Language: Greek
Currency: Euro € (EUR)
Calling Code: 30
Greece (Greek Ελλάδα) is a state in southern
Europe. Member of the European Union and NATO. The population is
10.8 million people (as of January 1, 2017, according to Eurostat
estimates), the area is 131,957 km². It occupies 84th place in the
world in terms of population and 95th in terms of area.
The
capital is the city of Athens. The official language is Greek.
Unitary, parliamentary republic. In March 2015, Prokopis
Pavlopoulos took over as president. It is subdivided into 13
regions.
The country is located on the Balkan Peninsula and
numerous islands. It is washed by the Aegean (including the Ikarian
and Thracian seas) in the east, the Ionian in the west, and the
Mediterranean and Cretan seas in the south.
It has a land
border with Albania in the northwest, northern Macedonia and
Bulgaria in the north, with Turkey in the northeast.
About
98% of the population profess Orthodoxy.
Modern Greece is the
heir to the culture of Ancient Greece, considered the cradle of
Western civilization, the birthplace of democracy and Western
philosophy, the basic principles of the physical and mathematical
sciences, theater and the modern Olympic Games. The rich cultural
heritage and geographical location make Greece one of the most
visited countries in the world.
Greece is an
industrial-agrarian country. The volume of GDP in 2011 amounted to
294.339 billion US dollars (about 24 543 US dollars per capita). The
monetary unit is the euro.
The independence of the country
was proclaimed on March 25, 1821. Before that, she was part of the
Ottoman Empire.
Athens Area
Athens
Brauron
Daphni
Monastery
Peloponnese (Greece)
Achaea
Arcadia
Ano Doliana
Astros
Dimitsana
Karytaina
Langadia
Lousios Gorge
Stemnitsa
Tripoli
Tyros
Zygovisti
Argolis
Epidaurus
Argos
Ermioni
Kiveri
Nafplio
Mycenae
Tiryns
Portocheli
Thermisia
Tolo
Corinthia
Elis
Laconia
Messenia (Greece)
Kalamata
Pylos
Korobi and Methone
Iamia
Foinikounta
Kardamyli
Kyparissia
Central Greece (Greece)
Aetolia-Acarnania
Attica (Greece)
Eleusis
Marathon
Sounion
Lavrio
Marousi
Piraeus
Rafina
Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni
Boeotia
Hosios Loukas
Livadeia
Arachova
Orchomenus
Evvia
Evrytania
Agrafa
Granitsa (Evrytania)
Karpenisi
Phthiotis
Agios Konstantinos
Atalanti
Kamena
Vourla
Phocis
Thessaly (Greece)
Magnesia
Larissa
Trikala
Northern Greece (Greece)
Alexandroupolis
Chalkidiki
Drama
Florina
Imathia
Ioannina
Kastoria
Kavala
Komotini
Kozani
Pella
Pieria
Thessaloniki
Serres
Xanthi
Epirus
Arta
Ioannina
Preveza
Crete
Heraklion
Chania
Rethymno
Sitia
Ierapetra
Agios Nikolaos
Malia
Archanes
Houdetsi
Frangokastello
Knossos
Psychro
Cave
Samaria
Gorge
Greek Islands (Greece)
Cyclades Islands
Dodecanese
Ionian Islands
Saronic Gulf Islands
Rhodes
Sporades Islands
East Aegean Islands
North Aegean Islands
The word "Greece" is of Latin origin and is not used in Greek. The
self-name of the Greeks of their country is Hellas (Ellas, Greek
Ελλάδα). Initially, according to Homer's Iliad, Hellas - the name of the
region in southern Thessaly - Phthiotis, gradually spread to the whole
of Greece. With the adoption of the term Hellenes as a general term for
all Greeks, Hellas became the collective name for all of mainland
Greece, and later for all of Greece, including the archipelagos,
islands, and areas in Asia Minor (as opposed to the historical Magna
Graecia, located in southern Italy).
Currently, in Greece, the
word Hellas is the official self-name, and the words Greek (lat.
