Põlva County
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement
Põlva County (Template:Langx or Põlvamaa) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and borders Tartu, Valga, and Võru counties. 23,989 people live in Põlva County, constituting 1.8% of the total population of Estonia (as of 2022).<ref name="County_population">Template:Cite web</ref>
Government
The County Government (Template:Langx) is led by the Governor (Template:Langx), who is appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years. Since 2007, the governor position has been held by Priit Sibul.
Municipalities
The county is subdivided into municipalities. There are three rural municipalities (Template:Langx 'parishes') in Põlva County.
| Rank | Municipality | Type | Population (2018)<ref name=population>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Area km2<ref name=population/> |
Density<ref name=population/> |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanepi Parish | Rural | 4,864 | 525 | 9.3 |
| 2 | Põlva Parish | Rural | 14,273 | 706 | 20.2 |
| 3 | Räpina Parish | Rural | 6,518 | 591 | 11.0 |
Demographics
27,028 people live in Põlva County – constituting 2.1% of the total population in Estonia (as of January 2013).<ref name="County_population"/>
Culture
1951–2019, the county had its newspaper: Koit. The last chief editor (since 2000) was Kauno Kõima.<ref name="entsyklopeedia.ee">Template:Cite web</ref>
Religion
The Lutheran congregations in the county are under Võru Deanery of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.<ref name="eelk.ee">Template:Cite web</ref>
Eastern Orthodoxy congregations in the county are under the jurisdiction of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church.<ref name="orthodoxa.org">Template:Cite web</ref>
The independent Estonian Charismatic Church of Fellowship also operates in the county.
Other Christian congregations such as Baptists, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others operate in the county.
There is also a congregation of the Estonian Neopagan religion operating in the county.
| Religion | 2000 | 2011 | 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Christianity | 8,318 | 31.9 | 6,021 | 25.6 | 3,990 | 19.4 |
| —Orthodox Christians | 2,080 | 8.0 | 1,841 | 7.8 | 1,170 | 5.7 |
| —Lutherans | 5,891 | 22.6 | 3,835 | 16.3 | 2,550 | 12.4 |
| —Catholics | 42 | 0.1 | 15 | 0.06 | 30 | 0.1 |
| —Baptists | 51 | 0.2 | 49 | 0.2 | 50 | 0.2 |
| —Jehovah's Witnesses | 132 | 0.5 | 157 | 0.6 | 90 | 0.4 |
| —Pentecostals | 57 | 0.2 | 24 | 0.1 | - | - |
| —Old Believers | 18 | 0.06 | 17 | 0.7 | - | - |
| —Methodists | 33 | 0.1 | 15 | 0.06 | - | - |
| —Adventists | 14 | 0.05 | 18 | 0.06 | - | - |
| —Other Christians | - | - | 50 | 0.2 | 100 | 0.4 |
| Islam | 4 | 0.1 | 6 | 0.02 | - | - |
| Buddhism | - | - | 11 | 0.04 | - | - |
| Other religions** | 89 | 0.3 | 221 | 0.9 | 370 | 1.8 |
| No religion | 10,706 | 41.1 | 13,801 | 58.7 | 13,480 | 65.6 |
| Not stated*** | 6,937 | 26.6 | 3,461 | 14.7 | 2,610 | 12.7 |
| Total population* | 26,054 | 23,501 | 20,530 | |||
| *The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.<ref name="Census" /> ".<ref name="Census" /> | ||||||
Gallery
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Pikajärve manor granary -
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Pikajärve manor -
Räpina manor -
St. Michael's church in Räpina -
Kärsa orthodox church -
Lake Kõvverjärv -
Kiidjärve watermill
