Official language: Estonian, with English widely spoken
Currency: Euro €
Time zone: GMT +2 in winter and GMT +3 in summer
Country dialling code: 00372 or +372
Emergency number: 112
Plug socket: type F, with voltage of 230V and frequency of 50Hz
Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipsi and Russia. Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia is 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi).
Estonia has a maritime temperate climate with all four seasons. Summers are warm and winters are not particularly cold but quite snowy. Rainfall is moderately low. Estonia is a country that holds technological development and innovation in high regard. For years now it has used e-elections and now offers e-residency to people all over the world. The country has been regained independence in 1991 and since then has developed into one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world.
Did you know that:
- Estonia has a population of 1.3 million and is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe
- Almost 50% of Estonia is covered by forest
- Estonia is the world’s least religious country. Only 14% of the population profess any religious beliefs
- Estonia is the birthplace of Skype, Kazaa and Transferwise
- In the capital city of Tallinn, the local political leadership came up with a genius idea that would make everyone happy – free public transportation for the citizens
- Estonia has the biggest collection of folk songs in the world with written records of 133,000 folk songs
- The Estonian language is a finno-ugric language – resembles most to Finnish and is different from Latvian and Russian language
- Estonia has two Independence Days. It first achieved independence from the Soviet Union on February 24, 1918 and again on August 20, 1991 after 51 years of occupation. The second date is known as the “Restoration of Independence Day”
- Estonia has over 1,500 islands.
Tallinn is a heady blend of medieval and modern, with narrow, cobbled streets set beneath the spires of 14th-century churches, and a wild mix of restaurants, cafés, boutiques and nightclubs hidden in the carved stone walls. Being the capital, it has about 400,000 inhabitants and yet it is home to the most intact, and UNESCO protected, medieval city centre in the world. With all its Medieval charm, Tallinn is actually one of the most high-tech cities on the planet. It leads the world in free, public wireless Internet access and it’s home to the best developed e-government system in the world. Tallinn also has a huge number of choices on offer when it comes to nightlife.
With the abundance of attractions concentrated in Old Town, navigating Tallinn at night is easy, you can visit a dozen different places in a single night. There are numerous nightclubs with styles of music to fit every taste. With an enchanting atmosphere, a rich cultural scene and plenty of galleries, cafés and restaurants make Tallinn an exciting and vibrant destination for all ages. Tallinn is easily accessible by boat, plane and bus from many European destinations – you will not leave unsatisfied.
Tallinn University of Technology
Tallinn University of Technology
Tallinn University of Technology (TTU) is the flagship of Estonian engineering and technological education. Here the synergy between different fields (technological, natural, exact, social and health sciences) is created and new start-ups are born. The MEKTORY Innovation and business center and the Tehnopol science park with more than 150 incubator companies are prime examples of such synergy.
TTU is also the most international university in Estonia as almost every tenth TTU student is from a foreign country and a total of over 70 countries are represented in its student body.
TTU is the only campus-type university in the Baltic countries and one of the most compact university campuses in Europe. The territory of TTU includes 55 buildings and has a total area of 55.5 hectares. This means that the in-rounds can be very conveniently held in a small area, eliminating logistical problems that might arise from a straggling location. All debates will take place within five minutes walking distance from the main lecture hall where the announcements are going to take place.
TTU Debate Society has the full support of the Tallinn University of Technology and other debating societies within Estonia for the Tallinn EUDC.
Tallinn University of Technology Debate Society
The TTU Debate Society is quite a young club, having been established in 2012 but that does not mean that it can be mistaken for a club with limited experience. The club was founded by a few debaters who were fed up with the idea that their local university did not have its own debate club. Tallinn University of Technology debating club is now the biggest debating club in Estonia by membership growth, weekly debates and social events.
The TTU Debate Society cooperates with the University and is a partner with numerous TTU student organisations. The club has grown quickly both in size and force, with the club being recognized for its organisational capabilities by the TTU Student Union, the Estonian Debating Society (under which it operates) and also the city of Tallinn, who all have awarded grants so the debate society could organise more and grander events. In a university with over 13 000 students and over 40 student organisations, TTU Debate Society, the team behind Tallinn EUDC, was elected as the best student organisation of the year.
Being not only a good debating club, but moreover a family with a great community feeling, the club organises variety of different events to our members starting from debating workshops to spontaneous trips to Riga or to a random swamp 200km away (true!) on a weekly basis.
Considering that the club was established in 2012, it is truly remarkable that it has held the Estonian Open (biggest international debate tournament in the Baltics) in 2012, the year it was established and also in 2014. Because just hosting the biggest tournament in the area was not good enough for the debate club, it also hosted the Estonian championship the very same year.
Since there can never be too many good tournaments in one country, the TTU debate club is also the first (and so far only) debate society in Estonia, which hosts its own annual debate tournament, the Tallinn Tech Open, which will in the future also serve as a testing ground for different innovations that the debate society will bring to the 2017 EUDC. So far we already tested first part of our e-ballot system at the Tallinn Tech Open 2015.
With co-operation from the Estonian Debating Society and also the people behind the 2008 EUDC Tallinn, the debate club has stepped up to the next challenge ahead of it, a challenge that will involve even more organising than the previous events, but a challenge that will be nevertheless surmounted.