Võru County

Võru County, located in South-East of Estonia. It is the most Southern county and the only one bordering two different states - Latvian Republic (in the South) and Russian Federation (in the East). The region is covering an area of 2733 km2 and has a population of 36 000 inhabitants. Landscape is dominated by forests, bogs and farmland creating scenic views.

Võru County consists of five municipalities that work together to facilitate the county's balanced and sustainable development. Municipalities divided into one urban - Võru - and four rural municipalities -Võru, Antsla, Rõuge, Setomaa.

Võru county's main economic sectors are forestry and wood processing, furniture and food industry and also tourism. Its main advatage and also disadvantage lays in its location, due to its relative proximity to Pskov in Russia (100 km) and Riga in Latvia (220 km). Accessibility is provided by several transport corridors running through the county. One of the most important transit routes in Estonia, Tallinn-Tartu-Pskov, passes the county. The south-east corner of the county is crossed by the Riga-Pskov-St Petersburg major road.

Two indigenous ethnic groups live in Võru County – the Võru people and the Setos. Both ethnic groups have their dialect and cultural heritage in traditions. Both hold customs that are added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage (Võru smoke sauna traditions and Setos’ polyphonic style of folk singing, called leelo).

There are many traditional and non-traditional cultural and sports events taking place in the county, which are organized by different communities, associations and non-profit organizations.

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