maakonnas

Maakonnas is the Estonian inessive singular form of the noun maakond, meaning “in a county” or “within the county.” Maakond is the term for the county, one of the main administrative subdivisions used to describe regional areas in Estonia. Because Estonian uses cases to show grammatical function, maakonnas is used to indicate location inside a county.

Estonia is divided into 15 counties (maakonnad). Each county encompasses several municipalities and serves as a regional level for planning, coordination, and the delivery of certain state functions at a regional scale. The 15 counties are Harju, Hiiu, Ida-Viru, Järva, Jõgeva, Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Pärnu, Põlva, Rapla, Saare, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi and Võru. The county level has historically had an administrative structure led by a county governor (maavanem) and a county administration, with reforms in recent years shifting some responsibilities toward municipalities and regional development planning. The exact organization can vary with policy changes, but counties continue to function as regional entities that coordinate development, public services, and state representation at the regional level.

In use, maakonnas appears in sentences describing location or activity within a county. Examples: “Ma elan maakonnas.” (“I live in a county.”) “Maakonnas on erinevad piirkonnad.” (“There are different regions within the county.”) The term is common in official texts as well as everyday speech when referring to regional locality.