List of cities and towns in Estonia
Introduction 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 language names which were occasionally quite different from the ones used in the Estonian language. 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 lead 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 "a city" or "a town". More than 70% of the country's population lives in the cities and towns.
List +List of cities and towns Rank Town Town rights Population 2014 Population 2018 County (''maakond'')  1  Tallinn  1248  411,063  430,805  Harju  2  Tartu    98,449  93,715  Tartu  3  Narva  1345  59,049  56,103  Ida-Viru  4    1251  40,005  39,375    5  Kohtla-Järve  1946  37,198  34,394  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.
See also *Populated places in Estonia*Municipalities of Estonia*Counties of Estonia*List of villages in Estonia
References
External links **