Viljandi County
Template:Short description Template:Infobox settlement
Viljandi County (Template:Langx or Viljandimaa; Template:Langx) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties as well as Latvia.
History
Viljandimaa, under the German name Kreis Fellin, was an important centre of commerce and power in the Middle Ages. Today, there are numerous castle ruins there dating from that time.
Soomaa National Park is located partially within Viljandi County, Estonia; Soomaa mans 'land of bogs'. It protects 390 km2 and is a Ramsar site of protected wetlands. The park was created in 1993.<ref>RMK: Soomaa National Park. Retrieved 25 January 2016.</ref>
County government
Viljandi's county government (Template:Langx) had been led by a governor (Template:Langx), who used to be appointed by the government of Estonia for a term of five years. Jüri Ratas's first cabinet decided to abolish the institution, which went into effect in 2018. Lembit Kruuse was the final governor to serve the role.
Municipalities
The county is subdivided into municipalities. There is one urban municipality (Template:Langx – towns) and three rural municipalities (Template:Langx – parishes) in Viljandi County.
| Rank | Municipality | Type | Population (2018)<ref name=population>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Area km2<ref name=population/> |
Density<ref name=population/> |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mulgi Parish | Rural | 7,652 | 881 | 8.7 |
| 2 | Põhja-Sakala Parish | Rural | 8,203 | 1,153 | 7.1 |
| 3 | Viljandi Parish | Rural | 13,950 | 1,374 | 10.2 |
| 4 | Viljandi | Urban | 17,758 | 15 | 1,183.9 |
Religion
The largest number of congregations in the county are of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Orthodox congregations in the county are predominantly under the jurisdiction of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church.
Several congregations of Baptists and other Christian churches operate in the county.
| Religion | 2000 | 2011 | 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Christianity | 8,859 | 19.1 | 5,823 | 14.3 | 5,040 | 13.0 |
| —Orthodox Christians | 1,121 | 2.4 | 964 | 2.3 | 930 | 2.4 |
| —Lutherans | 7,178 | 15.5 | 4,373 | 10.7 | 3,390 | 8.8 |
| —Catholics | 104 | 0.2 | 37 | 0.09 | 60 | 0.1 |
| —Baptists | 130 | 0.2 | 95 | 0.2 | 210 | 0.5 |
| —Jehovah's Witnesses | 119 | 0.2 | 134 | 0.3 | 110 | 0.2 |
| —Pentecostals | 88 | 0.1 | 60 | 0.1 | 110 | 0.2 |
| —Old Believers | 1 | 0.002 | 5 | 0.01 | - | - |
| —Methodists | 117 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.004 | - | - |
| —Adventists | 1 | 0.002 | 69 | 0.1 | 60 | 0.1 |
| —Other Christians | - | - | 84 | 0.2 | 170 | 0.4 |
| Islam | 8 | 0.01 | 9 | 0.01 | 130 | 0.3 |
| Buddhism | - | - | 45 | 0.1 | 20 | 0.05 |
| Other religions** | 216 | 0.4 | 346 | 0.9 | 410 | 1.0 |
| No religion | 21,757 | 47.0 | 29,733 | 73.2 | 28,980 | 74.4 |
| Not stated*** | 8,105 | 17.5 | 4,623 | 11.4 | 3,930 | 10.2 |
| Total population* | 46,243 | 40,579 | 38,530 | |||
| *The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age.<ref name="Census" /> ".<ref name="Census" /> | ||||||
Gallery
-
Arussaare orthodox church, built in 1873 -
Suure-Kõpu manor main building -
Heimtali manor distillery kitchen -
Reservoir in the town of Suure-Jaani -
Võrtsjärv lake; view from the village of Valma -
Ruins of Viljandi castle -
Õisu manor watermill -
St. John's Church in Viljandi
