Rakvere

Rakvere
View over Rakvere
Motto: 
Väge täis (Full of might)
Rakvere
Location in Estonia
Rakvere
Rakvere (Baltic Sea)
Coordinates: 59°21′N 26°21′E / 59.350°N 26.350°E / 59.350; 26.350
CountryEstonia
CountyLääne-Viru County
Government
 • MayorTriin Varek (Isamaa)
Area
 • Total
10.75 km2 (4.15 sq mi)
Elevation
82 m (269 ft)
Population
 (2024)
 • Total
15,516
 • Rank8th
 • Density1,443/km2 (3,738/sq mi)
Ethnicity
 • Estonians88%
 • Russians9%
 • other3%
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
44306
Area code(+372) 032
ISO 3166 codeEE-663
Vehicle registrationR
Websitewww.rakvere.ee

Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. In 2022, Rakvere was one of 10 ACES European Towns of Sport. In 2023, Rakvere won the Green Destinations' Silver Award after having been selected in 2021 as part of the Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories.

Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: the Rakvere door. Reflecting German baroque cabinets of the 17th and 18th centuries and the expressionist style of the 1920s, the wooden Rakvere door has a pointed, raised rectangle in the center. In 2023, there were 15 Rakvere doors on 13 houses.