Rapla County ( et, Rapla maakond or ''Raplamaa'') is one of the fifteen

counties of Estonia Counties ( et, maakond, plural ') are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands. The government (') of each county is led by a ' (gover ...

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

Järva County Järva County ( et, Järva maakond or ''Järvamaa''; german: Jerwen; la, Jervia) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the central part of the country and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Jõgeva County to the south-east, ...

to the east, Pärnu County to the south,

Lääne County Lääne County ( et, Lääne maakond or ''Läänemaa'', literally "Western land"; german: Wiek; la, Rotalia) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in western Estonia and borders the Baltic Sea to the north, Harju County to the north-ea ...

to the west, and

Harju County Harju County ( et, Harju maakond 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 sou ...

to the north. In January 2021 Rapla County had a population of 33,116 – constituting 2.5% of the total population of Estonia.

History

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

County government

The

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

(Estonian: ''Maavalitsus'') is led by a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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

Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia ('' Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constitution and laws of Estonia. The cabinet carries out the country' ...

for a term of five years. Since 2009, the Governor position is held by Tiit Leier.

Municipalities

The county is subdivided into

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

. There are 4 rural municipalities (Estonian: ''vallad'' – parishes) in Rapla County:

Geography

Natural resources found in Rapla county include

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

, and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

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 structural quality and historical value. In the churchyard there are several crosses remaining from the 17th century.

Gallery

Valtu mõisa -Puraviku- tuuleveski.jpg, Kohila vesiveski2.jpg, Hageri kirik 2012.jpg, Sutlema mõisa väravatorn 02-08-2012.jpg, Kohila mõisa peahoone.jpg, Lohu mõisa peahoone (1).jpg,

References

External links

County Government
Official website {{Authority control Counties of Estonia