Graecus) or Greece (lat. Graecia) are not recognized by the population
and are used only in communication with foreigners. In other countries,
Hellas is often synonymous with the concept of Ancient Greece.
State symbols
The national flag - 9 white and blue stripes with a
cross - correspond to the nine syllables of the national motto -
"Freedom or Death". The first national flag was created in 1821 by
General Alexander Ypsilanti - red with a white cross. Since 1833, red
has been replaced by blue.
The national emblem is a blue shield
with a white cross framed by two olive branches as symbols of the
leading religion in Greece - Orthodoxy.
The anthem of Greece
since 1860 is the "Hymn to Liberty", written by the founder of Modern
Greek poetry, Dionysios Solomos, in 1823 and set to music by the first
notable Modern Greek composer, Nikolaos Mandzaros.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization. In the
period of about 3 thousand years BC, a highly developed Minoan
civilization arose on the island of Crete, the culture of which
subsequently spread to the mainland. It was followed by the era of
the Cretan-Mycenaean or Aegean civilization. Later, Greek policies
emerged, as well as antique colonies of the Northern Black Sea
region, Great Greece and Asia Minor. The cultural level of
development extended to the entire Mediterranean region, which was
reflected in architecture, theater, science and philosophy.
The policies of Athena and Sparta played a leading role in the
victory over Persia, but later they themselves were defeated by
Thebes, and later the Kingdom of Macedonia. The latter, under the
leadership of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great,
achieved extraordinary power, which was a harbinger of the beginning
of the Hellenistic era. However, Macedonia was destroyed by the
Romans in 146 BC, and Hellas became dependent on the Roman Republic.
Further mutual influence of Hellenic and Roman cultures is
formalized in the culture of the Byzantine Empire. It remained the
main cultural center for a thousand years, until its fall under the
pressure of the Ottoman Empire on May 29, 1453. During the Ottoman
rule, there was a system of Ottoman milletas that helped the
Orthodox Greeks maintain their traditions for 4 centuries and
contributed to their cohesion on the basis of religion, which played
an important role in the formation of modern Greek identity.
Modern Greek period
Greece gained its independence from the
Ottoman Empire in 1830, after the national liberation war of
1821-1829. The first president of independent Greece was John
Kapodistrias, but soon a monarchy was established in Greece and a
minor Otton of Bavaria from the Wittelsbach dynasty was invited to
the throne. The uprising of September 3, 1843 forced King Otto to
submit the Constitution and establish a representative National
Assembly. In 1863, Otton was overthrown, and the Danish prince
William, who became George I, was invited to the Greek throne. In
honor of his coronation, Great Britain gave the Ionian Islands to
Greece. In 1877, at the initiative of Harilaos Trikupis, the most
prominent figure of Greek politics of the time, the king was
deprived of the right to influence the National Assembly by raising
a vote of no confidence in the country's prime minister.
After the completion of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, Greece
significantly expanded its territory. In subsequent years, the
political struggle between King Constantine I and Prime Minister
Eleftherios Venizelos split Greek society on the eve of World War I.
After the completion of the latter, Greece entered the war with
Turkey, then headed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This war led to the
loss by Greece of part of the territory and the massive exchange of
people between the two countries in the framework of the Lausanne
Peace Treaty signed on July 24, 1923.
On October 28, 1940,
fascist Italy demanded that Greece provide a bridgehead for the
deployment of its forces, to which Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas
refused categorically “no,” realizing that now war is becoming
inevitable for Greece. Although German troops were withdrawn from
the territory of the country in 1944 as a result of the Soviet
offensive in the direction of Yugoslavia, from October 28, 1942 in
Greece they celebrate the day “No” to the ultimatum of the countries
of the axis of Italy and Germany as a national holiday - Ohi Day
(Όχι in Greek - "no").
In the Civil War of 1946, the Communist Party of Greece was
defeated. In 1949, the monarchy was restored in Greece, which was
finally abolished on April 21, 1967, after the military coup of the
"black colonels" supported by the United States of America. After
the overthrow of the military junta in 1975, a new Constitution was
adopted, the previous Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis
returned to the country from Paris, and as a result of a popular
referendum, the monarchy was abolished and Greece became a
parliamentary republic. In contrast to the New Democracy of
Karamanlis, Andreas Papandreou founded PASOK; these parties still
remain the most influential in the country.
