大千世界:世界十大最和平國度

One of the greatest desires of people is for them to be able to feel contentment in their lives, fulfillment in their dreams, and joy in their families. Peace is what drives man to put himself in a state of sacrifice to attain his ultimate goal, which is to experience a life of perfection, where there is no hate, no strife, and no chaos. However, just recently, we have heard of a nation declaring a “state of war” to another due to misunderstandings and confusion. While everyone else is focused on the war, have you ever wondered what are the top 10 most peaceful countries in the world and what it’s like to live in such a place? Peek on this list and you will realize that peace is not a distant national ambition

人生中最大的夙願無非就是生活充實，理想得志，閤家歡樂。和平能夠驅使一個人做出犧牲追求最終目標---體驗沒有仇恨，沒有衝突，沒有混亂的完美生活。可是最近我們卻聽到由於誤解和混淆，一個國家對另一個國家而宣佈進入“戰爭狀態”。當衆人都把焦點放在這場戰爭上時，你想象過世界上最爲寧靜祥和的10個國家嗎，幻想過如此靜謐之國的生活是怎樣的嗎？看以下排行，你將恍然悟出和平並非是遙遙無期的雄心壯志。

10. Switzerland

10. 瑞士

Switzerland is one of the countries in the world that uses “honesty shops” in order to provide people the chance to exchange goods with money even without the assistance of cashier or store clerks. It is also the same country where you could actually leave your door wide open and not expecting that anyone would pilfer your stuff or take opportunity of the occasion. But the nation is ranked on the 10th spot as its military force is still intact and active, although there are reports that the said national power has been contracted. Another reason of the ranking is due to the unrest of the people in respect to currencies where the value of their money and their cost of living is compromised.

瑞士是世界上擁有“誠實商店”的國家之一，這些商店能夠在沒有收銀員或店員的情況下跟顧客達成買賣。在這個國家你也大可敞開門戶，不必擔心別人會乘機潛入偷竊東西。但瑞士僅排第十，其原因在於雖然報導說該國軍力有所消減，但任然處於完善且活躍狀態。另外就是人們對於貨幣的不安感---錢的價值和生活消費，已經做出妥協。

9. Finland

9. 芬蘭

Aside from being famous for its Nokia international headquarters, Finland is known to be a place where living conditions are right; provided that you are not experiencing financial unrest due to huge taxes and costly living standards. But other than this, Finland is a peaceful place where crimes are low and violence is very rare. Despite of the said remarks however, it is on the 9th spot for the number of prisoners being detained, which is 59 per 100,000 people, including homicides that are higher than what is tallied and noted against other nearby countries. They are also not into war and even their military expenses are kept to a minimum, showing that the government is more focused on improving the lives of the people, rather than increasing its military strength.

除了是諾基亞國際總部，芬蘭還因其優良的居住環境而聞名；比如你的經濟不會因鉅額稅賦和高標準生活而變得窘迫。除了這點，芬蘭還是個犯罪率低，暴亂極少的和平之國。話雖如此，該國還是因爲0.05%的罪犯率而僅排第九，其中殺人犯的比例高於周邊國家的。芬蘭並未涉及到戰爭當中，即便軍費開銷也被最小化，這表明其政府更關心提高公民的生活水平，而非去加強國防軍事力量。

8. Slovenia

8.斯洛文尼亞

Even if politics was active in Slovenia back in September 2011, the masses are actually satisfied with what’s happening, as voters, even those who have voted for the opposing party, have agreed to make things peaceful, keeping political unrest to a minimum. You can rarely hear of reports about terrorist attacks, mass killings, and other crimes, as there are only a few who engages in such activities. In fact, such horrendous acts are seldom to almost nothing. Military spending is also very low where the government only spends 1.4% of its GDP. They don’t even have their own fighter planes and they are depending on the assistance of Italy for that matter.

