Narva

Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 53,626 inhabitants (as of 2023) Narva is Estonia's third largest city after capital Tallinn and Tartu. Narva was nearly completely destroyed in 1944 during World War II. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1944–1991, the city's original inhabitants were not permitted to return, and immigrant workers from Soviet Russia and other parts of then Soviet Union (USSR) were introduced. Narva’s population, 65% ethnic Estonian as of the 1934 census, became overwhelmingly non-Estonian in the second half of the 20th century. According to more recent data, 46.7% of the city's inhabitants are citizens of Estonia, 36.3% are citizens of the Russian Federation, while 15.3% have undefined citizenship. People settled in the area from the 5th to 4th millennium BC, as shown by archeological traces of the Narva culture, named after the Narva river. The fortified settlement at Narva Joaoru is the oldest known in Estonia, dated to around 1000 BC. The earliest written reference of Narva is in the First Novgorod Chronicle, which in the year 1172 describes a district in Novgorod called Nerevsky or Narovsky konets (yard). According to historians, this name derives from the name of Narva or Narva river and indicates that a frequently used trade route went through Narva, although there is no evidence of the existence of a trading settlement at the time. Narva's favourable location at the intersection of both trade routes and the Narva river was behind the founding of Narva castle and the subsequent development of the castle's surrounding urban settlement. The castle was founded during the Danish rule of northern Estonia in the second half of the 13th century; the earliest written record of the castle is from 1277. Narvia village is mentioned in the Danish Census Book already in 1241.