Valga, Estonia

Valga
Town and municipality

Valga Town Hall, Central Library and Railway Station

Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: 1 linn, 2 riiki (1 city, 2 countries)
Valga

Location in Estonia

Coordinates: 57°47′N 26°02′E / 57.783°N 26.033°E / 57.783; 26.033Coordinates: 57°47′N 26°02′E / 57.783°N 26.033°E / 57.783; 26.033
Country  Estonia
County Valga County
First mention 1286
Government
 • Mayor Kalev Härk (Social Democratic Party)
Area
 • Town and municipality 16.54 km2 (6.39 sq mi)
Elevation 65 m (213 ft)
Population (2013)
 • Town and municipality 12,261
 • Density 740/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
 • Metro in Valga-Valka 19,500
Ethnicity
 • Estonians 64.3%
 • Russians 26.3%
 • other 9.1%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 68230
Area code(s) (+372) 76
Vehicle registration G
Website www.valgalv.ee

Valga (German: Walk) is a town in southern Estonia and the capital of Valga County. Until their separation in 1920, Valga and the town of Valka in northern Latvia were one town. They are now twin-towns. The area of Valga is 16.5 square kilometres (6.4 square miles) and that of Valka is 14.2 km2 (5.5 sq mi). Their populations are respectively 12,261 and 6,164. On 21 December 2007 all border-crossing points were removed and roads and fences opened between the two countries with both countries joining the Schengen Agreement.

Location and Transport

The distance to Tartu is 89 km (55 mi), Pärnu 144 km (89 mi), Tallinn 245 km (152 mi), Riga 175 km (109 mi) and Pskov 170 km (106 mi).

Valga is situated at the junction of roads and railways.

The Hummuli–Tartu–Riga railway is connected via Tapa with the Tallinn–Narva–St Petersburg main line. After closing April 2008 for extensive repair work Edelaraudtee railway services from other parts of Estonia to Valga re-opened in January 2010.[1][2] From 1 January 2014 all domestic train services in Estonia are operated by Elron who runs three services a day from Valga to Tartu. The journeys either operate as through services to Tallinn or have a connection available at Tartu. The journey to Tartu takes around one hour and 15 minutes.[3]

Valga is also an international railway junction; since April 2008 three daily trains operated by Pasažieru Vilciens from Riga which previously terminated at Lugaži have been extended across the border to Valga. The journey time to Riga is between 3h12m and 3h30m.[4]

With the expansion of the Schengen Agreement and the abolition of systematic border controls between Estonia and Latvia, it was announced that common public bus transport would be launched between Valga and Valka.[5]

During the Cold War, Valga was home to Valga air base.

Activity

Since 1944, a local newspaper, "Valgamaalane", has been published (3 times a week). Since 2003, there has also been a local newspaper "Walk" (in the Russian language). There also is a local correspondence office of Estonian Television (Eesti Televisioon) and a local radio – "Raadio Ruut".

Valga has concluded several cooperation agreements. The nearest is an agreement (from the year 1995) with the neighbouring town of Valka. There are also cooperation agreements with Oakland, Maryland[6] (US) and Östhammar Municipality (Sweden). There are long-term friendly relations with Hallsberg Municipality in Sweden and the towns of Lübz in Germany and Tornio in Finland.

Valga is developing quickly. Since 1996, the populace's quality of life has improved due to the renovation of several buildings, including the Central Library, Valga Stadium, the Museum, Valga Hospital, and the Culture and Hobby Centre. Step by step, the schools and kindergartens are also being modernized. Since 2003, a new water treatment plant has improved the quality of water in the town.

In the private sector, there have been extensive investments in trade, light industry, and forestry.

Population

Population change

Year 18811897192219341959197019791989200020112015
Population 4,20010,9009,50010,80013,30017,00018,50017,70014,32312,26116,842

Ethnic groups

Population of Valga by nationality
Nationality 2000 census 2011 census[7]
Number % Number %
Estonians 8,970 62.63 7,886 64.32
Russians 3,913 27.32 3,224 26.30
Ukrainians 421 2.94 386 3.15
Latvians 334 2.33 262 2.14
Belarusians 211 1.47 156 1.27
Total 14,323 12,261

Languages

Population of Valga by first language
Language 2000 census[8] 2011 census[7]
Number % Number %
Estonian 8,772 61.24 7,573 61.77
Russian 4,744 33.12 4,113 33.55
Latvian 259 1.81 191 1.56
Ukrainian 192 1.34 159 1.30
Belarusian 75 0.52 23 0.19
Total 14,323 12,261

Sports

Valga is home to several notable Estonian sports teams.

Warrior Valga, is a football club that currently plays in the III liiga. Warrior Valga played in the Meistriliiga from 2003–2006.

Valga, is a basketball club that currently plays in the Estonian top-tier Korvpalli Meistriliiga and the Baltic Basketball League.

Climate

Valga lies within the temperate humid continental climate zone.

Climate data for Valga (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 10.1
(50.2)		 10.9
(51.6)		 18.4
(65.1)		 27.4
(81.3)		 30.7
(87.3)		 32.1
(89.8)		 34.4
(93.9)		 34.3
(93.7)		 29.5
(85.1)		 21.4
(70.5)		 12.9
(55.2)		 11.9
(53.4)		 34.4
(93.9)
Average high °C (°F) −1.9
(28.6)		 −1.7
(28.9)		 3.4
(38.1)		 11.3
(52.3)		 17.8
(64)		 20.8
(69.4)		 23.3
(73.9)		 21.8
(71.2)		 15.9
(60.6)		 9.7
(49.5)		 2.9
(37.2)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 10.2
(50.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −4.4
(24.1)		 −5.0
(23)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 5.7
(42.3)		 11.7
(53.1)		 15.2
(59.4)		 17.6
(63.7)		 16.1
(61)		 10.9
(51.6)		 6.0
(42.8)		 0.5
(32.9)		 −3.2
(26.2)		 5.9
(42.6)
Average low °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2)		 −8.3
(17.1)		 −4.5
(23.9)		 0.7
(33.3)		 5.6
(42.1)		 9.8
(49.6)		 12.2
(54)		 11.2
(52.2)		 6.8
(44.2)		 2.9
(37.2)		 −1.7
(28.9)		 −5.8
(21.6)		 1.8
(35.2)
Record low °C (°F) −34.8
(−30.6)		 −35.6
(−32.1)		 −26.8
(−16.2)		 −11.1
(12)		 −5.6
(21.9)		 0.1
(32.2)		 3.1
(37.6)		 1.8
(35.2)		 −5.5
(22.1)		 −14.4
(6.1)		 −21
(−6)		 −30.1
(−22.2)		 −35.6
(−32.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 56
(2.2)		 40
(1.57)		 42
(1.65)		 33
(1.3)		 53
(2.09)		 83
(3.27)		 68
(2.68)		 85
(3.35)		 59
(2.32)		 72
(2.83)		 57
(2.24)		 56
(2.2)		 708
(27.87)
Average relative humidity (%) 88 86 80 72 69 74 77 81 85 88 90 90 82
Source: Estonian Weather Service[9][10][11]

History

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Valga, Estonia is twinned with:[12]

City Twins Association

Valga is a founding member of City Twins Association that was founded in Imatra, Finland on 13.12.2006. In addition to sister towns, Valga has a cooperation through the association with following cities:[13]

Cooperation without any formal agreement

References

Notes
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valga, Estonia.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Valga.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.