The English name "Greece" derives from a Latin name, Graecia, originally
used for a region in what is now northern Greece inhabited by a people
called the Graikos.
History
The shores of the Aegean Sea saw the emergence of the first civilizations in
Europe, namely the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations. After these subsided
a Dark Age followed until around 800 BC a new era of Greek civilization
emerged. It was this Greece of city-states that established colonies along
the Mediterranean, resisted Persian invasions and whose culture would be the
basis of Hellenistic civilisation that followed the empire of Alexander the
Great (king of Macedonia).
Militarily Greece itself declined until it was conquered by the Romans from
168 BC onwards, though Greek culture would in turn conquer Roman life. A
province of the Roman Empire, Greek culture would continue to dominate the
eastern Mediterranean and when the Empire finally split in two the Eastern
or Byzantine Empire, centred on Constantinople, would be Greek in nature, as
well as encompassing Greece itself. From the 4th century to the 15th century
the Eastern Roman Empire survived eleven centuries of attacks from the west
and east until Constantinople fell on May 29, 1453 to the Ottoman Empire.
Greece had gradually been conquered by the Ottomans during the 15th century.
The Ottomans ruled Greece until the early 19th century. In 1821 the Greeks
rebelled and declared their independence, but did not succeed in winning it
until 1829. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, in a series of war
with the Ottomans, Greece sought to enlarge Greece to include the Greek-speaking
population of the Ottoman Empire, slowly growing in territory and population
until it reached its present boundaries in 1947.
After World War II, Greece experienced a civil war that lasted until 1949.
In 1967 the military with the aid of the US government, seized power in a
coup d'état, establishing what became known as the Regime of the Colonels.
In 1973 the regime abolished the Greek monarchy. In 1974, after the military
junta completed its inceptors' (US/Kissinger) major goal to sponsor an
attempted coup in Cyprus it collapsed. In 1975, following a referendum to
abolish the German-origin monarch, a democratic republic was established.
Greece joined the European Union in 1981 and adopted the Euro as its
currency in 2001. The 2004 Summer Olympics were held in the place of their
foundation.
Politics
The 1975 constitution includes extensive specific guarantees of civil
liberties and vests the powers of the head of state in an indirectly elected
president, who is advised by the Council of the Republic. The prime minister
and cabinet play the central role in the political process, while the
president performs some governmental functions in addition to ceremonial
duties. The president is elected by parliament to a five-year term and can
be re-elected once.
Members of Greece's unicameral parliament (the Vouli ton Ellinon) are
elected by secret ballot for a maximum of four years, but elections can be
called earlier. Greece uses a complex reinforced proportional representation
electoral system which discourages splinter parties and ensures that the
party which leads in the national vote will win a majority of seats. A party
must receive 3% of the total national vote to gain representation.
Local government
Greece consists of 13 administrative regions known as peripheries, which are
further subdivided into 51 prefectures (nomoi, singular - nomos):
Attica:
Attica
Central Greece:
Euboea
Evritania
Fokis
Fthiotis
Viotia
Central Macedonia
Khalkidhiki
Imathia
Kilkis
Pella
Pieria
Serres
Thessaloniki
Crete
Chania
Heraklion
Lasithi
Rethimno
East Macedonia and Thrace
Drama
Evros
Kavala
Rodhopi
Xanthi
Epirus
Arta
Ioannina
Preveza
Thesprotia
Ionian Islands
Corfu
Kefallinia
Levkas
Zakinthos
North Aegean
Chios
Lesbos
Samos
Peloponnesos
Arcadia
Argolis
Corinth
Laconia
Messinia
South Aegean
Cyclades
Dodecanese
Thessaly
Kardhitsa
Larisa
Magnesia
Trikala
West Greece
Achaea
Aitolia-Acarnania
Ilia
West Macedonia
Florina
Grevena
Kastoria
Kozani
Beyond these there is one autonomous region, Mount Athos (Ayion Oros - Holy
Mountain), a monastic state under Greek sovereignty.
The nomoi are divided into 147 eparchies (singular eparchia), which are
divided into 1,033 municipalities: 900 urban municipalities (demoi) and 133
rural communities (koinotetes). Before 1999, there were 5,775 local
authorities: 457 demoi, 5,318 koinotetes, subdivided into 12,817 localities
(oikosmoi).
Geography
The country consists of a large mainland at the southern end of the Balkans;
the Peloponnesus peninsula, which is separated from the mainland by the
canal of the Isthmus of Corinth; and numerous islands, including Crete,
Rhodes, Euboea and the Dodecanese and Cycladic groups of the Aegean Sea.
Greece has more than 14,880 kilometres of coastline and a land boundary of
1,160 kilometres.
About 80% of Greece is mountainous or hilly. Much of the country is dry and
rocky; only 28% of the land is arable. Western Greece contains lakes and
wetlands. Pindus, the central mountain range, has an average elevation of
2,650 m. The Mount Olympus is the highest point in Greece at 2,911 m above
sea level.
