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Not many people think of Danes as nasty, uncivilized people. Like Canada, Denmark is one of those countries that usually produces a positive response, even if no one is quite sure why. It just seems like a nice place, with nice people. They produce cheese and some good hockey players. What’s to dislike?

It has some of the world’s highest taxes, and a welfare state to die for. It regularly ranks at the top of the world’s happiest countries.

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The level of national contentment is often attributed to something called “hygge,” which is a sort of cozy feeling of social well-being, of safety, and shared pleasure in a common community.

Hygge may result from the fact Denmark is overwhelmingly filled with Danes. Almost nine in 10 have at least one parent born in the country. In contrast, Statistics Canada reports Canada’s visible minority population is approaching 25 per cent, with estimates it could reach 34 per cent by 2036. Denmark is a small, cohesive country — just 5.5 million people in an area smaller than Nova Scotia — where people overwhelmingly share similar origins.