Вильянди қаласы

Town in Estonia

Viljandi (, Fellin, , Felin, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019.

+Ethnic composition 1922 2021Ethnicity192219341941195919701979198920112021amount%amount%amount%amount%amount%amount%amount%amount%amount%amount%Estonians866792.21099893.31089098.01542286.11797186.31946987.02009387.11899591.51644394.11623094.1Russians1241.322041.731191.07 19129.1920139.0018998.2310855.236483.715082.95Ukrainians 20.02 1510.732120.953631.571940.931280.731690.98Belarusians 500.24900.401000.43550.26350.20330.19Finns 200.17120.11 3731.793811.703441.492411.161050.60930.54Jews1311.391211.0300.00 220.11160.07150.0660.0380.0530.02Latvians 410.35170.15 260.12350.16330.1480.0430.02140.08Germans3323.533452.93 540.24490.21100.0570.04170.10Tatars 00.00 90.04140.0680.0460.0360.03Poles 130.11170.15 200.09200.0970.0380.05110.06Lithuanians 60.0510.01 190.09190.08300.13210.10150.09130.08unknown00.0060.0520.0200.0000.0000.0000.00680.3390.05220.13other1421.51320.27510.46249413.92901.39500.221200.52580.28580.331260.73Total9396100117881001110910017916100208141002236810023080100207561001747310017245100

The town is situated on the north western shore of Lake Viljandi, which lies in the primeval valley. Green zones cover 27% of the town area. Public green areas cover about 418 ha, including 92 ha of parks. The largest is the nature protected Castle Park, but also Valuoja Park, Kiigepark, Uueveski Park are worth mentioning. The main tree species are oak, lime, birch, and pine. The grandest tree lined avenues are Maramaa (named after August Maramaa, twice the mayor of Viljandi) and Lembitu avenues. Among foreign species, American larch can be found in Köler avenue and Douglas fir in Uus street.

There were 871 businesses in Viljandi on 1 May 2005, 50% of them in service, 45% in trade, and 5% in production areas. The major industries represented are the construction materials industry, textile industry, and food and bakery industry. In 2005, the Investor of the Year title was awarded to the waterworks operator AS Viljandi Veevärk, the Employer award to AS Toom Tekstiil, and the Sponsor of the Year title to AS Viljandi Metall. Unemployment rate among the working age population in Viljandi was about 3%.

At the moment, 3 modes of transport can be used – free local buses, road and rail. One of the most important is the Viljandi railway station, which was opened in 1897, through which the Lelle Viljandi railway and the Viljandi Mõisaküla railway pass.

There are 7 schools and 7 kindergartens in Viljandi, a vocational secondary school and a university college. Special interests are catered for by a variety of institution providing extracurricular studies and activities in such fields as sports, music etc. The Youth Centre of Viljandi County is successful in offering various information and consulting services.

Vocational education can be acquired at Viljandi Joint Vocational Secondary School.

Higher and applied higher education can be acquired at Viljandi Culture Academy a college of the University of Tartu.

There are sports events in Viljandi for both top athletes and amateurs. Family sports events, Sunday skiing trips, cycling tours in spring and autumn are very popular. In the city there are 53 sports clubs, a large sports hall and the new sports hall of Maagümnaasium. Also, the country's first artificial speed skating oval was opened in 2014. Soon, the jogging and cycling track around Lake Viljandi will be completed. A new skateboarding and roller skating area has been built in Männimäe. At the lakeside are tennis courts and the city stadium. Several races are held in Viljandi – around Lake Viljandi and Lake Paala and up and down the Trepimägi stairs. The longest tradition – the race around Lake Viljandi has been organised since 1928. This race takes place annually on 1 May, with the number of participants being about 1300 in the recent years. The winners' names are cut into stone columns. The legendary Hubert Pärnakivi, whose monument is also a tribute to the race, was an 11 time winner of the race. Other popular fields of sport in Viljandi are handball, football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, archery and rowing.

Often the popular song is sung about the Boatman of Viljandi or the legend of him is told. Long long ago, as a young man he had once taken a young girl across the lake on a summer evening and fallen hopelessly in love with the girl's blue eyes. Nobody knows what happened on the lake, but on the other side, the girl just waved him good bye and left However, the Boatman, a grey old man now, is said to row on the lake to this day, longing to see those wonderful blue eyes again. According to another story, it was a boatman from Gauja who had dedicated a song to his loved one. As the young woman had moved near Viljandi, the song had changed, too.

Viljandi as historic Hanseatic town is a member of the international City League the Hanse.