Tallinn has eight administrative units:
- Haabersti
- Kesklinn
- Kristiine
- Lasnamäe
- Mustamäe
- Nõmme
- Pirita
- Põhja-Tallinn
Tallinn’s Old Town consists of the Toompea citadel, perched atop a limestone headland, and the lower town to the east.. The Old Town is surrounded by a green belt that runs along the city’s defensive fortifications and a onetime esplanade.
To the west of the city centre are the Kalamaja, Pelgulinna, Lilleküla and the Tondi neighbourhoods, and beyond them, Paljassaare (on the Paljassaare peninsula) and Kopli (on the Kopli peninsula), and the south of Harku lake, Väike-Õismäe and Mustamäe, located on lands once belonging to Kadaka village. To the southwest, in a broad area of pine forests, is the Nõmme garden town, which is divided between Rahumäe, Männiku, Hiiu, Kivimäe, Pääsküla, Liiva and other neighbourhoods.
To the east, the city centre’s natural boundary line is the northern Estonian limestone bank, at the foot of which is Tallinn’s largest park, Kadriorg. Ülemiste and Lasnamäe are at the top of the limestone bank. Father to the northeast, in the Pirita river valley, are Kose and Pirita, and on the Viimsi peninsula, the city ends at the Merivälja and Mähe garden towns.
After the Great Northern War, Tallinn had only a few thousand inhabitants. The number of inhabitants increased over the years: in 1820 13,000, in 1881 45,900, in 1897 58,800 and in 1917, 179,000. Tallinn has been the capital of the Republic of Estonia since 1918. In the 1930s the city had 140,000 inhabitants. In 1940, Nõmme was merged with Tallinn (it was a separate town from 1926-1940). In 1962 construction of the Mustamäe district began, followed by Väike-Õismäe in 1973 and Lasnamäe in 1978 .
