Counties of Estonia

Counties (Estonian: maakond, plural maakonnad) are the state administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands. County governments (maavalitsus) were abolished at the end of 2017, with their duties split between state authorities and local governments, and nowadays counties have no noteworthy independent competences. Counties are composed of municipalities of two types: urban municipalities (towns, linnad) and rural municipalities (parishes, vallad), which are by law required to cooperate in development of their county.