The only country in the world which is completely digital, transport is free

estonia (Estonia) is a small country in Europe. In this country people do not have to spend a single penny to use the Internet. Every facility is available online here. From filing tax returns to paying for car parking, Estonian citizens also pay online. According to Freedom House, an American non-governmental organization, Estonia is a model country for free internet access in the whole world. Apart from free internet, there are many other things which make this country special. This country, situated on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in the north-east of Europe, used to be a part of the Soviet Union. It separated from Russia in the year 1991. After this, the deteriorating economy here improved rapidly.

The government of Estonia, which is considered the smallest member country of the European Union and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), implemented a system of flat income tax for its citizens. That means here every citizen has to pay equal tax. Along with this, a nationwide program was started in 1996 in Estonia to make the economy more effective by connecting citizens to the Internet and today it has become a completely digital country. After separation from Russia, economic reforms took place very fast here. Today this country is counted among those countries of the European Union where the economic growth rate is highest.

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Free internet has been there since 2000
Here, free internet was provided in all schools and colleges in the year 2000 itself. Almost 90 percent people here are using internet connectivity. The goal of the Economic Ministry of Estonia was that every citizen of the country could learn to use the free internet for the next one year. He has achieved this goal. There are more than 3 thousand free Wi-Fi spots across the country. There is free Wi-Fi in coffee shops, petrol pumps, restaurants, schools-colleges, hospitals, hotels and all government offices. Here voting in elections is also done online.

By the way, if we talk about the fastest internet, according to the International Broadband Speed ​​Investigation Agency, Norway has the highest net speed. According to statistics, the average internet speed of mobile phones here increased by 69 percent last year alone. Currently it is 52.6 megabytes per second. This means that if you download a movie of 400 MB, it will take only 8 seconds.

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Cyber ​​crime is almost non-existent
The special thing about Estonia is that despite having free Wi-Fi everywhere in the country, there is almost no cyber crime here, which is surprising in itself. It is also believed that the reason for this is that the Estonian government keeps running campaigns from time to time regarding the correct use of the Internet. Although the internet is free here, there are restrictions on access to many things. For example, under the Gambling Act, any domestic and foreign gambling site requires a special license. If there is no license they are closed. By March 2017, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board identified 1,200 websites that needed to be shut down because they were unlicensed.

Public transport is also free
Not only is the internet free in Estonia, public transport is also free here. For the first time, this decision was taken by the then mayor of the country’s capital, Tallinn, Edgar Savissaar, in the year 2013. His thinking behind this was that since a lot of discord had arisen among themselves while being a part of Russia, the people of the country should get a chance to mingle as much as possible. First a referendum was held here for free transport and after getting huge support, buses and trams were made free for the public. Apart from Estonia, France and Germany are also thinking of making public transport free to deal with air pollution. Free buses also run on weekends in Wales, UK.

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Number one in air quality
Even if we talk about pure air, the name of Estonia comes at the top. According to the data released last year by the World Health Organization, Estonia is among the few countries where the air quality is the best. Apart from this, the names of Finland, Sweden, Canada, Norway and Iceland are included in the list. Along with India, the names of Uganda, Mongolia, Qatar and Cameroon come among the countries with the worst air quality.

Tag: digital payments, digital world, European Union, Public transportation