Ida-Viru County

Ida-Viru County (Estonian: Ida-Viru maakond), or Ida-Virumaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most north-eastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale - the main mineral mined in Estonia. As oil shale is used in thermal power plants, the earth in Ida-Viru contains most of Estonia's energy resources. The capital of the county is the town of Jõhvi which is administratively united with the Jõhvi Parish. In January 2014 Ida-Viru County had a population of 149,483 – constituting 12.6% of the total population in Estonia.

History

During the latter part of the period of Soviet rule of Estonia, Ida-Virumaa was called Kohtla-Järve district, and its administrative capital was Kohtla-Järve.

County Government

The County Government (Estonian: Maavalitsus) is led by a Governor (Estonian: maavanem), who is appointed by the country's government for a term of five years. The current governor of Ida-Viru county is Andres Noormägi.

Demographics

In January 2010, the population of Ida-Virumaa was 168,656, which makes it the second largest county in Estonia (after Harjumaa, which includes Tallinn). 44.6% of the population are men and 55.4% women.