It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the north, Järva and Viljandi counties to the east, and Latvia to the south.

It dates back to 8500 BCE in the Mesolithic historical period.

The administrative reform in Estonia abolished county governments by the end of 2017.

Before that, counties were led by a governor, who was appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years.

Previous county governors: The city of Pärnu is a popular holiday resort for Estonians and increasingly for non-Estonians, e.g., from Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Russia.