Narva, city in northeastern Estonia on the Russian border, located on the Narva River 13 km (8 mi) from the Gulf of Finland. Narva is a port, transportation center, and industrial center. It produces cotton textiles, machinery, chemicals, food products, and wood products, as well as energy, which is generated in large thermal stations. The city is home to a 13th-century castle and Russian Orthodox cathedral, and a Baroque town hall from 1670.
Narva was founded by Danes in 1223. In 1346 it became a part of Germanic Livonia and was a port of the Hanseatic League, a commercial federation of German cities. In 1561 Swedes gained control of northern Estonia and in 1581 took Narva. Russians attacked the town in 1700 but failed to take it; they succeeded, however, in 1704. In 1918 Narva became part of Estonia. At the start of World War II (1939-1945) Germany captured Narva, and the city was almost completely destroyed in fighting between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) at the war's end. From 1944 until Estonia's independence in 1991 Narva was part of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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