My immediate thought here in the western hemisphere is that the further south you are with more hardwood species the acuter the angle of the axe or adze needs to be.
In the pinewood north, both in europe and here, conifers dominate and a heavy, blunter axe ( say 20-25 degrees ) handles the pines and poplars and whatnot.
A cute little Angle is why the Saxons went too. ;’)