Järva County ( or ''Järvamaa''; ; ) is one of 15

counties of Estonia The counties of Estonia () are the state administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands. County governments () were abolished at the end of 2017, with their ...

. It is situated in the central part of the country and borders

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Viru County ( or ''Lääne-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, ''lääne'' means western and ''ida'' means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Id ...

to the east,

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-we ...

to the south-east,

Viljandi County Viljandi County ( or ''Viljandimaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties as well as Latvia. History Viljandimaa, under the German name of ''Krei ...

to the south,

Pärnu County Pärnu County ( or ''Pärnumaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the 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 ...

to the south-west, Rapla County to the west, and

Harju County Harju County ( or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the southeast, Rapla Count ...

to the north. In 2022, Järva County had a population of 29,693 – constituting 2.7% of the total population in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

History

In the first centuries AD political and administrative subdivisions began to emerge. Two larger subdivisions appeared: the parish (kihelkond) and the county (maakond). The parish consisted of several villages. Nearly all parishes had at least one fortress. The defense of the local area was directed by the highest official, the parish elder. The county was composed of several parishes, also headed by an elder. By the 13th century the following major districts had developed in Estonia:

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

(Osilia), Läänemaa (Rotalia or Maritima), Harjumaa (Harria), Rävala ( Revalia), Virumaa (

Vironia Virumaa (; Low German: ''Wierland''; Old Norse language, Old Norse: ''Virland'') is a former independent (nation), independent county in Ancient Estonia. Now it is divided into Ida-Viru County or Eastern Vironia and Lääne-Viru County or Weste ...

), Järvamaa (Jervia), Sakala (Saccala), and Ugandi (

Ugaunia Ugandi (Latin: ''Ungannia'' or ''Ugaunia''; ; Low German: ''Uggn'') was an independent county between the east coast of Lake Võrtsjärv and west coast of Lake Pskov, bordered by Vaiga, Mõhu, Nurmekund, Sakala, Tālava, and The Princi ...

).Estonia and the Estonians (Studies of Nationalities) Toivo U. Raun p.11

County government

Until 2017 the

County Government A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denotin ...

(Estonian: ''maavalitsus'') was led by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

(Estonian: ''maavanem''), who was appointed by the

Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia (''Estonian language, Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet (government), cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution of Estonia, Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Cons ...

for a term of five years. Since 2014 the Governor position was held by Alo Aasma.

Municipalities

The county is subdivided into

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. There are two rural municipalities (Estonian: ''vallad'' – parishes) and one urban municipality (Estonian: ''linnad'' – towns) in Järva County. There are 217 villages in Järvamaa. The Largest of which is Türi-Alliku, with a population of 357.

Religion

The

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

congregations in the county are under the Järva Deanery of the

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. The EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Ch ...

. Orthodox congregations in the county are predominantly under the administration of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church but also one of them is under the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Catholic masses are also held regularly in Paide. Other Christian congregations such as

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other Christian congregations operate in the county.

Images

File:Lehtmetsa küla.jpg, The northern part of the county File:Järva-Jaani keskus 120 meetri kõrgusel loodest vaadatuna. 2021. aasta juuli.jpg File:Seidla mõisa tuuleveski1.jpg, Seidla windmills File:Tarvasjõgi.jpg, Tarvasjõgi river in Kõrvemaa Nature Park File:Albu mõisa sild 2012.jpg, Albu manor stone bridge on Ambla River, built in 1879 File:Järva-Peetri kirik2.jpg, Järva-Peetri church File:Lake Väinjärv.jpg, Lake Väinjärv File:Laupa mõisa peahoone 2012.jpg, Laupa manor File:Paide raehoone.JPG, Paide Town Hall File:Paide ordulinnuse varemed 2013.JPG, Paide Castle

References

External links

Järvamaa Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarva County Counties of Estonia