But one could argue that she doesn't have much to govern.

雖然有些人會說，她其實是沒有什麼好管的

Estonia is bigger than Switzerland, but its population is comparable to the US state of

愛沙尼亞的面積比瑞士大，但它的人口堪比美國的

Maine.

緬因州

So what is life really like in Estonia?

那麼愛沙尼亞的真實生活是什麼樣子呢？

Well, Estonia was once a socialist Soviet Republic.

愛沙尼亞曾經是蘇聯社會主義共和國的一員

However since regaining independence in 1991, the country has joined the EU, NATO, as well

然而自從在1991年恢復獨立後，愛沙尼亞先後加入了歐盟、北約以及

as the OECD, and has firmly positioned itself as politically, culturally and economically

經濟合作暨發展組織，讓自己在政治、文化和經濟上定位更為

western.

西方化

Estonia’s free market economy is growing every year, and its government debt is among

愛沙尼亞的自由市場經濟每年都持續的成長，且政府舉債金額在全歐洲

the lowest in Europe.

也是最低的

That said, the country has a considerable income gap, with the top 20% of the population

儘管如此，愛沙尼亞國民的貧富差距相當大，收入最好的前20%的國民賺的錢

earning more than five times as much as the bottom 20%.

比收入最差的後20%國民多了五倍

Estonia’s economy and culture is heavily focused on technology.

愛沙尼亞的經濟和文化著重於科技方面

In 2000, the country declared internet access to be a human right and has since established

在2000年，愛沙尼亞宣布網路使用權也是人權的一部分，並以此在國內建立了

hundreds of free wifi zones.

成千上百的無線網路使用區

Estonia has also fully digitized its government services, and was the first country to allow

愛沙尼亞也將政府服務窗口完全數位化，它也是第一個允許以網路投票方式

online voting in a general election.

進行普選的國家

Like many other Baltic and Nordic countries, Estonia is extremely homogenous, with nearly

就像許多波羅地海國家和北歐國家一樣，愛沙尼亞的人種同質性極高，約有

70 percent of the population being ethnic Estonian.

70%的人口是愛沙尼亞人

Russians are the largest ethnic minority, representing roughly a quarter of the population.

在愛沙尼亞，俄國人是人數最多的少數民族，約佔總人口的四分之一

But perhaps surprisingly, Estonian culture takes little influence from Russian culture,

奇怪的是，愛沙尼亞文化有受到俄國文化的一些影響，但他們

and instead positions itself closer to its Nordic neighbors, like Finland.

卻認為自己更像是北歐國家，如鄰居芬蘭一樣

Finnish and Estonian people enjoy similar cuisines, and both have a tradition of relaxing

芬蘭人和愛沙尼亞人喜歡同樣的烹飪方式，也都有在冬季時洗芬蘭式蒸汽浴

in saunas in the winter.

的傳統

Estonia has even pushed for ascension into the Nordic Council, arguing that it lost the

愛沙尼亞也推動了想加入北歐理事會的計畫，他們認為被蘇聯統治的這段時間

opportunity for membership during Soviet rule.

已讓他們失去了太多發展機會

Like its neighbors Finland and Russia, Estonia struggles with widespread alcoholism.

愛沙尼亞承受著國民普遍的酒精中毒問題，就像它的鄰國芬蘭和蘇聯一樣

The average Estonian drinks an estimated 3 gallons of alcohol annually, and experts say

每位愛沙尼亞人平均每年喝掉約三加崙的酒精，專家表示每年大約

somewhere between 1,500 and 2 thousand Estonians die from alcohol consumption each year.

有 1500到 2000愛沙尼亞人死於酒精攝取過量

Thats a lot of deaths for country with just over a million people.

對於一個人口僅幾百萬人的國家，這樣的死亡率是很高的

In the scope of Europe, Estonia is unique in that religion is not very widespread.

愛沙尼亞的宗教並不普及，這在歐洲內是個很特別的存在

Although Christianity is the country’s primary faith, only 28 percent of the population identify

雖然基督教是愛沙尼亞主要的信仰，但只有28%的人是虔誠的教徒

as religious, and only 16 percent of Estonian adults say they believe in God.

而且僅有16%的愛沙尼亞成年人表示他們相信上帝

As a result, Estonian values tend to be less traditional.

因此，愛沙尼亞的價值觀傾向不傳統

The country has the highest rate of unmarried adults in the EU in part because so many couples

愛沙尼亞是歐盟中單身率最高的國家，有部分是因為許多愛侶們同居而不結婚

live together without opting for marriage, which is not as culturally important as it

對他們來說，他們並沒有將婚姻文化看得像其他國家

is in other countries.

一樣重要

Most Estonians live in urban areas.

大部分的愛沙尼亞人居住於都市區域

In fact nearly a third of its population live in its capital city, Tallinn.

事實上，近三分之一的人口居住於首都塔林

Tallinn is often called the ‘Silicon Valley of Europe’, as it has more startups per

塔林時常被稱為「歐洲的矽谷」，因為它相較其他歐洲國家有更高的

person than any other European country.

每人平均初創企業率

Many of these small business have actually grown into global companies.

這裡的許多小公司現今已茁壯成國際企業

One example is Skype.

Skype就是其中一個例子

The city also rolled out free public transit in 2013, and is now making a $22 million dollar

塔林在2013年也推出了免費大眾運輸系統，目前這個方案每年為市府賺進了2200萬美元

annual profit from the project.

的利潤

There’s no doubt Estonia is modern, progressive and highly developed.

毫無疑問，愛沙尼亞是一個現代化、進步又高度發展的國家

The country is considered high-income, and consistently ranks highly in education, press

愛沙尼亞被視為一個高所得並時常在教育、新聞自由、生活品質

freedom, quality of life and overall human development.

以及全人發展排名都很高的國家

Barring the harsh winters and relative isolation, life in Estonia doesn’t sound too bad.

除了嚴酷的冬天以及地理位置相對孤立了點外，愛沙尼亞的生活其實還蠻不錯的

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如果沒有贊助的話，我們是沒辦法做像這樣的一集影片的

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如果你是個常聽音樂或廣播的人，並且正在尋找新的藍芽喇叭，那就參考看看

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Monster 重新打造的揚聲器 — Monster Blaster 吧！月付25美元起即可

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深沉的重低音，使得 Monster Blaster 不論在室內或是戶外都能為您的生活帶來

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振奮的樂章

Check it out at themonsterblaster.com/seeker.

想知道更多，就上 themonsterblaster.com/seeker 看看

Even though Estonia likes to think of itself as Nordic, the country is actually Baltic.

雖然愛沙尼亞一直認為它是北歐國家，事實上它應該是波羅的海國家

But what exactly does that mean?

這個現象到底代表了什麼呢？

And how much power do Baltic states have?

而波羅的海國家又有多大的能力呢？

Find out in this video.

點進這部影片看看吧

Find out in this video.

點進這部影片看看吧

Thanks for watching Seeker Daily!

謝謝你收看今天的Seeker Daily！

Don’t forget to like and subscribe for new videos every day.

別忘了按下喜歡和訂閱來接收每天的新影片哦！