Maardu
Town in Harju County, Estonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maardu (Estonian: [ˈmɑːrd̥u], German: Maart) is a town and a municipality in Harju County, Estonia. It is part of Tallinn metropolitan area, located about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of the capital city.[1] The town covers an area of 22.76 km2 and has a population of 16,812 (as of 1 January 2026).[2]
Maardu | |
|---|---|
 Panorama of Maardu, Port of Muuga in the background. The Iru Power Plant is in the foreground. | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Maardu Location in Estonia | |
| Coordinates: 59°28′41″N 25°00′58″E | |
| Country |  Estonia |
| County |  Harju County |
| First mentioned | 1241 |
| Borough rights | 1951 |
| Town rights | 1980[1] |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Vladimir Arhipov (Estonian Centre Party) |
| Area | |
• Total | 22.76 km2 (8.79 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 20 m (66 ft) |
| Population (2026)[2] | |
• Total | 16,812 |
| • Rank | 7th |
| • Density | 738.7/km2 (1,913/sq mi) |
| Postal code | 74111 |
| ISO 3166 code | EE-446 |
| Website | www.maardu.ee |
The Port of Muuga, the largest cargo port in Estonia, is partly located in Maardu.[3]
According to the 2000 Census, the population was 16,738. 61.7% were Russians, 19.9% Estonians, 6.6% Ukrainians, 5.7% Belarusians, 1.5% Tatars. The proportion of Estonians was one of the lowest (if not the lowest) in Central and Western Estonia.
Outside the town (in the village of Maardu), south of the road to Narva lies Maardu manor, one of the oldest preserved baroque manor houses in Estonia. It traces its origins to 1389, but the current building dates from the 1660s with additions made in the 19th century. The landlord of the manor Herman Jensen Bohn in 1739 funded the printing of the first bible printed in Estonian.[4]
Maardu neighborhoods
Maardu may be divided into six parts:
- Kallavere (the centre of the city where most of the public institutions are located)
- Muuga Harbour
- Muuga aedlinn (former garden city, now a light residential suburb more connected to Tallinn than Kallavere)
- Kärmu (industrial area)
- Kroodi (industrial area)
- Lake Maardu
Demographics
| Ethnicity | 1959[5] | 1970[6] | 1979[7] | 1989[7] | 2000[8] | 2011[9] | 2021[10] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | |
| Estonians | 1475 | 34.9 | 2110 | 30.7 | 2167 | 21.7 | 2479 | 15.4 | 3331 | 19.9 | 4347 | 24.8 | 3746 | 23.2 |
| Russians | - | - | 3254 | 47.3 | 5656 | 56.7 | 10024 | 62.4 | 10331 | 61.7 | 10845 | 61.9 | 10037 | 62.1 |
| Ukrainians | - | - | 298 | 4.33 | 584 | 5.86 | 1269 | 7.91 | 1101 | 6.58 | 861 | 4.91 | 957 | 5.92 |
| Belarusians | - | - | 763 | 11.1 | 942 | 9.45 | 1281 | 7.98 | 949 | 5.67 | 660 | 3.77 | 536 | 3.31 |
| Finns | - | - | 144 | 2.09 | 139 | 1.39 | 133 | 0.83 | 144 | 0.86 | 88 | 0.50 | 62 | 0.38 |
| Jews | - | - | 19 | 0.28 | 28 | 0.28 | 24 | 0.15 | 19 | 0.11 | 20 | 0.11 | 13 | 0.08 |
| Latvians | - | - | 19 | 0.28 | 27 | 0.27 | 37 | 0.23 | 36 | 0.22 | 34 | 0.19 | 42 | 0.26 |
| Germans | - | - | - | - | 27 | 0.27 | 42 | 0.26 | 31 | 0.19 | 27 | 0.15 | 25 | 0.15 |
| Tatars | - | - | - | - | 169 | 1.70 | 267 | 1.66 | 245 | 1.46 | 168 | 0.96 | 156 | 0.96 |
| Poles | - | - | - | - | 73 | 0.73 | 86 | 0.54 | 93 | 0.56 | 86 | 0.49 | 85 | 0.53 |
| Lithuanians | - | - | 24 | 0.35 | 36 | 0.36 | 51 | 0.32 | 79 | 0.47 | 82 | 0.47 | 78 | 0.48 |
| unknown | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 93 | 0.56 | 14 | 0.08 | 80 | 0.49 |
| other | 2748 | 65.1 | 246 | 3.58 | 122 | 1.22 | 359 | 2.24 | 286 | 1.71 | 292 | 1.67 | 353 | 2.18 |
| Total | 4223 | 100 | 6877 | 100 | 9970 | 100 | 16052 | 100 | 16738 | 100 | 17524 | 100 | 16170 | 100 |
Religion
Out of older than fifteen years residents of Maardu, 53.2 per cent are religiously unaffiliated, 35.7 per cent identify as Orthodox, Lutherans make up 4.4 per cent of the population, other Christians 3.7 per cent and 2.5 per cent of the population follows other religions or did not specify their religious affiliation.[11]
Gallery
Maardu Archangel Michael Church
Maardu manor house
Apartment buildings at sunset
Soviet-era apartment buildings
Abandoned factory building in Maardu
Kroodi creek