Greece's climate features mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
Temperatures are rarely extreme, although snowfalls do occur in the
mountains and occasionally even in Athens in the winter.
Economy
Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for
about half of GDP. Tourism is a key industry, providing a large portion of
GDP and foreign exchange earnings. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid,
equal to about 2.4% of GNP. The economy has improved steadily over the last
few years, as the government tightened policy in the run-up to Greece's
entry into the EU's single currency, the euro, on January 1, 2001.
Major challenges remaining include the reduction of unemployment and further
restructuring of the economy, including privatising several state
enterprises, undertaking social security reforms, overhauling the tax system,
and minimising bureaucratic inefficiencies. Economic growth is forecast at 4
- 4.5 % in 2004.
The national central bank of Greece is the Bank of Greece, not to be
confused with the "National Bank of Greece", a commercial bank.
Demographics
According to the 2001 census, the population of Greece was 10,964,020. Of
those, 58.8% lived in urban areas, whereas only 28.4% lived in rural areas.
The population of the two largest cities in Greece, Athens and Thessaloniki,
was almost 4 million. Although the population of Greece is still growing,
Greece faces a serious demographic problem: 2002 was the first year where
the number of deaths surpassed the number of births.
A large number of immigrants live in Greece today. About 65% have come from
Albania, and large-scale Albanian migration to Greece since the fall of
Communism in Albania has become a source of conflict in Greece because the
Greek-Albanian borders opened without any preparations from the Greek
government in terms of immigrant facilities. The Albanians occasionally
suffer from discrimination and exploitation in Greece, and used to be
described as trouble-makers and criminals. Nonetheless most Greeks nowadays
recognize their contribution to the Greek economy. (Several prominent Greek
sportsmen are also Albanians who immigrated to Greece in the 1990s.) There
are smaller numbers of immigrants from Bulgaria, Romania, Pakistan, Ukraine,
Belarus, Poland and Georgia. The true number is not known, since the
majority live illegally in Greece.
There are numerous linguistic, religious or cultural groups and minorities
in Greece. They include, but are not limited to, various Roma groups, Slavs,
and Vlachs (Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians).
The only minority to which special rights are granted (deriving mainly from
the Treaty of Lausanne) is the Muslim minority of Thrace.
Religion
The Greek Constitution guarantees absolute freedom of religion. It also
states that all persons living within the Greek territory shall enjoy full
protection of their religious beliefs. According to the Constitution the "prevailing
religion" of Greece is the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.
The majority of Greeks (95 to 98%) are at least nominally followers of the
Eastern Orthodox Church, although religious observance has declined in
recent years. Greek Muslims make up about 1.3% of the population, and are
concentrated mainly in Thrace. There are also some Evangelical Protestants
and Catholics, mainly in the Cyclades islands; and some Jews, mainly in
Thessaloniki. Some groups in Greece are trying to reconstruct the old Greek
Pagan Religion.
Tourism in Greece
Greece is a country of a rich cultural heritage. Democracy was invented in
Athens, Greek culture is the mother of Roman culture and has very much
influenced other civilisations. Famous places to visit include the coast of
the Aegean Sea, the Peloponnesus with antique Olympia, the host of the 2004
Olympic Games (Athens) with its Parthenon on the Acropolis, or Thessaloniki
in the north. On the island of Crete are great beaches.
Transportation in Greece
Railways:
total:2,548 km
standard gauge:1,565 km 1.435-m gauge (36 km electrified; 23 km double track)
narrow gauge: 961 km 1.000-m gauge; 22 km 0.750-m gauge (a rack type railway
for steep grades)
City with underground railway system: Athens
Highways:
total: 117,000 km
paved: 107,406 km (including 470 km of expressways)
unpaved: 9,594 km (1996 est.)
Waterways:
80 km; system consists of three coastal canals; including the Corinth Canal
(6 km) which crosses the Isthmus of Corinth connecting the Gulf of Corinth
with the Saronic Gulf and shortens the sea voyage from the Adriatic to
Peiraiefs (Piraeus) by 325 km; and three unconnected rivers
Pipelines:
crude oil 26 km; petroleum products 547 km
Ports and harbors:
Alexandroupolis, Elefsis, Irakleion (Crete), Kavala, Kerkyra, Chalkis,
Igoumenitsa, Lavrion, Patrai, Peiraiefs (Piraeus), Thessaloniki, Volos,
Rhodes
Merchant marine:
total: 779 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 24,744,872 GRT/43,734,138 DWT
ships by type: bulk 273, cargo 60, chemical tanker 22, combination bulk 5,
combination ore/oil 8, container 43, liquified gas 5, multi-functional large
load carrier 1, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 245,
refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off 19, short-sea passenger 75,
specialized tanker 4, vehicle carrier 2 (1999 est.)
Airports:
Total: 80 (1999 est.) With paved runways:
total: 64
over 3,047 m: 6
2,438 to 3,047 m: 15
1,524 to 2,437 m: 18
914 to 1,523 m: 17
under 914 m: 8 (1999 est.) Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 12 (1999 est.) Heliports: 2 (1999 est.)
