Via Business Insider: It may come as a surprise to some, that three Nordic cities top the world's most sociable cities ranking. Gothenburg claimed the top spot ahead of its big brother Stockholm. The city on the Swedish west coast owes its win to sociable, open and party-prone inhabitants, says Hostelworld, which conducted the study. North American cities also stand out with their sociability. The rest of the top five went to US cities Chicago, New York and Boston; followed by Copenhagen on sixth place. The study asked more than 12,000 in 39 countries questions around their social life, ranging from the frequency with which people socialize and openness to the "propensity to party". The ‘Sociable Cities’ study is the first comparative analysis of the social life of world cities and the local residents’ views on global travel and tourists. Here are the world's 10 most pleasant cities, according to Hostelworld: 1. Gothenburg 2. Stockholm 3. Chicago 4. Boston 5. New York 6. Copenhagen 7. Madrid 8. Rome 9. Hamburg 10. Dublin Gothenburg's win confirms a Swedish cliché about its residents being particularly sociable and cheerful. Perhaps many Swedes think that the more uptight capital would deserve a lower ranking... And the definition of Gött? The word has its roots in the Gothenburg area and is used when something is good, nice or awesome. It is a dialect version of 'gott'.