即使在過去的2011年9月，該國的政治活動較爲活躍，實際上大多數人對發生的一切都頗爲滿意。選舉時，即便支持對立黨派的選民也贊同一切歸於和平，儘量將政治動亂最小化。你幾乎聽不到有關恐怖襲擊，大規模屠殺，或者其他犯罪行爲的報導，因爲製造犯罪活動的人相當少。或者說，這些可怕的行爲幾乎沒有。在軍事上，政府也僅支出其GDP的1.4%。斯洛文尼亞甚至沒有自己的戰鬥機，在這點上它會得助於意大利。

7. Ireland

7.愛爾蘭

Although Ireland is a serene place in general, it was placed in the 7th rank for its political imbalance, which was experienced back in 2011. In fact, there have been protests and discord at the turn of the new leadership, where both economical and political spheres have been compromised. However, as the new government welcomed change together with its subjects, political unrest has ceased and everyone joined together, hoping for improvement and change for the better. Demonstrations have decreased, violence was kept down, and the trust of the people with each other has strengthened. Despite of such problems, Ireland did not see the need of increasing its military power, which even cut costs amounting to $147 million in over 3 years.

一般來說，愛爾蘭是個寧靜的地方，但其如2011年那樣失衡的政治使其僅位第七。其實，在領導換屆時，它的經濟和政治局面就在抗議和衝突中暴露無遺。但是，新政府鼓動全民一齊革新，政治暴動便有所消停，全國一片同歌，致力將未來打造得更加美好。遊行少了，暴力活動消停了，人與人之間的信任也加強了。儘管有這樣的問題，愛爾蘭不但沒有增強軍事力量的需要，反而在三年內削減了1億4千7百萬的軍事開銷。

6. Austria

6.奧地利

Famous in history as being the “cradle of the civilization of music”, Austria gives a perfect sense of what it is like to live in harmony with the society and the government. There are rarely events of chaos in the country, which is why their police force is kept to a tolerable few. Even though there have been news that the numbers have increased, the figures are still taken to be the smallest in the world. Even the society does not feel troubled as safety and security is not too stiff, knowing that crime rates are noted to be one of the lowest everywhere.

作爲歷史上著名的“音樂文明搖籃”，奧地利給出了什麼是和諧社會，和諧政府的景象。因爲這個國家幾乎沒有暴亂事件，需要的警力也就維持得相當少。儘管有報導指出其警員增多了，但其數量仍然位於全球之末。社會並未對如此不牢固的安全保護感到擔憂，因爲他們知道這裏每一處的犯罪率都極其低。

5. Japan

5.日本

Although Japan has a history of being one of the perpetrators in the last World War, it does not that they ended up as chaos-loving people. In fact, they have done many things in the world in order to make it a better place, particularly in establishing ties with the rest of the nations through harnessing the power of technology. Their people are also known for being disciplined, industrious, courteous, and generally happy, which makes the Land of the Rising Sun a perfect place to stay, and easy to adapt to. However, they did not end in the top 3 due to issues of increasing their military power as provoked by nearby countries like North Korea and China, which has a past of being dictators and conquerors.

作爲二戰史上的侵略者，日本並不打算以好戰的形象閉上帷幕。事實上，日本人做出許多努力讓國家變得更好，尤其是他們會利用科技力量來與其他國家建立關係。日本人也是出了名地自律，勤勞，有禮節，樂觀，優良傳統讓這個“日出之國”成了理想的居住之地，也很容易讓人適應。然而，它未能進入三甲之列是因爲其作爲過去的獨裁侵略者而被周邊國家，例如朝鮮和中國所激起的強化軍事力量行爲。

4. Canada

4.加拿大

Canada has more members of the police force than Ireland, specifically 203 police officers in every 100,000 people, something that is quite high in number. Despite of the said figures, they do not count much in relation to security and safety as strictness in implementing laws and policies are not harsh where the people are very disciplined and civilized in understanding and obeying the rules. Instead, the police force is used to make sure that apprehenders and crooks are caught and imprisoned, serving sentences via the due process of the law. What really boosted them to higher peace index ranks is the fact that the country is actively participating in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force whether in sending troops to Afghanistan or in any other war-driven nation.

