Greece

Greece

General Information

Greece is situated in Southeastern Europe, with an area of 131,957 sq.km. and a population of 10,964,020.

Athens is the capital of Greece with a population of 3,192,606.

Local time is GMT +2 hours.

The Hellenic Republic is a Presidential Parliamentary Democracy.

President of the Hellenic Republic: Mr Karolos Papoulias.

Prime Minister: Mr Constantinos Karamanlis

Parliament: Three hundred elected members with elections held every four years

Greece is a member state of E.U. since 1981.

The currency is euro.

The Greek economy adopts the principles of ffree enterprise and is bound by the regulations of international organisations such as ECOFIN and WTO, of which it is a member.

GREECE, Hellas, officially known as the “Hellenic Republic” is the southeastern most country in Europe, occupying the southernmost part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by Albania, X-Yugoslavia (the Republic of Skopje) and Bulgaria from the north, and the European part of Turkey from the northeast. From the east by the Aegean Sea, from the south by the MMediterranean Sea, and from the west the Ionian Sea, including more than 400 islands, which occupy more than one fifth of its total land territory the total area of the country, is 131,957 square kilometers (50,949 square miles).

The mainland pportion of Greece comprises the regions of Thraki and Macedonia in the north; Epirus, Thessaly, and Central Greece in the central section; and in the south Peloponnisos, a peninsula which is connected to the rest of the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth. The remainder of Greece consists of more than 400 islands, (only 149 are inhabited.) These are Evia, Crete, or Kriti, the Northern Sporades, the Cyclades, the Dodecanisa, Chios, Limnos, Lesvos, Samos, Samothraki, and Thassos, all of which are spread out in the Aegean Sea. In the west, the Ionian Sea, is where the Eptanisa are found, a group of seven inhabited major islands and three small uninhabited ones.

The coastal waters of the country are relatively shallow aand penetrate far inland. Despite its indented coastline, Greece has fine natural harbors, namely its main harbor of Piraeus, the second largest in the Mediterranean Sea, after Marseilles in France. Piraeus is considered an excellent harbor in the East Mediterranean waters

Land and Resources

Greece is famous for its natural beauty. The land is mountainous and rugged, but Greece is relatively poor in natural resources. Although a small country, Greece has a very diverse topography. The most important divisions of the ccountry are the central mountains; the damp, mountainous regions in the west; the dry, sunny plains and lower mountain ranges in eastern Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thraki; Central Greece, the southeastern “point” (peninsula) of the mainland that cradled the city-states of the country, the mountainous regions of Peloponnisos; and the islands, most of which are in the Aegean Sea.

The central mountain area, the Pindus Mountains, which extends from a northern to a southern direction, is one of the most rugged, isolated, and sparsely populated parts of the country. Mount Olympus (2,917m/9,570ft), Greece’s highest peak, was considered in ancient times to be home to the 12 gods. Its western slopes, which extend through Epirus down to the Ionian Sea, are lower and more hospitable. The southeastern extremity of Central Greece, Attica, is broken into many isolated valleys and plains by mountain ridges, where the Athenian Plain, with Athens in the center, is located. Thessaly, a plain ringed by mountains, is one of the most fertile parts of the country. Macedonia has the largest plains in Greece. Thraki, east of Macedonia, has a varied topography of mountains, valleys and several coastal plains. Peloponnisos, is mountainous, but to a lesser degree than Central GGreece. It is shaped like a giant hand with impassable mountain ridges extending like fingers into the sea. Between the mountains are narrow valleys, which are isolated from one another, but which open onto the water. The western section of Peloponnisos is less mountainous than its eastern parts. The islands of the Aegean Sea are generally high, rugged, stony and dry, and consequently their contribution to economic life of the country is limited. They are important however, because of their great beauty, historical importance, potential for tourism and strategic military value.

Climate

The climate of Greece is similar to that of other Mediterranean regions. In the lowlands the summers are hot and dry, with clear, cloudless skies. The winters are relatively mild, but rainy. The mountainous regions are much cooler, with considerable rain during the summer months. Frost, sleet, ice, or snow is rare in the lowlands, but most mountains are covered with snow in the winter. Precipitation varies from region to region. For example, in Thessaly less than 38mm (1.5in) of rain falls in some years, whereas parts of the western coast receive about 1,270mm (50in). The mean annual temperature in Athens is about 17° C (63° F); the eextremes range from a normal low of -0.6° C (31° F) in January to a normal high of 37.2° C (99° F) in July and at times higher in August.

