title: Tamsalu
text: # Tamsalu
  
  Tamsalu is a town in Tapa Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia.
  
  The town has a station on the Tallinn-Tartu railway.
  
  As of December 31, 2021, the town had a population of 2415.
  
  ## History
  
  The settlement was first mentioned in 1512, but remained an insignificant village until 1876, when the Tallinn-Tartu railway was built. The settlement became a town in 1996. Before the administrative reform in 2017, the town was the administrative center of the former Tamsalu Parish.
  
  ## Demographics
  
  Ethnic composition 1934-2021 :
  
  | Ethnicity | 1934 | 1934 | 1959 | 1959 | 1970 | 1970 | 1979 | 1979 | 1989 | 1989 | 2000 | 2000 | 2011 | 2011 | 2021 | 2021 |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Ethnicity | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % | amount | % |
  | Estonians | 468 | 93.6 | 1355 | 86.6 | 1935 | 85.8 | 2056 | 76.9 | 2143 | 72.0 | 2078 | 79.5 | 1850 | 82.7 | 1991 | 82.4 |
  | Russians | 28 | 5.60 | - | - | 172 | 7.62 | 356 | 13.3 | 523 | 17.6 | 320 | 12.2 | 264 | 11.8 | 303 | 12.5 |
  | Ukrainians | - | - | - | - | 23 | 1.02 | 55 | 2.06 | 125 | 4.20 | - | - | 33 | 1.48 | 43 | 1.78 |
  | Belarusians | - | - | - | - | 8 | 0.35 | 41 | 1.53 | 38 | 1.28 | - | - | 30 | 1.34 | 22 | 0.91 |
  | Finns | - | - | - | - | 82 | 3.63 | 98 | 3.67 | 73 | 2.45 | - | - | 21 | 0.94 | 21 | 0.87 |
  | Jews | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0.04 | 1 | 0.04 | 3 | 0.10 | - | - | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
  | Latvians | 2 | 0.40 | - | - | 7 | 0.31 | 10 | 0.37 | 2 | 0.07 | - | - | 3 | 0.13 | 0 | 0.00 |
  | Germans | 1 | 0.20 | - | - | - | - | 29 | 1.08 | 9 | 0.30 | - | - | 5 | 0.22 | 4 | 0.17 |
  | Tatars | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0.04 | 4 | 0.13 | - | - | 1 | 0.04 | 3 | 0.12 |
  | Poles | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 0.22 | 4 | 0.13 | - | - | 2 | 0.09 | 0 | 0.00 |
  | Lithuanians | - | - | - | - | 8 | 0.35 | 9 | 0.34 | 13 | 0.44 | - | - | 8 | 0.36 | 5 | 0.21 |
  | unknown | 1 | 0.20 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 8 | 0.31 | 1 | 0.04 | 5 | 0.21 |
  | other | 0 | 0.00 | 209 | 13.4 | 20 | 0.89 | 11 | 0.41 | 41 | 1.38 | 208 | 7.96 | 18 | 0.81 | 18 | 0.75 |
  | Total | 500 | 100 | 1564 | 100 | 2256 | 100 | 2673 | 100 | 2978 | 100 | 2614 | 100 | 2236 | 100 | 2415 | 100 |
  
  ## Notable people
  
  * Marko Pomerants, former Estonian Minister of Social Affairs (April 10, 2003 – April 13, 2005), former Estonian Minister of the Interior (July 3, 2009 – April 5, 2011), former Estonian Minister of the Environment (April 9, 2015 – June 12, 2017), Member of the Estonian Parliament.
  
  ## Gallery
  
  * Tamsalu church
  * Tamsalu House of Culture
  