Estonia
A cool country with a warm heart
Estonia is a small country in the north east of Europe in the Baltic region. As a former Soviet republic it became independant in 1991 and is a member of NATO and the European Union since 2004.
Estonia has a strong information technology sector and plays a leading role in terms of eGovernment. It has declared internet access a basic human right and there are free wlan hotspots throughout the country. Over 90% of the population own a mobile device while in 1991, when Estonia regained its independence, only half of the country's 1.4 million people even had a telephone line. Being a very small country without much natural resources, Estonia has realized that it has to move fast and that innovative ideas are the way to future.
In terms of political and civil freedom Estonia quite ahead in Europe. Reporters sans frontières has ranked Estiona 3rd out of 169 countries in its press freedom index while Germany is only on rank 20.
Liberal economic policies, low taxes and a well-educated population build a solid ground for entrepreneurs.
Next week I'll have a look on my own.
Update 2008-10-08
I've uploaded some pictures.