See also

Publication Local government in Estonia (2005)

The Structure and Operation of Local and Regional Democracy in Estonia (1999)

Estonia is territorially divided into counties, rural municipalities and cities. Estonia has a one-tier local government system since 1993. There are 15 counties and 226 municipalities among which there are 33 cities and 193 rural municipalities. Rural municipalities and cities form the first, local level of Estonian public administration. All local governments operate within a county. The size of local governments is very different. The biggest municipality is the capital city Tallinn. Two thirds of local government units have less than 3000 inhabitants.

According to The European Charter of Local Self-Government and The Local Government Organization Act local government is defined as the right, authority and duty of the democratically formed bodies of power to independently organise and manage local issues. pursuant to law and based on the legitimate needs and interests of the residents of the rural municipality or city, and considering the specific development of the rural municipality or city.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia local governments resolve all local issues, operating independently pursuant to law. Duties may be imposed at local government only pursuant to the law or by agreement with the local government. Expenditure related to duties of the state imposed by law on a local government shall be funded from the state budget.

Rural municipalities and cities are of equal legal status. Local authority units have the right to form rural municipality districts and city districts on their territory to decentralize power, the procedure is regulated by the Local Government Organization Act. Examples of this right are Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve, which have formed city districts. Also, some rural municipalities have formed rural municipality districts.

Municipalities have the right to form and the right to be members of voluntary associations at county and state level. The interests of the state in the county are represented by the county governor.

The distribution of local governments by population (01.01.2011)

Population	Cities	Rural Municipalities	Total
0-1 000	1	39	40
1001-1500	2	47	49
1 501-2 000	2	29	31
2 001-3 000	1	30	31
3 001-4 000	4	13	17
4 001-5 000	3	12	15
5 001-7 500	5	14	19
7 501-10 000	2	4	6
10 001-20 000	8	5	13
20 001 - 50 000	2	-	2
50 001-100 000	2	-	2
100 001-	1	-	1
Total	33	193	226

 

The area and population of Estonian counties (01.01.2011)

County	Total Area (km2)	Population	Cities	Rural Municipalities	Total
HARJU	4333	563 103	6	18	24
HIIUMAA	1023	10 176	1	4	5
IDA-VIRU	3364	164 093	6	16	22
JÕGEVA	2604	34 776	3	10	13
JÄRVA	2461	34 315	1	11	12
LÄÄNE	2383	27 270	1	11	12
LÄÄNE-VIRU	3627	65 465	2	13	15
PÕLVA	2165	30 839	1	13	14
PÄRNU	4806	89 701	2	18	20
RAPLA	2980	36 785	-	10	10
SAARE	2922	35 719	1	15	16
TARTU	2993	149 252	3	19	22
VALGA	2044	33 683	2	11	13
VILJANDI	3422	52 898	3	12	15
VÕRU	2305	37 388	1	12	13
Total	43432	1 365 463	33	193	226