudulinna congregation.<ref name="eelk.ee">Template:Cite web</ref>
Regarding Eastern Orthodoxy, the following Orthodox congregations operate under the jurisdiction of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate: Alajõe, Jaama, Jõhvi, Kiviõli, Kohtla-Järve, Lohusuu, Vasknarva, the congregation of the Narva Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ and three other Orthodox parishes in the city of Narva and two congregations in Narva-Jõesuu.<ref name="et.orthodox.ee">Template:Cite web</ref>
A Russian Orthodox convent, Pühtitsa Convent, is located in Ida-Viru County.
The congregations belonging to the Catholic Church in Estonia that operate in Ida-Viru County are: Ahtme, Narva, Sillamäe, Kiviõli and Sompa and Kohtla-Järve.<ref name="katoliku.ee">Template:Cite web</ref>
Baptist congregations operating in Ida-Viru County: Kiviõli, Sillamäe, four congregations in the city of Kohtla-Järve and two congregations in Narva.<ref name="kogudused.ee">Template:Cite web</ref>
Of the other Christian churches, there are four Methodist congregations,<ref name="metodistikirik.ee">Template:Cite web</ref> one Pentecostal congregation,<ref name="https://eknk.ee">Template:Cite web</ref> two Adventist congregations and one Jehovah's Witnesses congregation.
| Religion | 2000 | 2011 | 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Christianity | 54,269 | 36.2 | 63,141 | 48.9 | 58,530 | 50.6 |
| —Orthodox Christians | 43,302 | 28.5 | 55,840 | 42.2 | 53,180 | 46.0 |
| —Lutherans | 7,946 | 5.3 | 4,623 | 3.6 | 2,440 | 2,1 |
| —Catholics | 1,145 | 0.7 | 815 | 0.6 | 1,110 | 0.9 |
| —Baptists | 675 | 0.4 | 379 | 0.2 | 200 | 0.1 |
| —Jehovah's Witnesses | 282 | 0.2 | 342 | 0.2 | 320 | 0.2 |
| —Pentecostals | 504 | 0.3 | 318 | 0.2 | 400 | 0.3 |
| —Old Believers | 108 | 0.007 | 158 | 0.1 | 130 | 0.1 |
| —Methodists | 172 | 0.1 | 140 | 0.1 | 160 | 0.1 |
| —Adventists | 135 | 0.1 | 111 | 0.1 | 80 | 0.1 |
| —Other Christians | - | - | 415 | 0.2 | 510 | 0.4 |
| Islam | - | - | 244 | 0.2 | 700 | 0.6 |
| Buddhism | - | - | 35 | 0.02 | 30 | 0.02 |
| Other religions** | 590 | 0.3 | 438 | 0.2 | 740 | 0.6 |
| No religion | 50,551 | 33.7 | 42,754 | 33.1 | 40,250 | 34.8 |
| Not stated*** | 44,362 | 29.5 | 22,436 | 17.4 | 15,400 | 13.3 |
| Total population* | 150,049 | 129,049 | 115,650 | |||
| *The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.<ref name="Census" /> | ||||||
Municipalities
Ida-Virumaa County is subdivided into eight municipalities, of which four are urban (Template:Langx — cities or towns) and four are rural (Template:Langx — parishes). There are 217 villages in Ida-Virumaa.
| Rank | Municipality | Type | Population (2018)<ref name=population>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Area km2<ref name=population/> |
Density<ref name=population/> |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alutaguse Parish | Rural | 4,929 | 1,465 | 3.4 |
| 2 | Jõhvi Parish | Rural | 11,645 | 124 | 93.9 |
| 3 | Kohtla-Järve | Urban | 35,395 | 39 | 907.6 |
| 4 | Lüganuse Parish | Rural | 8,942 | 599 | 14.9 |
| 5 | Narva | Urban | 58,610 | 85 | 689.5 |
| 6 | Narva-Jõesuu | Urban | 4,828 | 411 | 11.7 |
| 7 | Sillamäe | Urban | 13,406 | 11 | 1,218.7 |
| 8 | Toila Parish | Rural | 4,807 | 266 | 18.1 |
