Valga

Valga is a town in southern Estonia and the capital of Valga County. Until their separation in 1920, Valga and the town of Valka in northern Latvia were one town. They are now twin-towns. The area of Valga is 16.5 km2 and that of Valka is 14.2 km2. Populations are respectively 15 330 and 7 100.

Valga is situated in the junction of roads and railways. Tallinn-Tartu-Riga railway is connected via Tapa with Tallinn-Narva-St.Petersburg magistral. Valga is an international junction of railway traffic. Since there is no railway station in Valka, the trains coming from Latvia are directed to Valga, which is the terminal of Latvian railway lines.

The distance to Tartu is 89 km, Pärnu 144 km, Tallinn 245 km, Riga 175 km and Pskov 170 km.

Since 1944 a local newspaper "Valgamaalane" is published (3 times a week). There also is a local correspondence office of Estonian Television (Eesti Televisioon) and a local radio - "Raadio Ruut".

Valga has concluded several cooperation agreements. The nearest is an agreement (from the year 1995) with the neighbour town Valka. There are also cooperation agreements with Oakland, Maryland [1] town (USA) and Östhammar Municipality (Sweden). There are long-term friendly relations with Hallsberg Municipality in Sweden, Lübz town in Germany and Tornio town in Finland.

Valga is developing quickly. Since 1996 the populace's quality of life has improved due to the renovation of several buildings, including the Central Library, Valga Stadium, Museum, Valga Hospital, and the Culture and Hobby Centre. Step by step the schools and kindergartens are also being modernized. Since 2003 a new water treatment plant has remarkably improved the quality of water in the town.

In the private sector there have been extensive investments into trade, light industry, and forestry.