Denmark might make people think about fairy tales. After all one of history’s most famous Danes was the world-famous writer Hans Christian Andersen. And his famous story, “The Little Mermaid,” has been famously immortalized by a famous statue along the country’s Langelinie promenade. For some, it also helps that Denmark the home of the old amusement park called Tivoli, which is right in the middle of Copenhagen, inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland. But the country is more than that.

We at Bright Side decided to dive deep into the culture and everyday lives of the Danish people and find out why they were deemed to be one of the happiest nations in the world. And in the bonus section, you will find out what funny situations might happen because of Danish politeness.

The Danish government cares about making the everyday lives of the inhabitants of the country more interesting. To do that, the government organizes and sponsors different classes, sports activities, and other interesting events, and everything is totally free. The Danish people can create their own clubs, and get financing and a space for the club from the government. Always coming up with new ideas to engage people, the government once even recreated the country in Minecraft. In Denmark, they really support gender equality which is why local women are not afraid of being alone. They value their independence and single women who are over 30-35 years old are considered to be totally okay and there’s absolutely no social pressure on them. Danish women don’t rush to get married and have kids as soon as possible — usually, they create strong and happy families when they’re around 40 years old. , Children are allowed to do anything there. Our reader Eli Moor wrote, “I’ve seen a kid on the restaurant floor that was just lying there and said, ‘Mom, I’ll wait for you here.’ Everyone just smiled and the boy continued to wait for his mom there because he wanted to.” Most children in Denmark begin going to child care when they are a year old or even younger. They are taken care of by trained professionals and begin to learn both the Danish language and the Danish social rules, like working in groups and taking turns. During the cold time of year, the Danish people don’t put a lot of clothes on their kids and let them sleep in strollers outside. This way, the kids get used to the cold and the harsh winters. Thanks to their strong immune systems, children can walk around without their hats, and they feel great even when it’s cold out.