Two indigenous ethnic groups live in Võru County – the Võro people and the Setos.

The institute is engaged in a wide range of activities, including establishing school programs, conducting linguistic and regional research, preserving place-names and their corresponding stories, publishing Võro-language scholarship and school textbooks, and organizing annual language conferences etc.

The aim of these activities is to encourage the Võro people to speak their own language and to preserve their characteristic life-style.

In 2014, the smoke sauna tradition in Võrumaa was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

In 2009, the Setos’ polyphonic style of folk singing, called leelo, was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

Believed to be at least 1,000 years old, leelo is considered a special local variant of the Baltic-Finnic runo song tradition.

The county's main economic sectors are forestry and wood processing, furniture and food industry and also tourism.

Võrumaa in its historical borders (Võro: Vana Võromaa) included eight parishes: Karula, Hargla, Urvaste, Rõuge, Kanepi, Põlva, Räpina and Vastseliina.

The County Governor is appointed to the office by the Government of Estonia for a 5-year term, on the proposal of the Minister of Regional Affairs.