AGENCY 027 - WEBCAM CHAT GREECE
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Greece (Greek: ????da Elláda, IPA: [?'laða], or ????? Ellás, [?'las]), officially the Hellenic Republic [???????? ??µ???at?a (?lini'k?i ðimokra'tia)],[3] is a country in Southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. It has borders with Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east and south of mainland Greece, while the Ionian Sea lies to the west. Both parts of the Eastern Mediterranean basin feature a vast number of islands. Greece lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is heir to the heritages of ancient Greece, the Roman and Byzantine Empire,[4] and nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule.[5] Greece has a particularly long and eventful history with a diverse cultural heritage that both shaped and has been shaped by cultures throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Europe. It is regarded as the birthplace of democracy,[6] Western philosophy,[7] the Olympic Games, Western literature, political science, major scientific and mathematic principles, and Western drama[8] including both tragedy and comedy. Today, Greece is a developed country, a member of the European Union since 1981,[9] a member of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union since 2001, NATO since 1952, the OECD since 1961,[10] the WEU since 1995, and ESA since 2005.[11] Athens is the capital; Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Volos and Larissa are some of the country's other major cities. Contents [hide]
The subsequent mixture of Roman ,and Hellenic culture took form in the making of the Byzantine Empire in 330 AD around Constantinople (today Istanbul, Turkey), and remained a major cultural and military force for the next 1,123 years until its fall at the hands of Ottomans in 1453. On the eve of the Ottoman era the Greek intelligentsia migrated to Western Europe, playing a significant role in the Western European Renaissance through the transferring of works by Ancient Greeks to Western Europe. Nevertheless, the Ottoman millet system contributed to the ethnic cohesion of Orthodox Greeks by segregating the various peoples within the Ottoman Empire based on religion as the latter played an integral role in the formation of modern Greek identity. On March 25th of 1821, the Greeks rebelled against the Ottoman empire. Through the Greek War of Independence, successfully fought against the Ottoman Empire from 1821 to 1829, the nascent Greek state was finally recognized under the London Protocol. In 1827, Ioannis Kapodistrias, a noble Greek from the Ionian Islands, was chosen as the first governor of the new Republic. However, following his assassination, the Great Powers soon installed a monarchy under Otto, of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. In 1843, an uprising forced the King to grant a constitution and a representative assembly. Due to his unimpaired authoritarian rule, he was eventually dethroned in 1863 and replaced by Prince Vilhelm (William) of Denmark, who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain. In 1877, Charilaos Trikoupis, a dominant figure of the Greek political scene who is attributed with the significant improvement of the country's infrastructure, curbed the power of the monarchy to interfere in the assembly by issuing the rule of vote of confidence to any potential prime minister. In the aftermath of WW I, Greece fought against Turkish nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), with the traumatic conflict ending in a massive population exchange between the two countries under the Treaty of Lausanne. Instability and successive coup d'etats marked the following era, which was coloured by the massive task of incorporating 1.5 million Greek refugees from Asia Minor into Greek society.On 28 October 1940 Fascist Italy demanded the surrender of Greece, but the Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas famously responded to the Italian ultimatum with the single word "OXI" ("No"). In the following Greco-Italian War, Greece repelled Italian forces into Albania, giving the Allies their first victory over Axis forces on land. The country would eventually fall to urgently dispatched German forces during the Battle of Greece, but the occupiers nevertheless met serious challenges from the Greek Resistance. After liberation, Greece experienced a civil war between Royalist and Communist forces, which led to economic devastation and severe social tensions between its Rightists and large Communist Leftists[12] The next 20 years were characterized by a significant economic growth, also propelled in part by the Marshall Plan. In 1965, a period of political turbulence led to a coup d’etat on April 21, 1967 by the US-supported Regime of the Colonels. On November 1973 the Athens Polytechnic Uprising sent shock waves across the regime, and a counter-coup established Brigadier Dimitrios Ioannides as dictator. On July 20, 1974, as Turkey invaded the island of Cyprus, the regime collapsed. Ex-Premier Constantine Karamanlis was invited back from Paris where he had lived in self-exile since 1963, marking the beginning of the Metapolitefsi era; a 1975 democratic republican constitution was activated and the monarchy abolished by a referendum held that same year. Meanwhile, Andreas Papandreou founded the Panhellenic Socialist Party, or PASOK, in response to Constantine Karamanlis' New Democracy party, and the two groupings have dominated Greek political affairs in the ensuing decades. Greece became the tenth member of the European Union on January 1, 1981 and ever since, the nation has experienced a remarkable and sustained economic growth. Widespread investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenues from tourism, shipping and a fast growing service sector have raised the country's standard of living to unprecedented levels. The country adopted the Euro in 2001, and successfully organised the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens
