| Võru | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Flag Size: | 125px |
| Pushpin Map: | Estonia |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Estonia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Estonia |
| Subdivision Type1: | County |
| Subdivision Name1: | Võru County |
| Established Title1: | Founded |
| Established Date1: | 21 August 1784 |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Kalvi Kõva |
| Area Total Km2: | 14.01 |
| Elevation M: | 84 |
| Population Total: | 11865 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Density Km2: | 846,7 |
| Population Rank: | 12th |
| Demographics Type1: | Ethnicity |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Estonians |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 93% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Russians |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 5% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | other |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 2% |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Iso Code: | EE-919 |
Võru (in Estonian ˈʋɤru/; Võro; German: Werro) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish.
Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, at the request of the Empress Catherine II of Russia, by the order of Riga Governor general count George Browne, on the site of the former Võru estate as the center of the new county.
From 1797 until today, Võru has been the administrative center of the surrounding region.
In 1827, the Võru Town Hospital was opened and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, who lived and worked as a doctor in Võru from 1833 to 1877, also wrote the Estonian national epic "Kalevipoeg" in Võru. The development of the town was facilitated by the Pskov-Riga railway completed in 1889, which enabled Võru to have a direct connection with Riga and St. Petersburg. As a result, trade was developed, a flour mill, a sawmill and a distillery were built. Võru became the center of the surrounding rural area.[1]
The town is situated on the shore of Lake Tamula.
Võru has a humid continental climate (Dfb according to the Köppen climate classification) with warm summers and cold winters. Võru has one of the most continental climates in Estonia: both the temperatures of, which is the highest temperature ever recorded in the country and, which is very close to the coldest temperature ever recorded in the country (after Jõgeva) are recorded here. [2] Precipitation is usually higher in early summer to late autumn, and lower in late winter to early spring.
| 1897[3] | 1922[4] | 1934[5] | 1941[6] | 1959[7] | 1970[8] | 1979[9] | 1989 | 2000[10] | 2011[11] | 2021[12] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | ||
| Estonians | 2675 | 64.4 | 4480 | 88.3 | 4855 | 91.1 | 5250 | 97.1 | 8604 | 80.4 | 12307 | 79.9 | 13783 | 82.2 | 14985 | 85.6 | 13414 | 90.2 | 11651 | 92.0 | 11042 | 93.1 | |
| Russians | 248 | 5.97 | 163 | 3.21 | 171 | 3.21 | 87 | 1.61 | - | - | 2277 | 14.8 | 2378 | 14.2 | 1934 | 11.1 | 1112 | 7.47 | 804 | 6.35 | 599 | 5.05 | |
| Ukrainians | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0.00 | - | - | - | - | 312 | 2.03 | 261 | 1.56 | 249 | 1.42 | 99 | 0.67 | 64 | 0.51 | 51 | 0.43 | |
| Belarusians | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 112 | 0.73 | 96 | 0.57 | 90 | 0.51 | 44 | 0.30 | 30 | 0.24 | 22 | 0.19 | |
| Finns | - | - | - | - | 3 | 0.06 | 1 | 0.02 | - | - | 91 | 0.59 | 77 | 0.46 | 81 | 0.46 | 61 | 0.41 | 40 | 0.32 | 27 | 0.23 | |
| Jews | 258 | 6.21 | 118 | 2.33 | 96 | 1.80 | 0 | 0.00 | - | - | 20 | 0.13 | 10 | 0.06 | 12 | 0.07 | 6 | 0.04 | 4 | 0.03 | 4 | 0.03 | |
| Latvians | 118 | 2.84 | - | - | 37 | 0.69 | 21 | 0.39 | - | - | 30 | 0.19 | 30 | 0.18 | 35 | 0.20 | 23 | 0.15 | 14 | 0.11 | 23 | 0.19 | |
| Germans | 824 | 19.8 | 188 | 3.71 | 145 | 2.72 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 33 | 0.20 | 17 | 0.10 | 7 | 0.05 | 5 | 0.04 | 8 | 0.07 | |
| Tatars | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0.00 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19 | 0.11 | 12 | 0.07 | 6 | 0.04 | 1 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Poles | 20 | 0.48 | - | - | 11 | 0.21 | 9 | 0.17 | - | - | - | - | 18 | 0.11 | 22 | 0.13 | 8 | 0.05 | 6 | 0.05 | 3 | 0.03 | |
| Lithuanians | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | - | - | 30 | 0.19 | 4 | 0.02 | 4 | 0.02 | 3 | 0.02 | 3 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| unknown | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.02 | 6 | 0.11 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 44 | 0.30 | 9 | 0.07 | 40 | 0.34 | |
| other | 9 | 0.22 | 122 | 2.41 | 13 | 0.24 | 33 | 0.61 | 2096 | 19.6 | 219 | 1.42 | 58 | 0.35 | 55 | 0.31 | 52 | 0.35 | 36 | 0.28 | 43 | 0.36 | |
| Total | 4152 | 100 | 5071 | 100 | 5332 | 100 | 5407 | 100 | 10700 | 100 | 15398 | 100 | 16767 | 100 | 17496 | 100 | 14879 | 100 | 12667 | 100 | 11865 | 99.9 | |
The Võru Folklore Festival is held annually in Võru in July since 1995.[13]
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, the author of the Estonian national epic "Kalevipoeg", lived in Võru from 1833 to 1877. Fr.R.Kreutzwald Memorial Museum and the Võro Institute are also located in Võru.
Võru is home to Võru Stadium, the home ground of II liiga football team Võru JK.
European route E263 is the main connection with the rest of Estonia. Other roads connect Võru with Põlva, Räpina, Antsla and Valga. The Valga–Pechory railway, which passes through Võru, is currently inactive. The Võru train station is unused as of 2001.
Võru is home to Taara Army Base, headquarters of the Kuperjanov Infantry Battalion.[14]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Estonia. Võru is twinned with:[15]
Alūksne, Latvia
Chambray-lès-Tours, France
Härryda, Sweden
Iisalmi, Finland
Joniškis, Lithuania
Kaniv, Ukraine Laitila, Finland Landskrona, Sweden
Pechorsky District, Russia
Suwałki, Poland