Võru County

Võrumaa or Võru maakond (English: Võru County, Võro: Võro maakund, German: Kreis Werro) officially, is a county in Southern Estonia. It is the only county bordering two different states - Latvia (in the South) and Russian Federation (in the East).

The territory of Võrumaa covers 2,305 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. In January 2013 Võru County had a population of 32,806 – constituting 2.5% of the total population in Estonia. The county is subdivided into 12 rural municipalities and 1 urban municipality - Võru town.

Ethnic Division and Culture

In Võru County, there are 93,5% Estonians, 3,4% Russians and 3,1% other nationalities.

Two indigenous ethnic groups live in Võru County – the Võro people and the Setos. Both ethnic groups have their own dialect and cultural heritage in traditions.

Võro People

The Võro Institute is established for the preservation and promotion of the Võro language and culture, which are tightly connected with its historic centre, the rural and mostly agricultural South-Eastern Estonian county of Võromaa.

Kotka

Kotka is a city and municipality of Finland.

Kotka is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of Kymi River and it is part of the Kymenlaakso region in southern Finland. The city has a population of 54,441 (30 June 2015) and covers an area of 949.74 square kilometres (366.70 sq mi) of which 678.45 km² (261.95 sq mi) is water. The population density is 200.67 inhabitants per square kilometre (519.7/sq mi). The city centre of Kotka is located at Kotkansaari island.

The Port of Kotka is a major Finnish sea port that serves both the foreign trade of Finland and Russia.

The municipality is officially unilingually Finnish. Historically however, Swedish was the only official language in the city until 1902. From 1902 until 1906, the city was officially bilingual. Kotka also had a Swedish speaking minority (see: Swedish-speaking population of Finland), which in the 1890s accounted for 16% of the city population. Their proportion has steadily decreased and today around 1% of the city's population are Swedish speakers. There is one school in Kotka where Swedish is the language of instruction, Kotka Svenska Samskola, which was founded in 1885.

Kotka (disambiguation)

Kotka (Finnish: kotka means "eagle") may refer to several places:

List of minor planets: 2001–3000

Võru

Võru (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈʋɤru]) (Võro: Võro; German: Werro; Russian: Выру (Viru); Latvian: Veru) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish.

History

Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Catherine II of Russia, by the order of Riga Governor general count George Browne, on the site of the former Võru estate.

Geography and climate

The town is situated on the shore of Lake Tamula. Võru has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold winters.

Culture

The Võru Folk Festival takes place every year in Võru.

Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, the author of the Estonian national epic "Kalevipoeg", lived in Võru from 1833 to 1877.

Transport

European route E263 is the main connection with the rest of Estonia. Other roads connect Võru with Põlva, Räpina, Antsla and Valga. Currently inactive Valga–Pechory railway passes through Võru.

Twin towns

Võru is twinned with:

Notable people

Moses Wolf Goldberg, chemist, lived in Võru as a child.