In 1980, Greece
rejoined the NATO military alliance (in 1974, it withdrew from it in
protest against the occupation of northern Cyprus). Greece became a
member of the European Union on January 1, 1981.
In December
2008, riots broke out in Athens, which quickly swept and stirred up
the whole of Europe. The cause of the riots was a long-growing
discontent with the economic situation, which was significantly
complicated by the World Economic Crisis that began in the same
year. The reason for the unfolding of mass protests, which often
turned into riots and riots, was the December 6 killing of a
15-year-old teenager by a Athenian police patrol. Since the spring
of 2010, almost continuous national strikes, riots and terrorist
attacks have become a real test for the government.
On
January 25, 2015, snap parliamentary elections were held. The
victory was won by the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), for
which 36.34% of voters voted. Out of 300 seats in parliament, the
Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) won 149 seats.
In
2020, Katerina Sakellaropoulou was elected President of Greece. She
became the first female president.
Greece is a unitary state, consisting of 52 administrative units -
regions (nomes). In 1983, it was legally established that issues of
local importance are in charge of councils elected by the population
through direct elections.
The current Constitution came into
force on June 11, 1975. Greece is a parliamentary republic in terms of
government. The political regime is democratic.
Legislative power
is vested in the Parliament, a unicameral representative body elected by
direct universal suffrage for a term of 4 years. It should include at
least 200 and no more than 300 people. The Chamber meets once a year for
a regular session, which lasts at least 5 months. At the beginning of
each session, it forms parliamentary commissions from its members for
the purpose of preparing and studying bills and legislative proposals.
Legislative activity is carried out, as a rule, during plenary sessions.
However, some bills are considered and adopted in sections, the number
of which cannot exceed 2. The Constitution determines on which issues
bills can be adopted at a plenary session, and which ones are submitted
for consideration by sections. Bills adopted by the parliament must be
ratified by the president, and the presidential veto can be overridden
(recognized as invalid) by an absolute majority of the votes of the
total number of deputies.
The head of state is the President, who
is elected by parliament for a term of 5 years. The constitution gave
the president broad powers, entrusting him with the exercise of
executive power. The president appoints the prime minister and, on his
recommendation, appoints and dismisses other members of the government.
According to the conclusion of the Council of the Republic, an advisory
body that is formed under the President in cases provided for by the
Constitution, the president can remove the government if it has lost the
confidence of parliament. In exceptional cases, he presides over the
Council of Ministers. The President convenes Parliament in regular
session once a year and in extraordinary sessions when he sees fit. He
has the right to postpone the parliamentary session for up to 30 days.
The powers of the President also include the approval and promulgation
of laws adopted by Parliament and the possibility to return a draft law
to Parliament for reconsideration. The president can call a referendum
and send messages to the nation. Finally, he is the head of the armed
forces. In addition, the president exercises a number of rights with
ministerial countersignature. These include the right to represent the
country in foreign relations, declare war and make peace, as well as the
right to dissolve parliament if after 3 votes it cannot elect the
President or when the parliament is at odds with public opinion or
cannot ensure the stability of the government.
In March 1986, a
series of amendments were adopted that removed a number of important
powers from the President, including the right to remove the Prime
Minister. He can dissolve parliament only if the resignation of 2
governments in a row shows a lack of political stability. Its right to
announce a referendum has been limited, and the right to declare a state
of emergency has been transferred to Parliament.
Executive power
is exercised by the Greek government, which consists of the prime
minister and ministers (one or more of them may be appointed
vice-premiers). The government is formed by the party that wins the
majority of seats in parliament. The leader of that party becomes prime
minister. Within 15 days from the moment he takes the oath, the
government must raise the issue of confidence before the parliament. The
Chamber of Deputies has the right to "take back its confidence" in the
government or one of its members. A resolution of reproof may only be
introduced 6 months after the House has rejected the previous
resolution. The resolution of reprimand must be signed by at least 1/6
of the deputies. The government determines and implements the general
policy of the state in accordance with the Constitution and laws.
