The Almost Nearly Perfect People

Introduction

The Scandinavians/Nordic countries are ranked the happiest in the world.
Denmark has influential TV shows, culture, and architecture. Sweden has pop music, H&M, and Ikea. Finland has Eurovision and mobile phones. Norway has oil.
Why do people still long for a house in Spain or France, instead of Aalborg or Trondheim?
We can't really name any famous Scandinavians, but we can for other nations.
The British culture is similar to the Scandinavian one due to their shared history, culture, and language.
Scandinavia refers to the original Viking lands: Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Iceland and Finland, included in these countries, are Nordic.

Midsummer's Eve was hijacked by the church and renamed Sankt Hans.
Copenhagen was bombed by the British in 1807.
After all that Denmark had lost through wars, it went on a sort of Golden Age throughout the mid 19th century.
The Gini Coefficient is used to express inequality in a society. It is also likely to predict how happy and healthy its people are.
The Nordic countries have a high trust rate among their citizens.
Egalitarianism in Denmark is supposedly to have originated from the Viking Era, but it is probably from the high taxes and strong welfare state.
Denmark is starting to become less egalitarian in terms of their wealth and education, with the rich congregating in the region of Strandvejen and stark differences between education in cities compared to the countryside.
The Danes pay up to 70% income tax and reliably vote for political parties that favour high taxes. The explanation being that they are highly trusting of the government to do their job properly and are somewhat altruistic societally. However, the Danes have 2 ways of undermining their society: high prevalence of shopping in the black market and high private debt levels.
Lowest life expectancy in the Nordic countries, highest consumption of sugar, alcohol, and pork.
The author thinks that there is a culture of denial in Denmark, such as the denial of poor health, environmentalism, and the existence of Germany.

Part of the Nordic Council (settling the question of "is Iceland a Nordic country")
Starting as a Norwegian colony, Iceland was lacklustre in population due to the harsh environment, incest, and natural disasters. It was ruled by Denmark, but was then liberated by Hitler. Its economy grew after US funding post-WW2.
A few businesses profited from the fishing licenses that were imposed in the 1980s. They moved into banking, and these banks bought foreign assets - in contrast to other Nordic countries.
Too tight and close knit society led to the blurring of boundaries between businesses and politicians, with wealthy families known as "The Octopus". Freedom of the press is also limited.
Icelandic people look up to Denmark and its culture, especially the older generations.
The belief in elves within Icelandic folklore is common.
Vatnajokull - Iceland's biggest glacier.

May 17 is Norway's national day, when everyone dresses up in traditional dirndls. Historically, the date roughly coincided with liberation from Germany and independence from Sweden.
Nothing seemed to have changed much in Norwegian society post-Breivik massacre.
Norwegian people seem to be more outdoorsy and connected to nature due to the geography of Norway. Also, historically, Norway has been a colony and a sparsely populated country with decentralised populations, which may explain why Oslo is less grand than the other Nordic capitals.
In the 1950s, with potential prospects of finding oil in the North Sea, the UK, Denmark, and Norway agreed on their borders and rights to the North Sea. In 1969, Norway started to produce oil and to this day has amassed extraordinary amounts of wealth in the form of a sovereign wealth fund, which contributes to Norway's success and high standards of living.
Historically, because Norway has been less developed and people have been more subsistence-oriented, there is a more frugal culture around the investment of the oil fund compared to other Nordic countries, such as Iceland. However, there is a high number of unemployed people and people who depend on social benefits. Migrants tend to do the dirtier and less desirable jobs.

Highest levels of alcohol consumption among other Nordic countries and binge drinking culture, speculated to their short summers and people trying to enjoy things while they can. Higher levels of suicide than in other Nordic countries.
Finland's education system is one of the best in the world due to a homogenous population, emphasis on quality teachers, and equality, where private schools don't exist.

The most populous and influential of all Nordic countries, with exports in music and IKEA being a highlight.
Swedish people have a stereotype of appearing polite, shy, and following rules. They have words such as duktig and lagom that define many aspects of behaviour in Swedish society.
Sweden has a high intake of immigrants, which causes the majority of crimes compared to the local population.
The Social Democrats enjoyed political power for years, determining all aspects of Swedish life, which made it akin to a totalitarian regime.
Self sufficiency and not relying on other people affects all aspects of Swedish society. From men's roles in romance and courtship, extreme gender equality, to children being taught to not rely on their mothers.
The Scandinavian countries, for all their egalitarianism, still have and support a royal families.