where are you from?

some of the first things that i want to read now, before i really start reading a book, is the "about the author" section and i've noticed that it is usually like

• birth year
• birth place
• current place of residence

and it's like: why? why is this the info they choose to share?

and when talking about artists of any kind, WHERE THEY'RE FROM is the first piece of info they usually throw at you
"hailing from denmark" or like "this texan band" or whatever

like why?
does it say something about you or your art?

because i have far more in common with our norwegian neighbors than literally anyone i've ever met.