Elva | |
|---|---|
 Elva town hall | |
  Elva Location in Estonia | |
| Coordinates: 58°13′28″N 26°25′16″E / 58.22444°N 26.42111°E | |
| Country | Estonia |
| County | Tartu County |
| Municipality | Elva Parish |
| Town rights | 1 May 1938 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 9.92 km2 (3.83 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Total | 5,616 |
| • Rank | 17th |
| • Density | 570/km2 (1,500/sq mi) |
| Ethnicity | |
| • Estonians | 95.3% |
| • Russians | 2% |
| • other | 2.7% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Elva is a town in Elva Parish, Tartu County, Estonia.
Elva has two large lakes: Lake Verevi has a sandy and well-developed beach area that is very popular in the summer and is host to many outdoor events. Lake Arbi has wet reed grown shores. Elva's largest employer (and in all of southern Estonia) is GPV Estonia AS, subsidiary of GPV Group, providing electronics manufacturing services in industrial electronics. Elva has one school, Elva Gümnaasium, offering education from 1st grade to high school graduation.
A dominant element in Elva is the train station which today is a visitors' information center and which used to be an important trade route in the past centuries.
Detailed information on hikes on foot or by bicycle can be obtained from the visitors' information center. The Elva river, with old water mill sites and rapid banks, is popular for canoeing. In winter skiers can participate in the Tartu Marathon, belonging to the Worldloppet series. Its 60 km track from Otepää to Elva can be cycled through on mountain bikes in summer.