Lääne-Harju Parish
Municipality of Estonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lääne-Harju Parish (Estonian: Lääne-Harju vald) is a rural municipality in northern Estonia. It is a part of Harju County. The municipality has a population of 13,754 (as of 1 January 2026)[1] and covers an area of 645.71 km2.[2] The population density is 21.3/km2 (55.2/sq mi).
Lääne-Harju Parish
Lääne-Harju vald | |
|---|---|
| |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Lääne-Harju Parish within Harju County | |
| Country |  Estonia |
| County |  Harju County |
| Administrative centre | Paldiski |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jaanus Saat |
| Area | |
• Total | 645.71 km2 (249.31 sq mi) |
| Population (2026) | |
• Total | 13,754 |
| • Density | 21.301/km2 (55.168/sq mi) |
| ISO 3166 code | EE-431 |
| Website | www.laaneharju.ee |
The parish was formed as a result of the administrative reform in 2017 when four municipalities – Keila Parish, Padise Parish, Vasalemma Parish and the town of Paldiski – were merged to become Lääne-Harju Parish.
The current mayor (Estonian: vallavanem) is Jaanus Saat (since the formation in 2017).[3][when?]
Demographics
As of 1 January 2026, the parish had 13,754 residents, of which 7,156 (52.0%) were women and 6,598 (48.0%) were men.[4]
Settlements
There are one town, six small boroughs and 46 villages in Lääne-Harju Parish.[5]
The administrative centre of the municipality is Paldiski, a town.
The small boroughs are Ämari, Karjaküla, Keila-Joa, Klooga, Rummu and Vasalemma.
Religion
Among residents of the parish above 15 years of age, 21.0 per cent declared themselves to be Orthodox, 7.5 per cent to be Lutheran, while other Christian denominations made up 2.1 per cent of the population. The majority of residents of the parish, 67.7 per cent, were religiously unaffiliated. 1.7 per cent of the population followed other religions or did not specify their religious affiliation.