Kärdla

Kärdla (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈkærˑ'dlɑ]; Swedish: Kärrdal^ⓘ; German: Kertel) is the only town on the island of Hiiumaa, Estonia. It is the capital of Hiiu County and the administrative center of Hiiumaa Parish. The Chairman of the District Council of Kärdla is Tõnis Paljasma.^[3]

Kärdla
Town
Town square
Flag Coat of arms
Kärdla Location of Kärdla by the Baltic Sea Show map of Baltic Sea Kärdla Location in Estonia Show map of Estonia Kärdla Location in Europe Show map of Europe
Coordinates: 58°59′53″N 22°44′48″E
Country	Estonia
County	Hiiu County
Municipality	Hiiumaa Parish
Town status	1938
Government
• Chairman of the District Council	Tõnis Paljasma[1]
Area
• Total	4.5 km2 (1.7 sq mi)
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	2,921
• Rank	28th
• Density	650/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Ethnicity
• Estonians	98.2%
• others	1.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	92401 to 92420

Geography

Kärdla is located on the northeastern coast of Hiiumaa, by the Tareste Bay; to the southeast of the town lies the 455 million year old Kärdla meteorite crater. Several small rivers flow through the town. There are also artesian wells in Kärdla. The Swedish name Kärrdal means "marsh valley"; the town is located in a lowlands valley.

History

Kärdla was first mentioned in 1564 as a village inhabited by Swedes. Its growth was greatly influenced by the cloth factory founded in 1830. A port was built in 1849. Both the port and the factory were destroyed in World War II.

Kärdla officially became a borough in 1920, and a town in 1938. In 2013 the town was merged with Kõrgessaare Parish to establish Hiiumaa Parish, therefore Kärdla lost its municipality status.

Demographics

Ethnic composition 1922-2021

Ethnicity	1922[4]		1934[5]		1941[6]		1959[7]		1970[8]		1979[9]		1989[9]		2000[10]		2011[11]		2021[12]
	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%	amount	%
Estonians	1503	95.1	1390	95.6	1172	98.5	2156	80.2	6766	96.7	3167	92.4	3866	93.4	3684	97.6	2994	98.2	2988	98.1
Russians	10	0.63	27	1.86	13	1.09	-	-	172	2.46	187	5.46	184	4.45	53	1.40	27	0.89	24	0.79
Ukrainians	-	-	1	0.07	-	-	-	-	25	0.36	27	0.79	30	0.72	7	0.19	6	0.20	6	0.20
Belarusians	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	0.16	14	0.41	16	0.39	5	0.13	6	0.20	3	0.10
Finns	-	-	0	0.00	1	0.08	-	-	6	0.09	2	0.06	3	0.07	4	0.11	4	0.13	7	0.23
Jews	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	-	-	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
Latvians	-	-	1	0.07	1	0.08	-	-	3	0.04	11	0.32	5	0.12	5	0.13	5	0.16	4	0.13
Germans	29	1.84	24	1.65	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0.03	4	0.10	2	0.05	2	0.07	0	0.00
Tatars	-	-	0	0.00	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	0.15	5	0.12	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
Poles	-	-	1	0.07	0	0.00	-	-	-	-	2	0.06	3	0.07	2	0.05	1	0.03	0	0.00
Lithuanians	-	-	0	0.00	0	0.00	-	-	2	0.03	0	0.00	2	0.05	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
unknown	1	0.06	1	0.07	1	0.08	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	7	0.19	1	0.03	6	0.20
other	37	2.34	9	0.62	2	0.17	532	19.8	13	0.19	10	0.29	21	0.51	4	0.11	4	0.13	8	0.26
Total	1580	100	1454	100	1190	100	2688	100	6998	100	3426	100	4139	100	3773	100	3050	100	3046	100

Kärdla harbor

Kärdla Airport

Transport

Road transport from Estonian mainland to Hiiumaa involves a 90-minute (28 km (17 mi)) ferry crossing from Rohuküla to Heltermaa, which is 25 kilometers (16 miles) by road from Kärdla. There are up to 10 ferry departures a day operated by TS Laevad.^[13] In the summer weekends, getting car space on the ferry usually requires advance booking. There are about 2 scheduled buses a day between Tallinn (the capital of Estonia) and Kärdla.^[14]

There are no scheduled passenger boats directly to Kärdla.

Kärdla is served by Kärdla Airport, with regular flights to Tallinn.

Kärdla town itself is small enough to get around on foot. Bicycle rental is available, and there is a good bicycle path built from Kärdla towards Kõrgessaare.

Events

June's first weekend annual Hiiumaa Children's festival takes place.

In the first week of August, the coffee-loving people of Kärdla expect visitors to Kärdla Cafés' Day celebrated just for one day in their own gardens, serving coffee and home-made pastry.^[15]

Notable people

• Hillar Eller (1939–2010), politician
• Heiki Nabi (born 1985), Olympic wrestler
• Eveli Saue (born 1984), biathlete and orienteer
• Erkki-Sven Tüür (born 1959), composer

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Estonia

Twin towns – Sister cities

The former municipality of Kärdla (until 2013) was twinned with:

• - Georgioupoli, Greece^[16]

Gallery

• 
  St. John the Baptist Lutheran Church
• 
  Kärdla fire station
• 
  Kärdla beach stone
• 
  Hiiumaa police station in Kärdla
• 
  Kärdla bus station