Kohtla-Järve

Kohtla-Järve is the fourth plus big city of Estonia. It is located at the North-East of the country, in the county of Ida-Viru. The city was founded in 1924 and counts in 2004 46.346 inhabitants of various origin (more than 40 ethnicities). The majority speak the Russian , although starting from 1990 the Estonian becomes the language used in the daily life. The city is very industrialized and counts a strong oil activity.

History

The history of Kohtla-Järve is very related to the history of the extraction of the Schiste oily - the principal ore of Estonia.

The first traces of civilization date from the Early middle ages. In a book Danish of 1241, the villages of Järve and Kukruse are mentioned by the names Jeruius and Kukarus and the Sompa village by Soenpe .

The presence of oil in the basement was known for a long time but its industrial extraction started only at the 20th century. In 1916, prospections showed that one could extract from the oily schist of the crude oil which could be used like Fuel or like basic commodity for chemical industry. Mines were open close to the village of Järve. In 1919, the State Oil Shale Industrial Corporation was created and étendaugmenta the number of the mines. Residences were built close to the mines for habriter the minors. In 1924, a factory of extraction of oils was built beside the railway station of Kohtla.

During the Second world war, the Germans occupied Estonia and regard Kohtla-Järve as an important oil reserve. However, they did not succeed in launching the total extraction.

After the war, the oily schist was necessary for industries of the North-West of the Soviet Union. Since 1946, the city did not cease growing and increasing by annexing Kohtla, Kukruse, then Jõhvi, Ahtme and Sompa in 1960 then Kiviõli, Oru, Püssi and Viivikonna in 1964. In 1980, Kohtla-Järve reached 90.000 inhabitants whose majority worked in oil industry, but also forest and agricultural.

In 1991, the towns of Jõhvi, Kiviõli and Püssi separated. The volume of fuel fell dramatically and much people, discouraged by unemployment, left towards Tallinn or the Russia.

Geography

The city is divided into six districts ( linnaosad ):
  1. Ahtme (20 000 inhabitants)
  2. Järve (21 000)
  3. Kukruse (600)
  4. Oru (1 500)
  5. Sompa (2 000)
  6. Viivikonna (with Sirgala) (700)

In 2005, Jevgeni Solovjov is the mayor of the

city External bonds

  • /official site

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