The current Constitution of Greece was drawn up and adopted by the Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes and entered into force in 1975 after the fall of the military junta of 1967-1974. It has been revised twice since, in 1986 and in 2001. The Constitution, which consists of 120 articles, provides for a separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and grants extensive specific guarantees (further reinforced in 2001) of civil liberties and social rights.[16] According to the Constitution, executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and the Government;[17] after 1986, however, the role of the President in the executive branch is ceremonial.[15] The position of Prime Minister, Greece's head of government, belongs to the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the Parliament. The President of the Republic formally appoints the Prime Minister and, on his recommendation, appoints and dismisses the other members of the Cabinet.[18] The Prime Minister exercises vast political power, and the amendment of 1986 further strengthened his position to the detriment of the President of the Republic.[19] Legislative power is exercised by a 300-member unicameral Parliament.[20] Statutes passed by the Parliament are promulgated by the President of the Republic.[21] Parliamentary elections are held every four years, but the President of the Republic is obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier on the proposal of the Cabinet, in view of dealing with a national issue of exceptional importance.[22] The President is also obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier, if the opposition manages to pass a motion of no confidence.[23] The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises three Supreme Courts: the Court of Cassation (??e??? ?????), the Council of State (S?µß????? t?? ?p???ate?a?) and the Court of Auditors (??e??t??? S???d???). The Judiciary system is also composed of civil courts, which judge civil and penal cases and administrative courts, which judge administrative cases, namely disputes between the citizens and the State. Since the restoration of democracy the party system is dominated by the liberal-conservative New Democracy and the social-democratic Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). Non-negligible parties include the Communist Party of Greece, the Coalition of the Radical Left and the Popular Orthodox Rally. On March 7, 2004, Kostas Karamanlis, president of the New Democracy party and nephew of the late Constantine Karamanlis was elected as the new Prime Minister of Greece, thus marking his party's first electoral victory in nearly eleven years. Karamanlis took over government from Kostas Simitis of PASOK, who had been in office since January 1996, replacing the ailing Andreas Papandreou who died on June 23, 1996. Kostas Karamanlis won a second term on September 16, 2007, however his party acquired a slimmer majority in the Greek Parliament gaining only 152 out of 300 seats.
Map Number Periphery Capital Area Population
Four fifths of Greece consist of mountains or hills, making the country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Western Greece contains a number of lakes and wetlands and it is dominated by the Pindus mountain range. Pindus has a maximum elevation of 2,636 m (8,648 ft) and it is essentially a prolongation of the Dinaric Alps. The range continues through the western Peloponnese, crosses the islands of Kythera and Antikythera and find its way into southwestern Aegean, in the island of Crete where it eventually ends. (the islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once constituted an extension of the mainland). Pindus is characterized by its high, steep peaks, often dissected by numerous canyons and a variety of other karstic landscapes. Most notably, the impressive Meteora formation consisting of high, steep boulders provides a breathtaking experience for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the area each year. Special lifts transfer visitors to the scenic monasteries that lie on top of those rocks. Expansive plains are primarily located in the prefectures of Thessaly, Central Macedonia and Thrace. They constitute key economic regions as they are among the few arable places in the country. Volos and Larissa are the two largest cities of Thessaly. Rare marine species such as the Pinniped Seals and the Loggerhead Sea Turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to the endangered brown bear, the lynx, the Roe Deer and the Wild Goat.
The Alpine type is dominant mainly in the mountainous areas of Northwestern Greece (Epirus, Central Greece, Thessaly, Western Macedonia) as well as in the central parts of Peloponnese, including the prefectures of Achaia, Arcadia and parts of Laconia, where extensions of the Pindus mountain range pass by). Finally, the Temperate type affects Central Macedonia and East Macedonia and Thrace; it features cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers. Athens is located in a transitional area featuring both the Mediterranean and the Temperate types. It averages about 16 inches (40.6 cm) of rain annually. The city's northern suburbs are dominated by the temperate type while the downtown area and the southern suburbs enjoy a typical Mediterranean type.
