Pärnu

"Parnu" redirects here. For the Indian cradle, see Ghodiyu.
Pärnu
Pärnu

Pärnu beach promenade

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Pärnu

Location of Pärnu

Coordinates: 58°23′N 24°30′E / 58.383°N 24.500°E / 58.383; 24.500Coordinates: 58°23′N 24°30′E / 58.383°N 24.500°E / 58.383; 24.500
Country Estonia
County Pärnu County
Founded 1251
Government
Area
 • Total 32.22 km2 (12.44 sq mi)
Elevation 10 m (30 ft)
Population (2015)
 • Total 41 170
Ethnicity
 • Estonians 83%
 • Russians 12%
 • other 5%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Area code(s) (+372) 44
Vehicle registration F
Website www.parnu.ee

Pärnu (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈpærˑnu]; German: Pernau, Latvian: Pērnava) is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Located in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Livonia in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer holiday resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga. The city is served by Pärnu Airport.

Hotel in Pärnu
A drawing of Pärnu from 1554

History

Perona (German: Alt-Pernau, Estonian: Vana-Pärnu) was founded by the bishop of Ösel–Wiek ca. 1251, suffered heavily under pressure of the concurrent town, and was finally destroyed ca. 1600. Another town, Embeke (later German: Neu-Pernau, Estonian: Uus-Pärnu) was founded by the Livonian Order, who began building an Ordensburg nearby in 1265. The latter town, then known by the German name of Pernau, was a member of the Hanseatic League and an important ice-free harbor for Livonia. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took control of town between 1560–1617; the Poles and Lithuanians fought the Swedes nearby in 1609. Sweden took control of the town during the 16th-century Livonian War, but it was subsequently taken by the Russian Empire in the 1710 Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia and the 1721 Treaty of Nystad, following the Great Northern War. It belonged to Imperial Russian Governorate of Livonia then. The city is occasionally referred to as Pyarnu, an incorrect reverse-transliteration from Russian Пярну.

The town became part of independent Estonia in 1918 following World War I.

During the Great Northern War, the University of Dorpat (Tartu) was relocated to Pernau from 1699–1710. The university has a branch campus in Pärnu today (1,000 students in the 2004/2005 school year).

Climate

Pärnu lies within the temperate humid continental climate zone.

Climate data for Pärnu
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 9.0
(48.2)		 8.3
(46.9)		 18.1
(64.6)		 26.2
(79.2)		 31.2
(88.2)		 32.6
(90.7)		 33.2
(91.8)		 31.8
(89.2)		 28.0
(82.4)		 22.4
(72.3)		 12.0
(53.6)		 10.3
(50.5)		 33.2
(91.8)
Average high °C (°F) −1.9
(28.6)		 −1.6
(29.1)		 2.4
(36.3)		 9.6
(49.3)		 16.4
(61.5)		 19.9
(67.8)		 22.5
(72.5)		 21.2
(70.2)		 15.8
(60.4)		 9.8
(49.6)		 3.6
(38.5)		 0.2
(32.4)		 9.9
(49.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −3.5
(25.7)		 −4.5
(23.9)		 −1.0
(30.2)		 4.8
(40.6)		 11.4
(52.5)		 15.2
(59.4)		 18.0
(64.4)		 16.9
(62.4)		 11.9
(53.4)		 6.9
(44.4)		 1.6
(34.9)		 −1.9
(28.6)		 6.3
(43.3)
Average low °C (°F) −5.9
(21.4)		 −7.2
(19)		 −4
(25)		 1.1
(34)		 6.6
(43.9)		 10.8
(51.4)		 13.7
(56.7)		 13.0
(55.4)		 8.5
(47.3)		 4.2
(39.6)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 −4.4
(24.1)		 3.0
(37.4)
Record low °C (°F) −32.7
(−26.9)		 −28.5
(−19.3)		 −22.7
(−8.9)		 −10.7
(12.7)		 −3.6
(25.5)		 1.6
(34.9)		 4.0
(39.2)		 3.7
(38.7)		 −3.1
(26.4)		 −10.3
(13.5)		 −22.2
(−8)		 −24.2
(−11.6)		 −32.7
(−26.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 60
(2.36)		 44
(1.73)		 44
(1.73)		 37
(1.46)		 37
(1.46)		 73
(2.87)		 79
(3.11)		 79
(3.11)		 67
(2.64)		 83
(3.27)		 75
(2.95)		 67
(2.64)		 746
(29.37)
Average relative humidity (%) 88 86 82 75 70 74 76 79 83 86 89 89 81
Mean monthly sunshine hours 35.9 67.9 130.7 198.7 288.9 281.3 297.4 246.9 159.7 95.5 39 26.1 1,863.6
Source: Estonian Weather Service (normals 1981-2010) http://www.ilmateenistus.ee/kliima/kliimanormid/sademed/?lang=en

Demography

Population change

Year 1881189719221934195919701979198920002011
Population 12,96612,89818,49920,33422,36750,22454,05153,88545,500 39,728

Ethnic groups

Population of Pärnu by nationality
Nationality 2000 census 2011 census[1]
Number % Number %
Estonians 36,112 79.37 33,000 83.07
Russians 6,951 15.28 5,076 12.78
Ukrainians 966 2.12 671 1.69
Finns 331 0.73 254 0.64
Belarusians 297 0.65 179 0.45
Total 45,500 39,728

Languages

Population of Pärnu by first language
Language 2000 census[2] 2011 census[1]
Number % Number %
Estonian 35,928 78.96 32,762 82.47
Russian 8,360 18.37 6,263 15.77
Ukrainian 426 0.94 245 0.62
Finnish 163 0.36 129 0.33
Belarusian 100 0.22 32 0.08
Total 45,500 39,728

Administration

Local administration consists of the town council and the town government. Town council elections take place every four years. The number of councillors depends on the population. The current number of councillors is 33.

Tourism

Pärnu beach

Many tourists in Pärnu are Finns and Russians.

In 1837, a tavern near the beach was made into a bathing establishment. The establishment accommodated 5–6 bathrooms that provided hot seawater baths in summer and operated as a sauna in winter. The wooden building was burnt down in the course of World War I. In 1927, the present stone building of Pärnu Mud Baths was erected at the same site.

Since 1996 Pärnu has been known as Estonia's Summer Capital.[3][4]

Twin towns and sister cities

Pärnu is twinned with:[5]

Citizens of honour

Notable residents

References

  1. 1 2 http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/I_Databas/Population_census/PHC2011/01Demographic_and_ethno_cultural_characteristics/04Ethnic_nationality_Languages_Dialects/04Ethnic_nationality_Languages_Dialects.asp
  2. ↑ http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/I_Databas/Population_census/PHC2000/08Ethnic_nationality._Mother_tongue._Command_of_foreign_languages/08Ethnic_nationality._Mother_tongue._Command_of_foreign_languages.asp
  3. ↑ suvepealinn
  4. ↑ Short history – VisitPärnu.com
  5. ↑ Pärnu linna veeb: Sõpruslinnad
  6. ↑ Lindquist, Ted. "Internationella frågor och vänorter". Oskarshamn Municipality (in Swedish). Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  7. ↑ Pärnu linn: Pärnu aukodanik

Maxim D. Shrayer. Dunes of Happiness: Fifteen Summers in Estonia. Baltic Worlds (September 2013).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pärnu.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Pärnu.
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