Members of the Council of Ministers and State Secretaries are liable for
omissions committed in the performance of their functions, in accordance
with the provisions of the ministerial liability laws.
Local
self-government in the regions is carried out by governors (Greek
Περιφερειάρχης), vice-governors (Greek αντιπεριφερειάρχες) and regional
councils (Greek περιφερειακό συμβούλιο) elected by the population. Local
self-government in nomes is carried out by prefects (Greek Νομάρχης) and
councils of nomes (Greek Νομαρχιακό συμβούλιο). Local self-government in
each of the municipalities is carried out by the mayor (Greek Δήμαρχος),
the municipal council (Greek Δημοτικό Συμβούλιο) consisting of 15-20
municipal councilors (Greek Δημοτικοί Σύμβουλοι).
The supreme
court is the Areopag (άρειος πάγος), the courts of appeal - Ephetia
(εφετείο), the courts of the first instance - the first courts
(πρωτοδικείο), the lower link of the judicial system - the world courts
(ειρηνοδικείο), the highest court of administrative regulations
(σtechniding της Επικρατείας), courts of appeal of administrative
justice - administrative ephetia (Διοικητικό Εφετείο), courts of first
instance of administrative justice - administrative first courts
(Διοικετικό Πρίτο).
Unions
The largest trade union center is
the General Confederation of Labor of Greece (Γενική Συνομοσπονδία
Εργατών Ελλάδας). However, during the years of the economic crisis, the
All-Workers' Fighting Front of Greece (PAME; Πανεργατικό Αγωνιστικό
Μέτωπο) - a trade union association associated with the Communist Party
of Greece - approached a million people in size. The largest
confederation of trade unions of civil servants is ADEDI
There
are also the Union of Cleaners and Janitors (secretary - Konstantin
Kuneva) and anarcho-syndicalist trade unions.
Greece is located in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and on
the islands adjacent to it and to the coast of Asia Minor and covers an
area of 132 thousand km², including an area of 25.1 thousand km² of
islands. It borders with Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
It is washed by the Mediterranean Sea, including: the Ionian, Aegean
Seas, and the southern coast of Crete - the Libyan Sea. Greece consists
of about 2 thousand islands, which account for almost 20% of the entire
country.
The length of the land borders is 1110 km.
The
territory of Greece can be divided into three parts:
mainland Greece,
which includes Macedonia (Thessaloniki, Florina, Pella, Kavala,
Kastoria, Halkidiki, etc.), Thrace (Rhodope, Xanthi and Evros), Epirus
(Thesprotia, Preveza, Ioannina, etc.), Thessaly (Larisa, Magnesia and
others) and Central Greece (Phthiotis, Phokis, Attica, etc.). Also
geographically, the Ionian Islands can be attributed to this region;
Peloponnese - the largest peninsula of Greece and the center of the most
ancient civilization of Europe, includes the nomes of Arcadia, Laconia,
Messinia, etc. The famous Corinth Canal, dug by a French company for the
Greek state in the 19th century, is also located here;
islands of the
Aegean Sea, the largest of which are:
Crete is the fifth largest in
Europe (8259 km²);
Euboea (3654 km²), connected to the continent by a
bridge thrown over the Strait of Eurypus;
Lesbos (1630 km²), located
off the coast of Turkey.
There are also many groups of small
islands - Northern Sporades, Cyclades, Dodecanese.
Relief
The
Greek landscape is an alternation of rocky, usually treeless mountains,
densely populated valleys, numerous islands, straits and bays.
Picturesque cliffs, beaches, exotic grottoes provide great opportunities
for seaside recreation and mountain tourism. The wide distribution of
limestones, especially in the western part of the country, has led to
the formation of karst funnels, caves that attract lovers to try their
hand at speleology. Mountain ranges occupy almost a quarter of the
country's surface. These are predominantly medium-altitude mountains (up
to 1200-1800 m). The highest point in Greece is Mount Olympus (2917 m).
