Hiiu County

Hiiu County is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia and the smallest of them in both area and population. It consists of Hiiumaa, the second-largest island of Estonia, known in German and Swedish as Dagö, together with several smaller islands nearby, and it borders Lääne County to the east and Saare County to the south. Human habitation of Hiiumaa can be traced back to the fifth millennium BC, and the island was first mentioned in 1228 under the name Dageida. It was divided between the Livonian Order and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek in 1254, annexed by Sweden in 1563, passed to the Russian Empire after the Great Northern War, and formed part of the Republic of Estonia from 1918 to 1940 before Soviet occupation until 1991. Its landmarks include the Kõpu Lighthouse, considered the third-oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the world, and Pühalepa Church, begun in 1225. The town of Kärdla is its administrative centre.