A town is generally accepted as any region bigger than a village and smaller than a city. It has its own government, name, and boundary, complete with marketplaces and people spread throughout the area. However, some towns have turned out to be very unique, including those built to look like other towns, and those built and then not inhabited. Some towns have only one resident, while the residents of other towns all live under one roof.
“城鎮”普遍被認為是比村莊大而比城市要小的地方。它有自己的政府、名稱和邊界，連同集市和遍布周邊的居民。然而，有些城鎮卻非常獨特：比如有的城鎮是模仿別的城鎮建成的；有些城鎮設施齊全，卻無人居住；有些城鎮只有孤零零一個居民；而在另外一些城鎮，所有居民住在了同一屋檐下。
10.佛羅里達村落
The Villages is a town in Florida that was built for retired people. It covers an area larger than Manhattan, and has over 100,000 inhabitants—most of whom move around in golf carts. In fact, it holds the Guinness World Record for assembling the longest golf cart parade in the world, with 3,321 total golf carts. The town—where children are forbidden—is also home to controversies and scandals. Old men and women have been caught making out in golf carts, and the men are known to fight over women. There is also a black market for Viagra, which costs about $12 for a single pill.
村落(The Villages)是佛羅里達州為退休人士所建的小鎮。它的占地面積比曼哈頓還要大，擁有超過10萬居民——其中大多數以高爾夫球車代步。事實上，那里曾以3321輛車參加高爾夫球車游行而創下了吉尼斯世界紀錄。在這座禁止兒童入內的城鎮中也制造了不少爭議，滋生了不少丑聞——比如老年男女在高爾夫球車里親熱，老頭為爭奪老太而打架等。這里還有交易偉哥的黑市，一片的售價高達12美元。
Unsurprisingly, the town—which has 10 women for every man—has also seen a massive rise in sexually transmitted diseases. In 2006, a gynecologist said she encountered more cases of herpes and human papillomavirus in the town than she did when she worked in Miami. Inhabitants are also known to drive under the influence (in golf carts), use illegal drugs, and engage in bar fights.
毫不意外地，這座男女比例為1:10的小鎮里，性傳染疾病的病例數量也在顯著增加。2006年，一位婦科醫生表示，她在這里遇到的皰疹和人乳頭狀瘤病毒的病例比在邁阿密工作時還要多。居民們還因開高爾夫球車酒駕，服用違禁藥物以及在酒吧斗毆等“事跡”出名。
9.Busingen Am Hochrhein Germany
9.德國高萊茵河畔布辛根
Busingen am Hochrhein is a German town in Switzerland. The town is separated from mainland Germany by a narrow strip of land, which measures about 700 meters (765 yards) at its narrowest point. Considering its unusual location, Busingen am Hochrhein is more of a Swiss town than a German one. It also enjoys public services from both Switzerland and Germany. It has a Swiss postal code (8238 Busingen) and a German postal code (78266 Busingen). It also has two telephone codes: +49 7734 (for Germany) and +41 52 (for Switzerland).
高萊茵河畔的布辛根是一座位于瑞士境內的德國小鎮。一條狹長的走廊將它與德國領土隔離開來，距離最短的地方相隔約為700米（765碼）。從它特殊的地理位置來看，高萊茵河畔的布辛根更像是屬于瑞士而非德國。它同時享受瑞士與德國兩國提供的公共服務。它擁有一個瑞士郵編（8238布辛根）和一個德國郵編（78266布辛根）；還有兩個電話區號：+497734（德國）和+4152（瑞士）。
In case of an emergency, the Swiss or German police can be called in, although the Swiss police usually arrive first. Everybody living in Busingen is allowed to work and own properties in Switzerland, even if they do not possess Swiss citizenship. And, if a German citizen lives in Busingen for more than 10 years, he or she receives a special status similar to Swiss citizenship. The town's football team—FC Busingen—also plays in the Swiss football league.
在緊急情況下，居民呼叫瑞士或德國的警察都可以，盡管瑞士警察通常來得快一些。所有住在布辛根的人都可以在瑞士工作并置業，哪怕他們并不具有瑞士的公民身份。同時，如果一位德國公民在布辛根居住10年以上，他或她就能獲得一個類似瑞士公民的特殊身份。這座城鎮的足球隊——FC布辛根隊——參加瑞士的足球聯賽。
But the town never started off like this. Back in the 14th century, it was ruled by Austria. After the Lord of Busingen was killed by members of a nearby Swiss town, Austria vowed not to hand over the town to Switzerland. They later handed it over to a neighboring German town, and it was eventually claimed by Germany. In 1919, 96 percent of the locals voted to leave Germany and join Switzerland, but the Swiss wouldn't offer anything in return, so the German government threw a fit and refused to let them go.
不過這里最初并不是這樣的。14世紀的時候，這里曾由奧地利統治。在布辛根領主被附近瑞士城鎮的人們殺死之后，奧地利發誓不會將其交給瑞士。后來他們將其交給了一座相鄰的德國小鎮管轄，所以德國對其擁有主權。1919年，96%的居民投票贊成布辛根脫離德國加入瑞士，但瑞士不肯給予德國任何回報，于是德國政府大發雷霆，拒絕讓他們離開。
8.阿拉斯加惠蒂爾
Almost all of the 200-plus inhabitants of Whittier, Alaska live inside a single 14-story building called Begich Towers. The rest live in their vehicles, boats, or another, similar building. Begich Towers was built in 1956. Back then, it served as an army barracks, but today, it is a town complete with a police station, post office, store, church, video rental shop, playground, and health center—all located inside the building.
