Rapla County
Encyclopedia
Rapla County or Raplamaa, is one of 15 counties
Counties of Estonia
A county is an administrative subdivision of Estonia.Estonia is divided into 15 counties. The government of each county is led by a county governor , who represents the national government at the regional level...

 of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

. It is situated in western part of the country and borders Järva County
Järva County
Järva County , or Järvamaa , is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in central part of the country and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Jõgeva County to the south-east, Viljandi County to the south, Pärnu County to the south-west, Rapla County to the west, and Harju County to the...

 to the east, Pärnu County
Pärnu County
Pärnu County , or Pärnumaa , is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the north, Järva and Viljandi counties to the east, and Latvia to the south...

 to the south, Lääne County
Lääne County
Lääne County , or Läänemaa , is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in western Estonia and borders Baltic Sea to the north, Harju County to the north-east, Rapla County to the east, Pärnu County to the south, and the island counties of Saare and Hiiu to the west...

 to the west, and Harju County
Harju County
Harju County , or Harjumaa , nowadays one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the south-east, Rapla County to the south, and Lääne County to the south-west.528,468 people...

 to the north. 36,678 people live in Rapla County – constituting 2.7% of the total population in Estonia (as of January 2009).

History

The first written records of Rapla date back to the 1241 Danish census (Liber Census Daniae).

County government

The County Government (Estonian: Maavalitsus) is led by a Governor
County Governors of Estonia
The Governor is the leader of a county in Estonia.-List of governers of Estonian counties:Harju County:*Johannes Reinthal *Oskar Suursööt *Martin Kruusimaa *Rudolf Kuris...

 (Estonian: maavanem), who is appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years. Since 9 August 2004, the Governor position is held by Tõnis Blank.

Municipalities

The county is subdivided into municipalities
Municipalities of Estonia
A Municipality 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....

. There are 10 rural municipalities (Estonian: vallad – parishes) in Rapla County:
  • Juuru Parish
    Juuru Parish
    Juuru Parish is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It has a population of 1627 and an area of 152,4 km².-Settlements:...

  • Järvakandi (borough)
  • Kaiu Parish
    Kaiu Parish
    Kaiu Parish is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It has a population of 1,700 and an area of 261 km².-Settlements:Small borough:KaiuVillages:...

  • Kehtna Parish
  • Kohila Parish
    Kohila Parish
    Kohila Parish is the northernmost municipality of Rapla County, Estonia. It has a population of 5,925 and an area of 230.20 km².-Settlements:Borough:KohilaSmall boroughs:Hageri - PrillimäeVillages:...

     (includes the borough of Kohila
    Kohila
    Kohila is a borough in Rapla County, northern Estonia. It is the administrative center of Kohila Parish. Kohila has a population of 3,505 .Kohila has a station on Edelaraudtee's westward line.-Notable residents:...

    )
  • Käru Parish
    Käru Parish
    Käru Parish is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It has a population of 676 and an area of 214.91 km² .-Settlements:Small borough:KäruVillages:Jõeküla - Kädva - Kändliku - Kõdu - Kullimaa - Lauri - Lungu - Sonni...

  • Märjamaa Parish
    Märjamaa Parish
    Märjamaa Parish is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It has a population of 7,542 and an area of 871.62 km²...

     (includes the borough of Märjamaa
    Märjamaa
    Märjamaa is a borough in Rapla County, Estonia. It is the administrative center of Märjamaa Parish. Märjamaa had a population of 3,108 as of 1 January 2008.-External links:*...

    )
  • Raikküla Parish
    Raikküla Parish
    Raikküla Parish is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It has a population of 1,754 and an area of 224.2 km².-Settlements:Villages:...

  • Rapla Parish
    Rapla Parish
    Rapla Parish is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It has a population of 9,652 and an area of 243.3 km².-Settlements:Town:RaplaSmall boroughs:Alu - Hagudi - KuusikuVillages:...

     (includes the town of Rapla
    Rapla
    Rapla is a town in central Estonia, the administrative centre of Rapla County and Rapla Parish. It has a population of 5,618 .-External links:*...

    )
  • Vigala Parish
    Vigala Parish
    Vigala Parish is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It has a population of 1,547 and an area of 269.81 km².-Settlements:Villages:...



Geography

Natural resources found in Rapla county include limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....

, peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

, and clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

.

Miscellaneous topics

The church of Rapla was built in 1901. However, much of the interior dates back to several hundred years earlier and is of high virtu and historical value. In the church yard there are several crosses remaining from the 17th century.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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