Kiviõli ( ; ) is an industrial town in

Ida-Viru County Ida-Viru County ( or ; ) is one of the 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most northeastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale the main mineral mined in Estonia. Oil shale is used in the production of shale oil ...

, Estonia, established in 1922. The main industry in the town is

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich Granularity, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of Organic compound, organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general compos ...

mining, which gives the town its name.

History

In 1922, the joint-stock company Eesti Kiviõli () established an oil shale quarry in land belonging to the village of

Salaküla Salaküla is a village in Lüganuse Parish, Ida-Viru County in northeastern 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 ...

, and mining commenced in 1930. A worker's settlement belonging to the village of

Varinurme Varinurme is a village in Lüganuse Parish, Ida-Viru County in northeastern Estonia. It is located between Sonda, the centre of the parish, and the town of Kiviõli. Tallinn–Tapa–Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It i ...

was built in the 1930s and named Kiviõli after the joint-stock company. Kiviõli became a town in 1946.

Demographics

Neighborhoods of Kiviõli

Included in the town limits, but somewhat separate from the main part of the town, are the districts of Küttejõu and

. There are five neighborhoods of Kiviõli: *Küttejõu *Lepatee *Sala-Aru *Soopealse *Varinurme.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Kiviõli include the following: *

Peeter Simm Peeter Simm (born 24 February 1953 in Kiviõli) is an Estonian film director. In 1976 he graduated from the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). Selected filmography *''Ideaalmaastik'' (1980) *''Fed up!'' (2005) *''On the Other Si ...

(born 1953), film director *

Kristina Kallas Kristina Kallas (born 29 January 1976) is an Estonian politician who is the leader of the Eesti 200 party. She is not related to Kaja Kallas, the former Prime Minister of Estonia. Kallas is the Minister of Education and Research in the third ...

(born 1976), Estonian Minister of Education and Research

Gallery

File:Kivioli chemical plant.JPG, Kiviõli oil factory File:Kivioli chemical plant (2).JPG, File:Kiviõli1.jpg File:Ida-Viru Tuhamäed.JPG, Ash mountains

References

External links

Cities and towns in Estonia Former municipalities of Estonia Populated places in Ida-Viru County Populated places established in 1922 1922 establishments in Estonia Lüganuse Parish Kreis Wierland {{Estonia-geo-stub