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22-421: Kohtla-Järve [kotla-jærve] is a city and municipality in northeastern Estonia , founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of various petrochemical products. During the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation, large numbers of immigrant workers from Russia and other parts of the former USSR were brought in to populate

44-524: A fertilizer plant in Kohtla-Järve – it has (through its Austria and Cyprus based intermediaries) 100% ownership of AS Nitrofert . Established in 1993, AS Nitrofert was (as of 2006) the only plant to produce fertilizers in Estonia and during the peak of its production used 25% of the total volume of natural gas in Estonia. Kohtla-Järve has a unique layout. The districts of the city are scattered across

66-399: A number of 169 to 15. The number of councillors was reduced from 2,026 to 1,019. In 2022, 36 municipalities (45.56%) had falling population numbers. The municipalities are: Arms In each municipality there is a local government as well as a council . The council ( volikogu ) is a representative body elected by the residents of a municipality for a term of three years. The members of

88-499: A part of Kohtla-Järve since 1960, had a population of 11 215 in 1959, including 1847 (16.5%) Estonians. Kohtla-Järve is known for its chemical industry. It is the headquarters of Viru Keemia Grupp , an Estonian holding group of oil shale industry, power generation, and public utility companies. Eastman Chemical Company also has a manufacturing site located in Kohtla-Järve. Since 2006, the Ukrainian DF Group has owned

110-482: A result of mass migration from the Soviet Union, Ida-Viru County is now the only county in Estonia where ethnic Russians have largely replaced the indigenous Estonian population. By ethnic origin, on 1 January 2017, 73.1% of the population were Russians , 18.9% were Estonians , 2.3% were Ukrainians , 2.1% were Belarusians and 0.9% were Finns . According to Estonian 2021 census population of Ida-Virumaa

132-422: Is no other status distinction between them. Municipalities may contain one or several settlements . All but 5 urban municipalities ( Haapsalu , Narva-Jõesuu , Paide , Pärnu and Tartu ) plus 1 rural municipality ( Ruhnu ) contain only one settlement. As of 2017, there are no longer any "borough-parishes", i.e. rural municipalities with only one borough-type settlement. Ruhnu Parish contains only one village and

154-497: Is the only county in Estonia where Russians constitute the majority of population (73.1% in 2010), the second highest being Harju (28%). 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 ( Estonian : maavalitsus ), led by a governor ( Estonian : maavanem ), ceased to exist after administrative reform in 2017. The last governor of Ida-Viru county

176-499: Is therefore a "village-parish". Some municipalities are divided into districts. The 8 urban districts ( linnaosad , singular linnaosa ) of Tallinn have limited self-government, while other urban districts are formed for administrative purposes. Some rural districts ( osavallad ) have limited self-government, while other types of rural districts do not. Municipalities range in population from Tallinn with 427,500 inhabitants to Ruhnu with 68. Previously, as over two-thirds of

198-401: Is unusual among the municipalities of Estonia due to its territory being made of several discontiguous parts. The two main parts, Järve (Kohtla-Järve proper) and Ahtme , both with populations around 20,000, are located about 10 km apart. Several other settlements in north-eastern Ida-Viru county , connected to oil shale mining, are administered as districts of Kohtla-Järve. During most of

220-724: The Estonian State Oil Shale Industrial Corporation was formed and extraction by shaft and open-pit mining was extended. Settlements for workers began to appear adjacent to the mines. In 1924 the oil shale processing factory was built near Kohtla railway station, and the nearby settlement, named Kohtla-Järve, started to grow. During World War II the value of the Estonian oil shale deposit grew. The Germans, who occupied Estonia in 1941–1944, considered it as an important source of fuel. However, they failed to begin full-scale extraction. After

242-411: The council elect a chairman ( volikogu esimees ), who organises the council's work and represents the municipality. The government ( valitsus ) is an executive body formed by the council. It is headed by a mayor ( linnapea in towns, vallavanem in parishes), who is appointed for a four-year term. The mayor cannot be the chairman of the council. Other members of the government are chosen by