加拿大比愛爾蘭擁有更多的警力，明確地說是每10萬人當中就有203名警察，這可是相當大的比例。儘管有這個數據在先，但加拿大在治安和安全方面並沒有施加嚴厲的法律和政策，因爲居民都很自律且遵紀守法。此外，他們的警力是用來確保刑拘者和騙子已經被逮捕，並通過正當法律程序讓其入獄。真正讓加拿大的和平指數名列前茅的是它參與了北約國際安全援助部隊，無論是阿富汗還是其他被戰爭驅動的國家，它都積極派兵支援。

3. New Zealand

3.新西蘭

Crimes are very low in New Zealand, not only in terms of committed crimes in general, but even in the number of detaining prisoners, which is only in the ratio of about 199 to 100,000. While this may be higher than certain countries, this is compensated with the funds being allotted by the government to its military forces, which is only 1% of its total GDP. And to top it off, these funds are not even allotted for increasing military strength, but is more on improving its rescue and assistance maneuvers, including the purchasing of equipments and vehicles for better civilian support. Living conditions are also great as people are very easy to get along with, regardless of one’s race and cultural preference. Homicides are also rare, which makes New Zealand a safe place to live in.

新西蘭的犯罪量非常之低，不僅是一般犯罪活動，就連入獄拘留的的比例也只是0.199%。當然這也許會高於某些國家，政府也分配了GDP的1%作爲其軍事力量的補償金。值得一提的是，這些資金的用途並不在於加強軍隊力量，而是用於提高救援演習，就連採購設備和車輛也是爲了更多的民意支持。沒有種族歧視，也沒有文化偏見，平易近人的居民讓這個國家成了良好的居住地。幾乎沒有發生過的殺人案件，也讓新西蘭成了安全的棲息地。

2. Denmark

2.丹麥

The peace index of Denmark places it as second best in this list as its cost budget allocation for military operations is more on spending for armaments and people, rather than machines and vehicles. In fact, Denmark has decreased its number of fighter planes in order to keep up with the cost of maintaining everything, while making sure that quality is never compromised in joining with NATO and its allies on various peace missions. Homicides, violence cases, and other crimes are rated at a low 79 for every 100,000 people. The government also does not have issues both internally with its subjects, and externally, when establishing relationships with other nearby countries.

和平指數位居榜單之亞是因爲丹麥的軍隊預算更多地花費在部隊和人上面，機械和車輛的開支更少。實際上，丹麥已經減少了戰鬥機的數量，以跟上所有維護成本。同時確保軍隊質量是爲了從不拖累加入北約及其盟國參與的各種使命。命案，暴力案件和其他犯罪活動的比例低到僅有0.079%。當政府與鄰近國家建立關係的時候，國內外都沒有發生爭議。

and

1.冰島

Iceland may be noted as a winter wonderland for many and it certainly is not a cold place to begin with. Consider the fact that this is the most peaceful place in the world, with everything in accordance to what is demanded in the General Peace Index. Crime rate is so low that only 49 of 100,000 has been recorded, its military force is considered essential yet basic in terms of power, and its 1.1% GDP allotted for the military is more on utilization of its forces with NATO peace missions, especially noted with what happened in Afghanistan. Not only is the people in harmony with everything that exists in the government, but even the financial aspect of the country is healthy and well.

冰島可能會因各種優勢被公認爲冬季仙境，然而引人嚮往的當然不是它的寒冷。其原因在於冰島是世界上最爲和平寧靜的國家，這裏的每樣事物都按照綜合和平指數的要求般存在着。記錄中只有0.049%的超低犯罪率，軍隊力量是必不可少的，但主要在於權力的控制，支配給軍隊的1%GDP費用用於完成北約和平使命，阿富汗戰爭使用尤甚。不僅公民與政府的一切達到和諧，就連國家金融面貌也呈現出一片健康良好。