Natural Resources

Greece is poorly endowed with natural resources of high economic value. Only 23% of the land is arable, while the rest consists mostly of barren mountains. Forests, probably abundant in ancient times, have to a great extent been depleted. Subsequent soil erosion has made reforestation difficult. Greece has little black coal, and its lignite is of poor quality. On the other hand, the country does have significant petroleum and natural gas deposits, located under the Aegean Sea, near the island of Thassos. The deposits of bauxite and iron ore are rich in metal content, but the reserves of other commercially important minerals, such as chromium, nickel, copper, uranium, and magnesium, are relatively small. Although the waters surrounding the country are inhabited by a large variety of fish, only a few species are plentiful.

Environmental Problems

Rapid industrialization in Greece during the 1970s has resulted in heavy pollution. Especially air pollution, a serious environmental problem in Athens, where the government called 19 air pollution emergencies between 1982 and 1989.

In addition to causing respiratory problems, the smog erodes marble and other stone and has pocked and discolored many of the country’s priceless monuments and statues. Pollution monitoring stations have been installed throughout metropolitan Athens and in numerous other Greek cities. Recent efforts have reduced air pollution from heating and industry. Although motor vehicles must comply with emission standards, automobile exhaust, particularly from diesel-powered vehicles, is still a major pollution agent. Water pollution is also a problem, especially in the ggulfs of Saronikos and Thermaikos, where untreated industrial wastes, sewage, and municipal wastewater are discharged.

Plants and Animals

Greece has a great diversity of vegetation. From sea level to an elevation of about 460m (1,500ft), olives, oranges, dates, pomegranates, figs, cotton, and tobacco are grown. From about 120 to 460m (400 to 1,500ft) deciduous and evergreen forests are found, where oak, black pine, chestnut, beech, and sumac grow. Tulips, hyacinths, and laurel are also characteristic of the area. Firs and ssuch wild flowers as anemone and cyclamen are found above 1,220m (4,000ft), and mosses and lichens predominate above 1,525m (5,000ft).

Wildlife includes boar, European black bear, lynx, jackal, chamois, deer, fox, badger, and weasel. Among the birds are the hawk, ppelican, egret, pheasant, partridge, nightingale, turtledove, and stork.

Soils

The soils in Greece is mostly very rocky and very dry, but the country is interspersed with small valleys where the soils are of the rich Mediterranean terra rosa, or red earth, variety.

Population

The population of Greece is about 98% ethnic Greek. The Greek Government as Muslim classifies about 1% of the population. Most of the Muslims are of Turkish descent. About 100,000 Muslims live in Thrace. The remainder of the population includes people of Slavic, Albanian, and Armenian descent, as well as Vlachs, a people who speak a Romanian dialect.

Principal Cities

The largest and most important city is Athens, the capital, with a population of 748,110. Piraeus, seaport oof Athens, is the largest port of Greece (second largest in the Mediterranean Sea after Marseilles in France) with a population of 169,622. Thessaloniki, (sometimes referred to as the co-capital) with a population of 377,951, is a seaport and an important textile center. Patra, located on the northwestern part of Peloponnisos, is a major seaport with 155,180 inhabitants. Other sizable cities are Heraclion, Crete (117,167) and Larisa (113,426).

Religion

About 98% of the Greek people are followers of the Christian OOrthodox Church of Greece. Although similar to the Eastern Orthodox religion of several eastern European nations, the Greek Orthodox religion is different in many ways as well. The remaining 2% of the population includes Muslims, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Jews.

Language

The official language of Greece is Modern Greek, which is also spoken by the majority of the people. The vernacular Modern Greek and language of popular literature is Demotiki or Kathomiloumeni, as opposed to Katharevousa, a more formal Modern Greek or Purist Greek. Demotiki became the official language of the country by an act of parliament in 1976. It is used by the government, the newspapers, the media, and educational institutions. Great differences exist between the language of the educated classes and that used by the majority of the people. English and French are widely spoken

Greece is much more than what we are taught at school or the predictable summer image of glorious sunsets and sandy beaches.