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264-548: The end of the Soviet Union occupation, Estonia regained independence in August 1991, and thereafter the number of city districts decreased, as Jõhvi , Kiviõli and Püssi became officially separate towns. The volume of oil shale extraction and processing decreased dramatically during the 1990s, and many Kohtla-Järve citizens moved to Tallinn or Russia, due to high unemployment in Ida-Viru County . Ahtme, which has been

286-540: The limits of Kohtla-Järve. Kohtla and Kukruse were added to the city in 1949; Jõhvi, Ahtme and Sompa in 1960. The town of Kiviõli and the boroughs of Oru, Püssi and Viivikonna were subordinated to the city in 1964. Thus, Kohtla-Järve greatly expanded, becoming a city with a unique layout, as its parts remained scattered among woods, agricultural areas and oil shale mines. Total population of the city increased mainly by workers sent from different parts of Soviet Union, reaching (with subordinated settlements) 90,000 in 1980. After

308-401: The mayor with the approval of the council. The list of municipalities that have merged or lost existence between 1995 and 2017. Ida-Viru County In January 2019 Ida-Viru County had a population of 136,240 – constituting 10.3% of the total population in Estonia. It borders Lääne-Viru County in the west, Jõgeva County in the southwest and Russia ( Leningrad Oblast ) in the east. It

330-533: The municipalities had a population of under 3,000, many of them found it advantageous to co-operate in providing services and carrying out administrative functions. After the administrative reform was completed in October 2017, there are total of 79 municipalities, 15 of which are urban and 64 rural. 51 of the present municipalities were the result of mergers, 28 remain unchanged. After the reform small municipalities with under 5,000 inhabitants have been reduced from

352-443: The municipality. Kohtla-Järve is twinned with: Municipalities of Estonia A municipality ( Estonian : omavalitsus , plural omavalitsused ) is the smallest administrative subdivision of Estonia . Each municipality is a unit of self-government with its representative and executive bodies. The municipalities in Estonia cover the entire territory of the country. Municipalities in Estonia are of two types: There

374-453: The names Jeruius and Kukarus respectively, and Sompa village in 1420 by the name Soenpe . Its German name was Kochtel-Türpsal . Local residents were aware of oil shale's flammable capability in ancient times, but its industrial extraction in Estonia began only in the 20th century. In 1916, researches showed that oil shale could be used both as fuel and as a raw material for chemical industry, and mining started near Järve village. In 1919,

396-430: The northern part of Ida-Viru County in a considerably large area. The distance between Järve and Oru districts is about 20 km. The city is subdivided into five administrative districts ( Estonian : linnaosad ): The populations of many of the smaller exclaves have rapidly declined since the 1990s. Before the Estonian administrative reform of 2017, Viivikonna and Sirgala (combined population of 99) were also part of

418-614: The period of the Soviet occupation, the town of Jõhvi was also incorporated into Kohtla-Järve. The history of Kohtla-Järve is closely tied to the history of extraction of oil shale – the main mineral of Estonia. There is evidence that a number of settlements existed on the territory of modern Kohtla-Järve since the High Middle Ages . In the Danish Land Book , Järve and Kukruse villages were first mentioned in 1241 by

440-419: The rapidly growing city. The population in the Kohtla-Järve area which had been, as of 1934 census, over 90% ethnic Estonian, became overwhelmingly non-Estonian in the second half of the 20th century. According to more recent data (as of 2006) 21% of the city's population are ethnic Estonians ; most of the rest are Russians . Kohtla-Järve is the fifth-largest city in Estonia in terms of population. Kohtla-Järve

462-494: The war, the next occupier of Estonia, the Soviet Union , required constantly increasing quantities of oil shale for its industries and extraction greatly expanded. Religion in Kohtla-Järve (2021) [2] Kohtla-Järve, as the main settlement in the mining area, received city status on 15 June 1946. Since that time, during the next twenty years, there was a process of administrative amalgamation of neighboring settlements within

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484-444: Was Andres Noormägi. In January 2017, the population of Ida-Virumaa was 143,880, which makes it the third largest county in Estonia (after Harju and Tartu counties, which include the capital Tallinn and country's second-largest city Tartu ). 44.6% of the population are men and 55.4% women. By January 2020, the population of Ida-Virumaa had decreased to 134,259, of which 33% were of native origin and 67% of foreign origin. As

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