Kunda is a town in the

Viru-Nigula Parish Viru-Nigula Parish ( et, Viru-Nigula vald) is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Lääne-Viru County. It has a population of 1,293 (as of 1 January 2011) and an area of . Settlements ;Towns: Kunda ;Small boroughs: Aseri, Viru-Nigula ;Villag ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

, located on the coast of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and ...

. Kunda is most famous for its cement factory, port and archaeological heritage.

History

Evidence of some of the oldest prehistoric communities in Estonia, hunting and fishing communities that existed around

6500 BC The 7th millennium BC spanned the years 7000 BC to 6001 BC (c. 9 ka to c. 8 ka). It is impossible to precisely date events around this millennium, and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geological and anthropological analysi ...

, were found near Kunda. This settlement gave the name to the

Kunda culture The Kunda culture, originating from the Swiderian culture, comprised mesolithic hunter-gatherer communities of the Baltic forest zone extending eastwards through Latvia into northern Russia, dating to the period 8500–5000 BC according to calib ...

. The first written record of Kunda dates back to 1241 - it was mentioned as a village. In 1443 it was mentioned as a manor. Kunda was granted official borough rights on May 1, 1938.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The former municipality of Kunda was twinned with: *

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

, Poland

Climate

Notable people

Argo Aadli Argo Aadli (born 12 April 1980) is an Estonian theatre and film actor. Biography Education and career Born in Kunda, Estonia, Aadli graduated from the Higher Theatre School of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2002. Aadli has wor ...

(born 1980), theatre and film actor *

Armin Öpik Armin Aleksander Öpik (24 June 1898, in Kunda – 15 January 1983, in Canberra) was an Estonian paleontologist who spent the second half of his career (from 1948) at the Bureau of Mineral Resources in Australia. Early life He was born on a ...

(1898–1983), paleontologist *

Ernst Öpik Ernst Julius Öpik ( – 10 September 1985) was an Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist who spent the second half of his career (1948–1981) at the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. Education Öpik was born in Kunda, Lääne-Viru, Go ...

(1893–1985), astronomer and astrophysicist *

Jüri Parijõgi Jüri Parijõgi (until 1935 Jüri Parinbak or Jüri Parinbach; 2 September 1892 – 9 July 1941) was an Estonian children's writer and teacher. He is regarded as the first Estonian writer who wrote almost only for children and young people. He to ...

(1892–1941), writer and scholar *

Knudåge Riisager Knudåge Riisager (6 March 1897 in Kunda, Russian Empire – 26 December 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was a Danish composer. His work was part of the music event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Early life and education ...

(1897–1974), composer, son of expatriate Danish parents (his father running the cement factory), spent his first 3 years in Kunda.

References

External links

Cities and towns in Estonia Viru-Nigula Parish Populated places in Lääne-Viru County Former municipalities of Estonia Populated places established in 1938 1938 establishments in Estonia Port cities and towns in Estonia {{LääneViru-geo-stub