List of cities and towns in Estonia

The following is a list of the 47 cities and towns in Estonia. Before the Republic of Estonia became an independent nation in 1918, many of these locations were known in the rest of the world by their German names, which were occasionally quite different from the ones used in the Estonian. During the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation of Estonia, placenames were transliterated into Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) in the Soviet central government's documents, which in turn led to the use of several incorrect back-transliterations from Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet into English (and other Latin alphabets) in some English-language maps and texts during the second half of the 20th century (for example, incorrect Pyarnu, Vilyandi, Pylva, instead of the correct Pärnu, Viljandi, Põlva).

Tallinn is the capital and the most populous city of Estonia. There are 46 other linn, i.e. cities and towns in Estonia (as of 2022). The Estonian word linn means both 'city' and 'town'. More than 70% of the country's population lives in the cities and towns.

List +List of cities and townsEesti Linnade Liidu Liikmed Rank Town Town rights Population 2014Population by sex, age and administrative unit or type of settlement, 1 January. Statistics Estonia. Population 2024–2026Population by sex, age and place of residence after the 2017 administrative reform, 1 January. Statistics Estonia. County (maakond) 1 Tallinn 1248 411,063 460,584 Harju 2 Tartu 98,449 97,304 Tartu 3 Narva 1345 59,049 52,495 Ida-Viru 4 1251 40,005 41,520 5 Kohtla-Järve 1946 37,198 33,434 Ida-Viru 6 Viljandi 1283 17,602 17,525 Viljandi 7 Rakvere 1302 15,400 15,413 8 Maardu 1980 17,315 15,189 Harju 9 Kuressaare 1563 13,152 13,276 Saare 10 Sillamäe 1957 14,122 12,989 Ida-Viru 11 Valga 1584 12,437 12,334 Valga 12 1784 12,571 12,022 Võru 13 1938 10,525 10,398 Ida-Viru 14 Haapsalu 1279 10,316 9,838 15 Keila 1938 9,751 9,775 Harju 16 Paide 1291 8,162 8,078 17 Elva 1938 5,657 5,648 Tartu 18 Saue 1993 5,656 5,640 Harju 19 1993 5,661 5,458 20 Tapa 1926 5,693 5,428 21 1938 5,457 5,143 22 Rapla 1993 5,054 5,132 Rapla 23 Kiviõli 1946 5,635 5,088 Ida-Viru 24 1926 5,215 5,064 25 1926 4,148 4,050 Jõgeva 26 Sindi 1938 4,089 3,838 27 Paldiski 1783 4,163 3,626 Harju 28 1938 3,017 3,287 Hiiu 29 Kunda 1938 3,267 3,034 30 1926 2,716 2,740 Valga 31 Narva-Jõesuu 1993 2,655 2,644 Ida-Viru 32 Kehra 1993 2,792 2,641 Harju 33 Loksa 1993 2,703 2,568 Harju 34 1993 2,363 2,173 35 Otepää 1936 1,875 2,167 Valga 36 Tamsalu 1996 2,174 2,119 37 Kilingi-Nõmme 1938 1,707 1,671 38 Karksi-Nuia 1993 1,515 1,554 Viljandi 39 Antsla 1938 1,362 1,311 Võru 40 1993 1,282 1,282 Viljandi 41 Mustvee 1938 1,348 1,269 42 Lihula 1993 1,252 1,214 43 Suure-Jaani 1938 1,036 1,064 Viljandi 44 Abja-Paluoja 1993 1,063 1,057 Viljandi 45 1993 1,023 917 Ida-Viru 46 1938 806 748 Viljandi 47 Kallaste 1938 846 743 Tartu

Former towns Ahtme, 1953–1960, 1993–1995, merged with Kohtla-Järve Jaanilinn (Ivangorod), 1617–1649, merged with Narva, annexed to the Russian SFSR in 1945 Mustla, 1938–1979, town rights revoked Nõmme, 1926–1940, merged with Tallinn Petseri (Pechory), 1776-onwards, annexed to the Russian SFSR in 1945 Toompea, 1248/1265/1288–1785, 1796–1878, merged with Tallinn Vana-Pärnu, 1251–1617, merged with Pärnu

List of cities and towns in Estonia

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