sentences:  In 1975 the narrow gauge railway was closed and a new railway () was opened in 1981 as part of the Tallinn–Pärnu–Riga railway.Eventually this was also closed in 2000 and dismantled in 2008.After the reindependence of Estonia in 1991, Kilingi-Nõmme served as a sovereign municipality, but merged with neighbouring Saarde and Tali parishes in 2005, and became the centre of the new Saarde Parish.