Viljandi County is one of 15 counties of Estonia

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...

. It is located in southern 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...

 bordering Pärnu

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...

, Järva

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...

, Jõgeva

Jõgeva County

Jõgeva County , or Jõgevamaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in eastern part of the country and borders Ida-Viru County to the north-east, Lake Peipus to the east, Tartu County to the south, Viljandi County to the south-west, Järva County to the north-west and Lääne-Viru County to...

, Tartu

Tartu County

Tartu County , or Tartumaa , is one of 15 counties of Estonia.It is located in eastern Estonia bordering Põlva County, Valga County, Viljandi County and Jõgeva County....

 and Valga

Valga County

Valga County , or Valgamaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. Its capital is Valga, which is located on the Estonian-Latvian border. It is situated in southern part of the country and borders Põlva County and Võru County to the east, Latvia to the south and to the west, Viljandi County and Tartu...

 counties. 55,657 people live in Viljandi County – constituting 4.2% of the total population in Estonia (as of January 2009).

History

Viljandimaa, under the German name of Kreis Fellin, was an important centre of commerce and power in the Middle Ages. Today, there are a number of castle ruins

Ruins

Ruins are the remains of human-made architecture: structures that were once complete, as time went by, have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction...

 there dating from this time.

County government

The County government  is led by 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...

 , who is appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years. Currently the Governor position is held by Kalle Küttis.

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 3 urban municipalities ( – towns) and 12 rural municipalities ( – parishes) in Viljandi County.

Urban municipalities:

• Mõisaküla
  Mõisaküla
  Mõisaküla is a town and a municipality in south-western Estonia, in Viljandi County.-History:Mõisaküla arose on the fens of Abja manor. It became a town in 1 May 1938....
  
  
• Viljandi
  Viljandi
  Viljandi is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 19,150 . It is the capital of Viljandi County. The town was first mentioned in 1283, upon being granted its town charter by Wilhelm von Endorpe....
  
  
• Võhma
  Võhma
  Võhma is a town and municipality in central Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 1411 .-History:...
  
  

Rural municipalities:

• Abja Parish
  Abja Parish
  Abja Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 2,719 and an area of .-Settlements:TownAbja-PaluojaVillages...
  
   (includes the town of Abja-Paluoja
  Abja-Paluoja
  Abja-Paluoja is a town in Viljandi County, Estonia. Joined 1998 with Abja Vald.Abja Rural Municipality is situated in the Halliste Parish, the southern part of Viljandi County. The Halliste River and Kariste Lake are located near the northern border of the rural municipality. The municipality...
  
  )
• Halliste Parish
  Halliste Parish
  Halliste Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 1,808 and an area of 267.09 km².-Settlements:Small boroughsHalliste - ÕisuVillages...
  
  
• Karksi Parish
  Karksi Parish
  Karksi Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 4,041 and an area of 321.45 km².-Settlements:TownKarksi-NuiaVillages...
  
   (includes the town of Karksi-Nuia
  Karksi-Nuia
  Karksi-Nuia is a town in Viljandi County, southern Estonia close to the Latvian border, it is the administrative centre of Karksi Parish. Karksi-Nuia has a population of 1,841 and an area of 3 km²...
  
  )
• Kolga-Jaani Parish
  Kolga-Jaani Parish
  Kolga-Jaani Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 1,668 and an area of 312.35 km².-Settlements:Small boroughKolga-JaaniVillages...
  
  
• Kõo Parish
  Kõo Parish
  Kõo Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 1,194 and an area of 149.46 km².-Settlements:Villages...
  
  
• Kõpu Parish
  Kõpu Parish
  Kõpu Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 802 and an area of 258.78 km².-Settlements:Small boroughKõpuVillages...
  
  
• Paistu Parish
  Paistu Parish
  Paistu Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 1,622 and an area of 128.59 km².-Settlements:Villages...
  
  
• Pärsti Parish
  Pärsti Parish
  Pärsti Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 3,824 and an area of 210.62 km².-Settlements:Small boroughRamsiVillages...
  
  
• Saarepeedi Parish
  Saarepeedi Parish
  Saarepeedi Parish is a municipality in south-western Estonia, in Viljandi County.-History:Saarepeedi neighborhood was populated 11th-12th century. there were Naanu fort, which speak of findings that have been used as a fortress of 12th-13th century...
  
  
• Suure-Jaani Parish
  Suure-Jaani Parish
  Suure-Jaani Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 6,178 and an area of 742.83 km².-Settlements:TownSuure-JaaniSmall boroughOlustvereVillages...
  
   (includes the town of Suure-Jaani
  Suure-Jaani
  Suure-Jaani is a town in the northern part of the county of Viljandimaa in Southern Central Estonia, 25 kilometres north of the town of Viljandi. Suure-Jaani is the centre of Suure-Jaani rural municipality.-History:...
  
  )
• Tarvastu Parish
  Tarvastu Parish
  Tarvastu Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 4,216 and an area of 409.00 km².-Settlements:Small boroughMustlaVillages...
  
  
• Viiratsi Parish
  Viiratsi Parish
  Viiratsi Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. It has a population of 3,743 and an area of 215.02 km².-Settlements:Small boroughViiratsiVillages...
  
  

External links

• Viljandimaa – Official website
• Viljandi County Government