Elves were rare in my country, also. Their homeland was located some ways north of our border, and as you mentioned, they were not an especially populous race. They were not ill-regarded, generally but... hm. Taldor is a mostly human country, and people tended to have preconceptions about them.

Even with the number of humans here, Kenos is much more diverse. Springstar especially—or Skysong, I suppose—contains so many cultures that I think people are less likely to make assumptions at a glance.