Kärdla (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈkærˑ'dlɑ]; Swedish: Kärrdal; German: Kertel) is the only town on the island of Hiiumaa, Estonia. It is the capital of Hiiu County and the administrative center of Hiiumaa Parish.

Kärdla
The town square of Kärdla.
The town square of Kärdla.
Flag of Kärdla
Official seal of Kärdla
Kärdla is located in Baltic Sea
Kärdla
Kärdla
Location of Kärdla by the Baltic Sea
Kärdla is located in Estonia
Kärdla
Kärdla
Location in Estonia
Kärdla is located in Europe
Kärdla
Kärdla
Location in Europe
Coordinates: 58°59′53″N 22°44′48″E / 58.99806°N 22.74667°E / 58.99806; 22.74667
CountryEstonia
CountyHiiu County
MunicipalityHiiumaa Parish
Town status1938
Area
 • Total
4.5 km2 (1.7 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[1]
 • Total
3,160
 • Rank28th
 • Density700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Ethnicity
 • Estonians98.2%
 • others1.8%
Time zoneUTC 2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC 3 (EEST)
Postal code
92401 to 92420

Geography

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Kärdla is located on the northeastern coast of Hiiumaa, by the Tareste Bay; to the southeast of the town lies the 455 million year old Kärdla meteorite crater. Several small rivers flow through the town. There are also artesian wells in Kärdla. The Swedish name Kärrdal means "marsh valley"; the town is located in a lowlands valley.

History

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Kärdla was first mentioned in 1564 as a village inhabited by Swedes. Its growth was greatly influenced by the cloth factory founded in 1830. A port was built in 1849. Both the port and the factory were destroyed in World War II.

Kärdla officially became a borough in 1920, and a town in 1938. In 2013 the town was merged with Kõrgessaare Parish to establish Hiiumaa Parish, therefore Kärdla lost its municipality status.

Demographics

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Ethnic composition 1922-2021
Ethnicity 1922[2] 1934[3] 1941[4] 1959[5] 1970[6] 1979[7] 1989[7] 2000[8] 2011[9] 2021[10]
amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount %
Estonians 1503 95.1 1390 95.6 1172 98.5 2156 80.2 6766 96.7 3167 92.4 3866 93.4 3684 97.6 2994 98.2 2988 98.1
Russians 10 0.63 27 1.86 13 1.09 - - 172 2.46 187 5.46 184 4.45 53 1.40 27 0.89 24 0.79
Ukrainians - - 1 0.07 - - - - 25 0.36 27 0.79 30 0.72 7 0.19 6 0.20 6 0.20
Belarusians - - - - - - - - 11 0.16 14 0.41 16 0.39 5 0.13 6 0.20 3 0.10
Finns - - 0 0.00 1 0.08 - - 6 0.09 2 0.06 3 0.07 4 0.11 4 0.13 7 0.23
Jews 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 - - 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Latvians - - 1 0.07 1 0.08 - - 3 0.04 11 0.32 5 0.12 5 0.13 5 0.16 4 0.13
Germans 29 1.84 24 1.65 - - - - - - 1 0.03 4 0.10 2 0.05 2 0.07 0 0.00
Tatars - - 0 0.00 - - - - - - 5 0.15 5 0.12 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
Poles - - 1 0.07 0 0.00 - - - - 2 0.06 3 0.07 2 0.05 1 0.03 0 0.00
Lithuanians - - 0 0.00 0 0.00 - - 2 0.03 0 0.00 2 0.05 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00
unknown 1 0.06 1 0.07 1 0.08 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 7 0.19 1 0.03 6 0.20
other 37 2.34 9 0.62 2 0.17 532 19.8 13 0.19 10 0.29 21 0.51 4 0.11 4 0.13 8 0.26
Total 1580 100 1454 100 1190 100 2688 100 6998 100 3426 100 4139 100 3773 100 3050 100 3046 100
 
Kärdla harbor
 
Kärdla Airport

Transport

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Road transport from Estonian mainland to Hiiumaa involves a 90-minute (28 km (17 mi)) ferry crossing from Rohuküla to Heltermaa, which is 25 kilometers (16 miles) by road from Kärdla. There are up to 10 ferry departures a day operated by TS Laevad.[11] In the summer weekends, getting car space on the ferry usually requires advance booking. There are about 2 scheduled buses a day between Tallinn (the capital of Estonia) and Kärdla.[12]

There are no scheduled passenger boats directly to Kärdla.

Kärdla is served by Kärdla Airport, with regular flights to Tallinn.

Kärdla town itself is small enough to get around on foot. Bicycle rental is available, and there is a good bicycle path built from Kärdla towards Kõrgessaare.

Events

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June's first weekend annual Hiiumaa Children's festival takes place.

In the first week of August, the coffee-loving people of Kärdla expect visitors to Kärdla Cafés' Day celebrated just for one day in their own gardens, serving coffee and home-made pastry.[13]

Notable people

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International relations

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Twin towns – Sister cities

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The former municipality of Kärdla was twinned with:

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References

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  1. ^ "Population by sex, age group and place of residence after the 2017 administrative reform, 1 January". Statistics Estonia. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  2. ^ 1922 a. üldrahvalugemise andmed. Vihk VII-a. Lääne maakond (tabelid). Eesti riikline statistika (in Estonian and French). Tallinn: Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo. 1924. p. 14. hdl:10062/4449.
  3. ^ Rahvastiku koostis ja korteriolud. 1.III 1934 rahvaloenduse andmed. Vihk II (in Estonian and French). Tallinn: Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo. 1935. pp. 47–53. hdl:10062/4439.
  4. ^ Eesti Statistika : kuukiri 1942-03/04 (in German and Estonian). Tallinn: Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo. 1942. pp. 66–67.
  5. ^ Katus, Kalev; Puur, Allan; Põldma, Asta (2002). Rahvastiku ühtlusarvutatud sündmus- ja loendusstatistika: Hiiumaa, Läänemaa 1965-1990. Sari C (in Estonian and English). Tallinn: Eesti Kõrgkoolidevaheline Demouuringute Keskus. pp. 31–32. ISBN 9985-820-70-3.
  6. ^ Население районов, городов и поселков городского типа Эстонской ССР : по данным Всесоюзной переписи населения на 15 января 1970 года (in Russian). Tallinn: Eesti NSV Statistika Keskvalitsus. 1972. p. 79.
  7. ^ a b Eesti Vabariigi maakondade, linnade ja alevite rahvastik. 1. osa, Rahvaarv rahvuse, perekonnaseisu, hariduse ja elatusallikate järgi : 1989. a. rahvaloenduse andmed (in Estonian). Tallinn: Eesti Vabariigi Riiklik Statistikaamet. 1990. pp. 28, 33. ISBN 978-9949-7193-2-7 – via Digar.
  8. ^ "RL222: RAHVASTIK ELUKOHA JA RAHVUSE JÄRGI". Estonian Statistical Database (in Estonian).
  9. ^ "RL0429: RAHVASTIK RAHVUSE, SOO, VANUSERÜHMA JA ELUKOHA JÄRGI, 31. DETSEMBER 2011". Estonian Statistical Database. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  10. ^ "RL21429: Rahvastik Rahvuse, Soo, Vanuserühma Ja ELukoha (Haldusüksus) Järgi, 31. DETSEMBER 2021". Estonian Statistical Database (in Estonian).
  11. ^ Praamid.ee. Ferry schedules and booking.
  12. ^ "Bus schedules and booking". T pilet.
  13. ^ Hiiumaa kohvikutepäevad
  14. ^ "Twinnings" (PDF). Central Union of Municipalities & Communities of Greece. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
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