Municipalities of Estonia explained

A municipality (Estonian: omavalitsus, plural Estonian: omavalitsused) is the smallest administrative subdivision of Estonia. Each municipality is a unit of self-government with its representative and executive bodies. The municipalities in Estonia cover the entire territory of the country.

Municipalities in Estonia are of two types:

There is no other status distinction between them.

Municipalities may contain one or several settlements. All but 5 urban municipalities (Haapsalu, Narva-Jõesuu, Paide, Pärnu and Tartu) plus 1 rural municipality (Ruhnu) contain only one settlement. As of 2017, there are no longer any "borough-parishes", i.e. rural municipalities with only one borough-type settlement. Ruhnu Parish contains only one village and is therefore a "village-parish".

Some municipalities are divided into districts. The 8 urban districts (Estonian: linnaosad, singular Estonian: linnaosa) of Tallinn have limited self-government, while other urban districts are formed for administrative purposes. Some rural districts (Estonian: osavallad) have limited self-government, while other types of rural districts do not.

Municipalities range in population from Tallinn with 427,500 inhabitants to Ruhnu with 68.[1] Previously, as over two-thirds of the municipalities had a population of under 3,000, many of them found it advantageous to co-operate in providing services and carrying out administrative functions.

After the administrative reform was completed in October 2017, there are total of 79 municipalities, 15 of which are urban and 64 rural. 51 of the present municipalities were the result of mergers, 28 remain unchanged. After the reform small municipalities with under 5,000 inhabitants have been reduced from a number of 169 to 15. The number of councillors was reduced from 2,026 to 1,019. In 2022, 36 municipalities (45.56%) had falling population numbers. The municipalities are:

Structure of local authorities

In each municipality there is a local government as well as a council.

The council (Estonian: volikogu) is a representative body elected by the residents of a municipality for a term of three years. The members of the council elect a chairman (Estonian: volikogu esimees), who organises the council's work and represents the municipality.

The government (Estonian: valitsus) is an executive body formed by the council. It is headed by a mayor (Estonian: linnapea in towns, Estonian: vallavanem in parishes), who is appointed for a four-year term. The mayor cannot be the chairman of the council. Other members of the government are chosen by the mayor with the approval of the council.

Former municipalities

The list of municipalities that have merged or lost existence between 1995 and 2017.

Former municipalities (before 1990)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Estonian Institute www.einst.ee . 2002-06-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20020619141032/http://www.einst.ee/factsheets/factsheets_uus_kuju/local_government_reform.htm . 2002-06-19 .

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