阿拉斯加（州）惠蒂爾鎮的200多名居民幾乎都住在一幢叫做“貝吉克塔”的十四層建筑內，剩下的人住在自己的車里、船里或其他相似的“貝吉克塔”一樣的建筑里。貝吉克塔建于1956年，當時是作為軍營使用，而如今它成了一個完整的小鎮——樓內警察局、郵局、商店、教堂、錄像帶租賃店、操場、醫療中心應有盡有。
The only way to access the town is either via sea or through a 4-kilometer (2.6 mi) one-lane tunnel which has gates that open twice every hour, allowing cars in or out of the town. The tunnels close at night and do not reopen until the next day. Before 2001, the tunnel could not accommodate vehicles, and the only way to get to the town was a 100-kilometer (60 mi) train ride. Then, trains ran only few times a week. During summer months, Whittier gets about 22 hours of sunlight, and during winter, it could get covered in over 6.35 meters (250 in) of snow.
前往小鎮僅有的兩條途徑，通過海路或是穿過4千米（2.6英里）長的鐵路隧道（只有一條車道）。入口每小時開啟兩次，供車輛進出小鎮。隧道在晚上關閉，直到第二天才重新開啟。在2001年以前，隧道尚未通車，所以要到達這里只能搭乘火車，路程要100公里，而火車一周只有幾趟。在夏季，惠蒂爾大約有22小時是白晝，而在冬天則可能會有6.35米（250英尺）厚的積雪。
7.加利福尼亞科爾馬
The town of Colma, California has more dead people than living people, with 1,500 living inhabitants and over 1.5 million dead inhabitants. The history of the town can be traced back to the Gold Rush of 1849 which led hundreds of thousands of people to migrate to nearby San Francisco. They brought diseases and, subsequently, death. By the 1880s, the 26 cemeteries in the town had been almost filled and, by the late 1880s, cemetery owners began constructing cemeteries in southern Colma because it was easily accessible.
在加利福尼亞州的科爾馬小鎮，亡魂比活人多：這里有1500位居民，卻有超過150萬在此死去。這座小鎮的歷史可以追溯到1849年的淘金熱，成千上萬人為此移居到舊金山附近。人們帶來了疾病，也因而帶來了死亡。到了19世紀80年代，鎮上的26片墓地幾乎已被填滿；1880年代末期，管理者開始在科爾馬南部修建墓地，因為那里進出方便。
In March 1900, San Francisco's government banned new burials within the city. They said this was necessary because the land was too valuable to be used as cemeteries. Later on, in January 1914, cemetery owners were ordered to remove all bodies buried in San Francisco. Politicians said that the cemeteries spread disease, but the cemetery operators believe it was because of the rising cost of real estate. Nevertheless, the operators removed the bodies, and moved them to Colma, leaving it sprawling with graveyards. Today, over 73 percent of Colma's land is destined to become cemeteries.
1900年3月，舊金山政府下令禁止在城里埋葬死者。他們認為此舉很有必要，因為這里的土地太過珍貴，不應該被用作墓地。后來，在1914年1月，墓地所有者受令將所有埋葬在舊金山的尸體轉移。政客們聲稱墓地會帶來傳染病，不過墓地經營者則認為背后的原因是上升的地產價格。經營者們將尸體轉移到科爾馬，任由這里墳墓叢生。如今，科爾馬超過73%的土地都逃脫不了成為墓地的命運。
6.內布拉斯加莫諾維
Monowi was founded by Czech migrants in northeast Nebraska, and it has only one resident: 77-year-old Elsie Eller. Population-wise, Monowi is the smallest jurisdiction in the US. Elsie runs the town's only tavern and library, which is made up of about 5,000 books owned by her late husband, Rudy. She also serves as the town's mayor, clerk, and treasurer. She also runs the council. In the 1930s, the town had a population of about 150 people, but by 2000, it had two: Elsie and her husband, Rudy. Elsie's husband passed away in 2004, leaving Elsie as the town's lone resident. Every year, Elsie pays tax to the town to maintain its four streetlights and provide other basic amenities. Several abandoned buildings in the town are covered with grass, slowly fading into obscurity, while others have collapsed.
莫諾維位于內布拉斯加州東北部，由捷克移民者建立，莫諾維只有一位居民：77歲的艾爾西·艾勒。從人口數量來看，莫諾維是全美最小的轄區。艾爾西經營著那里僅有的酒館和圖書館，后者收藏了她前夫大約5000本藏書。她同時也擔任小鎮的市長，書記員及會計，還負責管理（市）議會。在1930年代這座小鎮尚有150人口，不過到了2000年時就僅剩艾爾西和她的丈夫魯迪兩人了。艾爾西的丈夫在2004年去世，留下她一人獨守這座小鎮。艾爾西每年都會交稅來維持小鎮的四盞路燈以及其他基礎設施的運作。許多廢棄建筑都已是藤蔓叢生，漸漸地隱匿無蹤，其他的則已頹然倒塌。
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