The people of Greece enjoy a high standard of living. Greece ranks 24th[25] in the 2006 HDI, 22nd on The Economist's 2005 world-wide quality-of-life index,[26] and, according to the International Monetary Fund it has an estimated average per capita income of $35,166[27] for the year 2007, comparable to that of Germany, France and Italy and approximately equal to the EU average. Greece's present prosperity is largely owed to the post-World War II "Greek economic miracle" (when GDP growth averaged 7% between 1950 and 1973), the implementation of a number of structural and fiscal reforms, combined with considerable European Union funding over the last twenty-five years and increasing private consumption and investments. The latter facts have contributed to a consistent annual growth of the Greek GDP that was surpassing the respective one of most of its other EU partners.[28] The Greek banking & finance sector is also an important source of revenue and employment and Greek banks have invested heavily in the Balkan region. The manufacturing sector accounts for about 13% of GDP with the food industry leading in growth, profit and export potential. Greece is the leading investor in all of her Balkan neighbors. High-technology equipment production, especially for telecommunications, is also a fast-growing sector. Other important areas include textiles, building materials, machinery, transport equipment, and electrical appliances. Construction (10%GDP) and agriculture (7%) are yet two other significant sectors of the Greek economic activity.
During the 1960s the size of the Greek fleet nearly doubled, primarily through the investment undertaken by the shipping magnates Onassis and Niarchos.[31] The basis of the modern Greek maritime industry was formed after World War II when Greek shipping businessmen were able to amass surplus ships sold to them by the United States Government through the Ship Sales Act of the 1940s.[31] According to the BTS, the Greek-owned maritime fleet is today the largest in the world, with 3,079 vessels accounting for 18% of the world's fleet capacity (making it the largest of any other country) with a total dwt of 141,931 thousand (142 million dwt).[32] In terms of ship categories, Greece ranks first in both tankers and dry bulk carriers, fourth in the number of containers, and fourth in other ships.[32] However, today's fleet roster is smaller than an all-time high of 5,000 ships in the late 70's.[29]
The General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Hellenic Ministry of Development is responsible for designing, implementing and supervising national research and technological policy. In 2003, public spending on R&D was 456,37 million Euros (12,6% increase from 2002). Total research and development (R&D) spending (both public and private) as a percentage of GDP has increased considerably since the beginning of the past decade, from 0,38% in 1989, to 0,65% in 2001. R&D spending in Greece remains lower than the EU average of 1,93%, but, according to Research DC, based on OECD and Eurostat data, between 1990 and 1998, total R&D expenditure in Greece enjoyed the third highest increase in Europe, after Finland and Ireland. In 2001, there were 55,626 researchers (from 30,500 in 1993)in such fields as telecommunications, microelectronics, multimedia, computer science, computer networks and software engineering, attracting the interest of many multinational companies and producing an increasing number of high quality publications. Of that number, approximately 33,507 were employed in Higher Education Foundations, 13,100 by private companies, 8,800 in State-owned Research Centres and approximately 200 in non-profit private research centres. Greece's technology parks with incubator facilities include the Science and Technology Park of Crete (Heraklion), the Thessaloniki Technology Park,the Lavrio Technology Park and the Patras Science Park. Greece has been a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) since 2005.[11] Cooperation between ESA and the Hellenic National Space Committee began in the early 1990s. In 1994, Greece and ESA signed their first cooperation agreement. Having formally applied for full membership in 2003, Greece became ESA's sixteenth member on March 16 2005. As member of the ESA, Greece participates in the agency's telecommunication and technology activities, and the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative.
In northern Greece there are also Slavic-speaking groups, whose language is variously identified as Slavo-Macedonian or Bulgarian. It is often only called Slavic or edópia (meaning "local") by Greeks.
The greatest cluster of non-EU immigrant population is in the Municipality of Athens –some 132,000 immigrants, at 17% of local population. Thessaloniki is the second largest cluster, with 27,000 – but reaching only 7% of local population. After this, the predominant areas of location are the Athens environs. According to the same study, the foreign population (documented and undocumented) residing in Greece may in reality figure upwards to 8.5% or 10.3%, that is approximately meaning 1.15 million - if immigrants with homogeneis cards are accounted for.
