Elva, Estonia

Elva
Town and municipality

Elva town hall

Flag

Coat of arms
Elva

Location in Estonia

Coordinates: 58°13′28″N 26°25′16″E / 58.22444°N 26.42111°E / 58.22444; 26.42111Coordinates: 58°13′28″N 26°25′16″E / 58.22444°N 26.42111°E / 58.22444; 26.42111
Country Estonia
County Tartu County
Town rights 1 May 1938
Area
  Total 9.92 km2 (3.83 sq mi)
Population (01.01.2013[1])
  Total 5,607
  Density 570/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Ethnicity
  Estonians 95.3%
  Russians 2%
  other 2.7%
Website www.elva.ee

Elva is a town and a municipality in Tartu County, Estonia. It has a population of 5,607 (as of 1 January 2013) and an area of 9.92 km².[1]

Elva has two larger lakes. Lake Verevi has a sandy and well-developed beach area that is very popular in the summer and is host to many outdoor events. Lake Arbi has wet reed grown shores. Elva's largest employer (and in all of southern Estonia) is Enics Eesti AS, subsidiary of Enics Group, providing electronics manufacturing services in industrial electronics. Elva has one school, Elva Gümnaasium, offering education from 1st grade to high school graduation.

A dominant element in Elva is the train station which today is a visitors' information center and which used to be an important trade route in the past centuries.

Detailed information on hikes on foot or by bicycle can be obtained from the visitors' information center. The Elva river, with old water mill sites and rapid banks, is popular for canoeing. In winter skiers can participate in the Tartu Marathon, belonging to the Worldloppet series. Its 60 km track from Otepää to Elva can be cycled through on mountain bikes in summer.

History of Elva

Elva was founded soon after the completion of Tartu-Valga train route that was built from 1886 to 1889. Elva was first mentioned in an Estonian newspaper in 1889.

Elva is named after the Elva river that has been mentioned in books already in the 17th century.

In 1913 a two grade school was opened.

On 1 May 1938 Elva became a town.

The town center was heavily damaged in the Second World War. In July 1941 Elva was liberated by the Forest Brothers. In August 1944 surroundings of Elva became a bloody battlefield between Hyazinth von Strachwitz's Panzer brigade and the Red Army.

From 1950 to 1962 Elva was District Central of Elva district. Elva's town rights were restored in 1965.

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Elva is twinned with:[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Population figure and composition". Statistics Estonia. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  2. "Välissuhted" (in Estonian). Elva linn. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
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