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Tartu maakond
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Tartu
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Esta Tamm
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2,993
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6th
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2004
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148,872
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3rd
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497
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3rd
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EE-74
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Tartumaapng
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( of
Estonia .
It is located in eastern Estonia bordering to
Põlva County ,
Valga County ,
Viljandi County and
Jõgeva County .
The area of Tartu County is 2,992.74 km&
2, which covers 6.9% of the territory of Estonia. The population of the county is 148,992, which is 11.0% of the population of Estonia. The city of
Tartu is the centre of the county located at a distance of 186 km from
Tallinn . Tartu County is divided into 22 local governments — 3 urban and 19 rural municipalities.
Archaeological findings suggest that people first inhabited the territory of the current Tartu County about 5000 years ago. City of Tartu was first mentioned in historical records in
1030 , then a site of a wooden stronghold. In
1224 , after the conquest of the stronghold by the German invaders, Tartu became the capital of a diocese, stretching from Northern Estonia to
Latvia . Since the 13th century, Tartu belonged to the
Hanseatic League, and the town became a well-known trade centre in the
Baltic Sea region. King
Gustavus Adolphus of
Sweden established the
University Of Tartu in
1632 . Estonia's first teachers' training school was established in Tartu County in
1684 , as well as the first Estonian schools for the children of peasants. Closed during and after the
Great Northern War , Tartu University was re-opened in
1802 as the only university operating in
German Language in the
Russian Empire . Economic development of the region was further encouraged by the construction of the railway connecting Tartu with Tallinn,
Riga and
St. Petersburg . In the second half of the 19th century, the national awakening of Estonians began from Tartu region. After Estonia gained independence in
1918 , Tartu, along with Tallinn, became one of the two main cultural centres of Estonia, where most of the Estonian intelligentsia of the time lived and worked. In
1987 -
1989 , the students' environmental and cultural heritage movement in Tartu initiated Estonia's
Singing Revolution and restoration of the country's independence.
The (Estonian: ''maavanem'').
In accordance with the Government of the Republic Act, the County Governor represents interests of the state in the county and provides for integral and balanced development of the county. The County Governor co-ordinates co-operation of ministries and other organs of executive power located in a county with its local governments and performs supervision over the activities of the local governments. The County Governor is appointed for a five-year term by the Government of the Republic, on the basis of the Prime Minister’s proposal and in co-ordination with the representatives of the local governments.
On
February 2 2006 ,
Esta Tamm was appointed Tartu County Governor. She assumed office
February 15 2006 .
The County Government manages the operations of and provides support services to the County Governor; prepares draft documents required by the County Governor; manages and controls the execution of orders of the County Governor; manages the preparation of draft budgets of state agencies administered by the County Government, and controls adherence to the budgets; manages relations of the County Governor with government agencies and local government agencies.
Tartu County has 69 schools with approximately 23 000 pupils. 11 vocational schools provide practical training in 50 specialities.
40% of Estonia's students live and study in Tartu. In addition to the
University Of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences there are 9 other institutions of higher education, the most recent of them the
Baltic Defence College .
The county is subdivided into
Municipalities . There are 3 urban municipalities (Estonian: ''linn'' - "town") and 19 rural municipalities (Estonian: ''vald'') in Tartu County.
Tartu County lies in South Estonia, between Lake Võrtsjärv and
Lake Peipsi . Estonia's only navigable river, River Emajõgi (100 km long), flows through the county, connecting Lake Peipsi and Lake Võrtsjärv. Wavy plains are typical landscapes of Tartu County. One third of the county is covered with forests, a third is cultivated. A quarter is made up of wetlands at the headwaters and lower course of the Emajõgi. In the northern part of the county, there are
Drumlin fields with lakes between them. Nature preserves take up about 10% of the county's territory.
City of Tartu is the trade, service, division and logistics centre for the whole of South Estonia. The city and its surrounding rural areas form an integrated economic system and
labour area. Service sector provides 2/3 of the employment in the county. A significant
part of these jobs are in the public sector – especially education and medicine. Typical products include furniture, foodstuffs, clothes, building materials, glass and plastics. Thanks to the fertile lands, there are many big agricultural enterprises in the west of the county. Fishery is an important activity on the coast of Lake Peipsi. Tartu County is the home of small and medium enterprises – more than 80% of the companies employ 10 people or fewer, only 5 companies in the whole region have more than 250 employees. Biotechnology and biomedicine companies are emerging as spin-offs of Tartu University.
The villages of the
Old Believers on the shore of Lake Peipsi are unique in the whole Europe.