In Greece, you are standing at a crossroads of cultures, colours and civilizations, you feel the strength of history and the warmth of being in the southernmost part of Europe, you discover an evolutionary process of thought, influence and experience.

A ccountry that despite being rich in history has a population that moves towards the future.

A country that although statistically small, is huge in its diversity.

A landscape that has given us thousands of post card images but remains incredibly vibrant and impossible to capture.

Greece is a country of beautiful contradictions, a constant journey in time, from the present to the past and back again.

Walk through the olive groves, through ancient sites. Move to clusters of sparsely inhabited islands. Roam from the beaches to rocky mountains and explore breathtaking scenery.

In Greece the fusion of images becomes more than imagery and turns into reality.

Greece is a country with a vast wealth of cultural tradition and folklore. Visitors, therefore, have many opportunities to enrich their travels by attending the various cultural or sports events held in every region of the country, to participate in the festivities that often are connected with enchanting customs and get acquainted with unknown but extremely interesting aspects of Greek folklore heritage.

Greece has an abundance of resources that tourists with ecological and cultural interests will find attractive. The wealth of cultural as well as ecological resources, both biotic and abiotic, constitute a special comparative advantage of tthe country for those interested in the conservation of cultural diversity, bio-diversity and eco-systems. These resources are marked by their wide variety, rareness and distinctiveness and are found in areas many of which have already been placed under special protection.

Arts and Culture

Civilization is the sum total of the material and cultural achievements of a group of people. Culture and arts are two concepts that are closely interwoven, as art is the characteristic expression of the culture of a given period. Arts such as architecture, sculpture, pottery, weaving, music, jewelry making, and painting have a long-standing tradition in Greece, where civilizations were already established in pre-historic times.

Little is known to date about the Palaeolithic period in Greece, but quite a lot about the subsequent Neolithic period (7th – 4th millennia B.C. approximately) and its civilization, which is found mainly in areas such as Thessaly and Macedonia.

Civilizations with impressive achievements developed during the Bronze Age (3000 – 1150 B.C. approximately) in the Northeastern Aegean, the Cyclades (its trade-mark being the big-sized marble figurines), Crete and the Greek mainland. The civilizations, which flourished during the 2nd millennium in the latter two areas, known as the Minoan and Mycenaean respectively, are considered the

first two major civilizations of Greece. The architectural remnants (e.g. palaces), as well as the samples of pottery, stone carving (vessels, seal stones), metallurgy (vessels, weapons), jewelry making and painting (murals) are impressive and representative of these civilizations.

During historic times, the civilizations of the Geometric (9th – 8th centuries B.C.) and the Archaic periods (7th – 6th centuries B.C.) are considered forerunners of the culture of the classical period (5th – 4th centuries B.C.). The classical works of art, with ttheir ideal proportions and beauty, expressed the philosophical ideals of their times and were the model of the European Renaissance of the 15th century A.D. During the subsequent Hellenistic (3rd – 1st centuries B.C.) and Roman times (1st century B.C. – 3rd century A.D.) Greek civilization developed within the framework of big kingdoms and an empire, respectively.

Again within the framework of an empire, Greek civilization developed during the Byzantine period – early, middle and late – (4th -15th centuries A.D.), wwhile in more recent times civilization is marked by the Ottoman domination and the first steps of the new Hellenic state after the War of Independence of 1821.

A visit to archaeological sites, museums and monuments all over the country offers aa vivid picture of the civilizations in Greece, their achievements in arts and technology from the pre-historic era to modern times.

Accommodation

Greece is one of the most popular tourist destinations worldwide. Annually it welcomes more than 14 million tourists, a figure that places it in the 15th position on the World Tourism Organisation list of countries with inbound tourism (according to WTO data). Over the past decades Greece has witnessed the development of modern and multiform large or small-scale tourist infrastructures catering to the demands and accommodation requirements of every visitor.

Today Greece’s accommodation potential numbers 670,000 beds, distributed over 352,000 rooms in approximately 8,900 hotel units. On most of the Greek islands and mainland Greece, visitors can also find accommodation iin private houses (rooms to let), which are operating under the special seal of the Greek National Tourism Organisation. Moreover, there are more than 340 campings all over the country, offering 30,000 camping spaces and 2,500 small houses.

