7 reasons why Denmark is the happiest country in the world

Thomas Colson

Meik Wiking

His newly-released book, "The Little Book of Hygge," explores a word he believes is central to that happiness.

As Wiking says, hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) has no direct translation: it means cosiness, it means intimacy, and it means warmth - but it means many more things than just these points.

We looked at some of the components that make up a hyggelig lifestyle, as explored in "The Little Book of Hygge."

For references in the piece, hygge is a noun, hyggeligt is a singular adjective, and hyggelige is a plural adjective.