Denmark still has its own CHAZ from 1971 - Christiania, the breakaway anarchist commune

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Freetown Christiania, also known as Christiania, is an intentional community and commune of about 850 to 1,000 residents, covering 19 acres in the Danish capital city of Copenhagen.

Denmark is often listed among the happiest countries in the world, but back in 1971 there was enough discontent to inspire a group of hippies, junkies, oddballs and outcasts to set up a permanent squat in a former military complex in the country’s capital.

Over the years, the social experiment developed into a self-contained society that, though it rejected state control, lived in tolerable harmony with the rest of the city - Christiania has its own flag and currency.

Many Danes outside of the commune see the town as a successful social experiment, a place where entrepreneurs are as highly regarded and valued as the drug addicts who take refuge in the area because of the ongoing negotiations concerning the legality of substance abuse.

The commune today is partially self-governing, and its members pay taxes to the state, but it still applies own rules such as no cars, no stealing, no guns, no bullet-proof vests, no hard drugs. The stands on the famed Pusher Street, where until 2004 one could buy hash openly, are today gone, but cameras are still not allowed.

Still, at core an anarchist community, Christiania remains a place where drugs are freely sold and consumed without overt interference from the police — a weed-smoking Disneyland.

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