Greek gastronomy

The unique tastes of Greece guarantee that you are in for many culinary surprises during your stay in the country. Contrary to common belief, you will discover that Greek cuisine is not only moussaka, souvlaki and choriatiki salata, but has a wide vvariety of dishes that can meet the culinary demands of both meat-eaters and vegetarians in an extremely satisfying way.

Things could not be different, anyway, in the country that gave birth to symposiums and the Epicurean philosophers. It was, in fact, Archestratos who, in 330 B.C., wrote the first cookbook in History, and reminded us that cuisine is a sign of civilization.

Greece has a culinary tradition of approximately 4,000 years. Nevertheless, like most national cuisines, Greek cuisine has both influenced others and embraced ideas from its eastern and western neighbours.

Archaeological sites – Monuments

Greece is full of archaeological sites and monuments of distinctive prestige and charm, on which all known periods of its long-standing history have left their mark. Visitors have the opportunity to make a unique “journey” through the rare “mosaic” of historic and cultural memory which has left an indelible mark on every region of the country and effortlessly highlights the manifold manifestations of Greek culture to date.

According to the UNESCO catalogue, the following archaeological sites and cultural areas in Greece have been characterised as Monuments of Cultural Heritage:

1. Monastery complex of Aghio Oros (Mount Athos)

2. The Acropolis of Athens

3. Vassae: The Temple of Epicurean Apollo

4. Vergina – Aegae

5. Delphi (archaeological site)

6. Delos (archaeological ssite)

7. Epidaurus (archaeological site)

8. Early Christian and Byzantine Thessalonica

9. Monastery complex of Meteora

10. Mystras (Medieval City)

11. The Monasteries of Daphni (Attica), Ossios Lucas (Central Greece) and Nea Moni (New Monastery) of Chios

12. The archaeological sites of Mycenae and Tiryns

13. Olympia (archaeological site)

14. Patmos: Monastery of Aghios Ioannis Theologos and the Cave of the Apocalypse

15. Medieval city of Rhodes

16. Samos: Pythagoreio and Heraion

Athens

Athens is the symbol of freedom, art, and democracy in the conscience of the civilized world. The capital of Greece took its name from the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge.

In Athens memory never fades. Wherever you stand, wherever you turn, the city’s long and rich history will be alive in front of you. This is where that marvel of architecture, the Parthenon, was created. This is where art became inseparable from life, and this is where Pericles gave the funerary speech, that monument of the spoken word. In the centre of town are two hills, the Acropolis with the monuments from the Age of Pericles, and Lycabettus with the picturesque chapel of Ai Giorgis.

Ancient ruins provide a vivid testimony to the glory of Athens, hailed by many people as the cradle of western civilization.

The most important monuments on the AAcropolis are:

The Parthenon. It is the most important and characteristic monument of the ancient Greek civilization and still remains its international symbol. It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patron goddess of Athens.

The Erechtheion was built in ca. 420 B.C. in the Ionic order. It has a prostasis on the east side, a monumental propylon on the north, and the famous porch of the Caryatids on the south. The main temple was divided into two sections, dedicated to the worship of the two principal gods of Attica, Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus.

The Propylaea. The monumental gateway of the Acropolis was designed by the architect Mnesikles and constructed in 437-432 B.C. It comprises a central building and two lateral wings.

The Temple of Athena Nike. The relief frieze on the upper section of the walls depicts the conference of gods on the east side, and scenes from battles on the other three. A marble parapet decorated with the relief representation of Nikae (Victories), protected the edge of the Bastion on which the temple was erected.

Olympia

One of the most important sanctuaries of antiquity, dedicated to the father of the gods Olympian Zeus. Olympia is the birthplace of the Olympic Games and also where

they were held.

The area, of great natural beauty, has been inhabited uninterruptedly since the 3rd millenium B.C. and in the late Mycenaean period it became a religious centre.

Delphi

During the Mycenaean period, the female deity of Earth was worshipped in the small settlement of Delphi.

The systematic excavations of the French Archaeological School, which began in 1893, uncovered the ruins of Delphi. The village of Kastri, which had occupied the area of the sanctuary since medieval times, was moved tto its present position. After the removal of huge quantities of earth that had ...