'Pärnu County' (
Estonian: ''Pärnu maakond''), 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. 6.6% of the total population of Estonia live in Pärnu County.
Pärnu County is the largest county of Estonia in terms of land area.
History
In Pärnu county there is the oldest known human settlement in Estonia, from town of Sindi 2 km upstream by Pärnu river, near village
Pulli. 8500 years BC.
Mesolithic historical period.
County Government
The
County Government (Estonian: ''Maavalitsus'') is led by
Governor (Estonian: ''maavanem''), who is appointed by the
Government of Estonia for a term of five years. Since
7 December 1993, the Governor position is held by
Toomas Kivimägi.
Tourism
The city of
Pärnu is a popular holiday resort for Estonians and increasingly for non-Estonians, e.g., from
Sweden,
Finland,
Germany, and
Russia.
Municipalities
The county is subdivided into
municipalities. There are 2 urban municipalities (Estonian: ''linnad'' - towns) and 19 rural municipalities (Estonian: ''vallad'' - parishes) in Pärnu County.
'Urban municipalities:'
★
Pärnu
★
Sindi

Municipalities of Pärnu County
'Rural municipalities:'
★
Are
★
Audru
★
Halinga
★
Häädemeeste
★
Kaisma
★
Kihnu
★
Koonga
★
Lavassaare
★
Paikuse
★
Saarde
★
Sauga
★
Surju
★
Tahkuranna
★
Tootsi
★
Tori
★
Tõstamaa
★
Varbla
★
Vändra Parish
★
Vändra borough
Geography
Miscellaneous topics
External links
★
Pärnu County Official website
★
Pärnu County Government (in Estonian)
★
Town of Pärnu Official website