The Greek Government does not keep statistics on religious groups and censuses do not ask for religious affiliation.[37] Judaism has existed in Greece for more than 2,000 years. Sephardi Jews had such a large presence in the city of Thessaloniki that their traditional language, Ladino, had been spoken by the non-Jews of the city as well. Few Greek Jews survived the Holocaust, and today the Jewish community is estimated to number around 5,500.[37][38] Estimates of the recognised Muslim minority, which is mostly located in Thrace, range from 98,000 to 140,000,[37][38] (between 0.9% and 1.2%) while the immigrant Muslim community numbers between 200,000 and 300,000.[37] In an address to the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece on 10 October 2006 Archbishop Christodoulos stated: "Today more than 500,000 Muslims live in our country."[39] Greek members of Roman Catholic faith (including both Byzantine Greek Catholics and Latin Catholics) are estimated at 50,000 [37][38] with the Roman Catholic immigrant community approximating 200,000.[37] Old Calendarists account for 500,000 followers.[38] The Jehovah's Witnesses report having 30,000 active members.[37][38] Protestants including Evangelicals stand at about 30,000.[38][37] Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost and other Pentecostals denominations are about 12,000.[40] Mormons can also be found with 420 followers,[37] and Scientologists with 500 followers.[37] The ancient Greek religion has also reappeared,[41] with approximately 2,000 adherents, comprising 0.02% of the general population.[42] Some of these Greek religionists have made claims that they are not reconstructionists but are just people coming out of the closet.[43] In the Eurostat - Eurobarometer poll of 2005, 81% of Greek citizens responded that they believe there is a God,[44] whereas 16% answered that they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force,[44] and 3% that they do not believe there is a God, spirit, nor life force.[44] Greece's percentage of respondents asserting that they believe there is a God was the third highest among EU members behind Malta and Cyprus.[44]
Public higher education is divided into universities, "Highest Educational Institutions" (???tata ??pa?de?t??? ?d??µata, Anótata Ekpaideytiká Idrýmata, "???") and "Highest Technological Educational Institutions" (???tata ?e????????? ??pa?de?t??? ?d??µata, Anótata Technologiká Ekpaideytiká Idrýmata, "ATEI"). Students are admitted to these Institutes according to their performance at national level examinations taking place after completion of the third grade of Lykeio. Additionally, students over twenty-two years old may be admitted to the Hellenic Open University through a form of lottery. The Capodistrian university of Athens is the oldest university in the eastern Mediterranean The Greek education system also provides special kindergartens, primary and secondary schools for people with special needs or difficulties in learning. Specialist gymnasia and high schools offering musical, theological and physical education also exist. Some of the main universities in Greece include: National and Capodistrian University of Athens • National Technical University of Athens • University of Piraeus • University of Macedonia (in Thessaloniki) • University of Crete • Technical University of Crete • Athens University of Economics and Business • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki • University of the Aegean (across the Aegean Islands) • Democritus University of Thrace • University of Ioannina • University of Thessaly • Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences • University of Patras • Charokopeio University of Athens • Ionian University (across the Ionian Islands)
Notably Greece is known as "the cradle of Western civilization".
The men's Greek national basketball team has a decades-long tradition of excellence in the sport. Greece is generally considered an important power in international basketball and the national team is regarded as one of the best in the world. They are as of January 2008 ranked 6th in the world,[47] They have won the European Championship twice, once in 1987 and again in 2005,[48] and have reached the final four in three of the last four FIBA World Championships (1994, 1998, 2006) taking second place in 2006. The domestic Greek basketball league, A1 Ethniki is composed of fourteen teams. The most successful Greek teams are Panathinaikos, Aris Salonica, Olympiacos, AEK Athens and PAOK. Cricket is also popular in Greece, in particular in Corfu where the sport dominates due to its long connections with the British. The Greek National Cricket team is an associate member of the ICC.
Hellenic Army Greece currently has universal compulsory military service for males while females (who may serve in the military) are exempted from conscription. As a member of NATO, the Greek military participates in exercises and deployments under the auspices of the alliance.
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