Pindus, Parnassus, the mountain range of Central Greece and Taygetos
also rise above 2000 meters. There are few plains, they are concentrated
in the eastern half of the country, with the exception of the
Peloponnese, where the plains prevail on the western coast.
Greece has strong earthquakes.
Climate
The climate of Greece
can be divided into three types: Mediterranean, Alpine and temperate,
each of which affects a certain area. The Pindus mountain range strongly
influences the climate of the mainland: the regions located to the west
of the slopes of Pindus (Epirus) receive more rainfall than the regions
located on the eastern side of the range (Thessaly).
Islands
Greece includes more than 2,000 islands, from large (Crete, Euboea) to
tiny (Patmos, Chrissi, Meyisti). They account for about 20% of the
entire Greek territory.
All islands are divided into several
groups:
The Ionian Islands are located in the Ionian Sea off the
western coast of Greece. The largest island is Kefalonia.
The
Northern Aegean Islands are located in the north of the Aegean Sea, off
the coast of Turkey. The largest island is Lesvos.
The Northern
Sporades and the island of Euboea are located off the eastern coast of
Greece.
The Cyclades are located in the center of the Aegean Sea. The
center of the ancient developed Cycladic culture. There are mainly small
islands here: Andros, Naxos, Mykonos, Santorini.
The Dodecanese is a
group of islands located in the south of the Aegean Sea, off the coast
of Turkey. Sometimes they are also called Southern Sporades. It is an
important tourism center in Greece. The largest island is Rhodes.
Crete is the largest island of Greece. Center of ancient Cretan
civilization. Near the island there are many small satellite islands
(Chrisi, etc.). From the south, the island is washed by the Libyan Sea.
Not many species of wild animals have survived on the territory
of Greece, their populations are small. This is due to the
multi-thousand-year history of this country - for more than 8,000
years, people have been actively exterminating animals and plants in
Greece. Small animals are typical here: hares, badgers, porcupines
and various types of mice.
Of the large mammals, the most
common are the brown bear, jackal, fox, lynx and wild boar. Many
species of animals are listed in the Red Book, among them the
Caretta sea turtle and the monk seal.
Reptile snakes and
lizards are numerous in Greece.
Among birds, you can most
often see wild ducks, kingfishers and partridges, as well as
predators - owls, eagles and kites.
There are many gulls in
the coastal areas, and in the waters of Greece there is a huge
variety of shellfish and fish, although the stocks of the latter
have been significantly reduced in recent times.
More than
5,000 plant species are distributed in Greece. Small plants and
shrubs are widespread in Greece: maquis and frigana. Pine forests
are often found on the Halkidiki peninsula. Cypresses and plane
trees are widespread. Some are several thousand years old. The olive
is very common - one of the most valuable trees in Greece and the
entire Mediterranean.
Previously, Greece was divided into 13 administrative districts,
which were divided into 54 nomes (or prefectures). Also in Greece there
was one autonomous region - Athos (Holy Mountain) in the region of Mount
Athos - a monastic state governed by a council of representatives of 20
Athos monasteries. Real self-government existed at the level of nomes
and smaller formations - municipalities. The municipality was headed by
the mayor, and the nome was headed by the governor.
However,
since January 1, 2011, in accordance with the Kallikratis Program (Law
3852/2010), the administrative system of Greece has been radically
revised. The former system of 13 regions, 54 prefectures and 1033
municipalities and communities has been replaced by 7 decentralized
administrations, 13 regions and 325 municipalities. The regions and
municipalities have been fully self-governing since the first elections
scheduled for 7 November and 14 November 2010. The decentralized
administrations are managed by a general secretary appointed by the
Greek government. The Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain is
exempt from these reforms.
The capital of Greece is the city of
Athens (Greek Αθήνα (Athena), in ancient times the name was used in the
plural - Greek Ἀθῆναι (Athens)), one of the oldest cities in the world
and at the same time one of the youngest capitals in Europe - the city
acquired this status only in 1834 after the events of the Greek National
Liberation War of the 19th century (before that, the capital of Greece
in 1828-1833 was Nafplio). Currently, about 35% of the total population
of the country lives in the capital; together with Piraeus, there are
about 4 million inhabitants.
Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη) is
the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia, the second largest city in
Greece, located on the coast of Thermaikos Gulf. For many centuries
Thessaloniki remained an important cultural and main religious center of
Greece. Today it is also a powerful economic and educational center of
the country. One of the world's largest International Exhibitions is
held annually in Thessaloniki, and the local Aristotle University is the
largest institution of higher education in Greece.
The status of
an autonomous region has the monastic republic of Athos, located in the
central and southern part of the eastern peninsula of Halkidiki, Aion
Oros. This is a self-governing community of twenty Orthodox monasteries,
which since 1313 have been under the direct ecclesiastical jurisdiction
of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Greek sovereignty over the peninsula
was secured by the Lausanne Agreement of 1923. Unlike other dioceses of
the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Athos uses the Julian calendar,
including in administrative documents. For the Orthodox around the
world, Mount Athos is one of the main holy places, as well as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
After World War II, Greece experienced the Greek economic miracle.
The GDP growth rate averaged 7% between 1950 and 1973. Since then,
Greece has undertaken a number of structural and financial reforms,
while receiving significant financial support from the European Union.
In 2001 Greece joined the Eurozone. The annual GDP growth exceeded the
corresponding level of most of its partners in the EU. In the modern
economy of Greece, the service sector has the largest share and is the
most important and at the same time the fastest growing sector of the
economy, followed by industry and agriculture. Tourism in Greece is one
of the main sources of foreign exchange earnings, it brings the state
over 15% of GDP and 16.5% of the total employed population.
The
public sector in Greece accounts for about 40% of GDP, but the
government is taking all measures to further reduce its share. The
industrial sector is dominated by high technology equipment
manufacturing, especially in the field of telecommunications. Other
important industries include textiles, chemicals, building materials,
machinery, transport equipment, and electrical appliances. 10% of GDP
comes from construction in Greece, as this sector recently experienced a
boom in connection with the 2004 Athens Olympics. Agriculture currently
accounts for only 7% of GDP.
In the early 2000s, Greece was one
of the leading investors in the economies of almost all of its Balkan
neighbors. In 2006, the National Bank of Greece acquired a 46% stake in
Turkish Finansbank and 99.44% stake in Serbian Vojvođanska Bank.
According to the University of Groningen, in the period 1995-2005,
Greece became the country with the highest work-to-time ratio among
other European countries: the Greeks worked an average of 1900 hours per
year, the Spaniards came in second with 1800 hours per year. In 2007,
the average worker in Greece was earning about $20 an hour. Immigrants
make up almost one-fifth of the workforce in Greece and are mainly
employed in agriculture and construction.
Greece's labor force in
2009 was 4.577 million people, or 46% of the total population, second
among OECD countries after South Korea (48% of the total population).
The median income per capita rose from $30,661 in 2008 to $31,704.028 in
2009. According to the purchasing power of the population, Greece in
2009 ranked 25th in the world. At the same time, the number of
unemployed increased from 9.8% in October 2009 to 12.6% in September
2010 and to 13.5% in October 2010. According to the Human Development
Index for 2007 inclusive, published on October 5, 2009, Greece ranks
25th in the world. In 2001, Greece was recognized as a developed
country. In 2013, Greece became the first country in the world to lose
the status of a developed state.
Due to the global financial
crisis, the Greek economy was in a difficult situation at the end of
2009: the budget deficit amounted to 12.7% of GDP, while 3% of GDP was
allowed in the Eurozone. The government launched a broad privatization
program, issuing global bonds twice, but in the spring of 2010 the
economy was on the verge of default, which brought the euro to a yearly
low. 16 EU countries and the IMF have agreed on the allocation of
financial assistance to Greece in the amount of 110 billion euros (80
billion from the EU and another 30 billion from the IMF) subject to the
introduction of a austerity program - cuts, freezing wages, raising the
retirement age, raising taxes, which turned out for the country a wave
of strikes, mass protests and riots. In order to fill the “tax basket”,
the government announced a tax amnesty, and also began to fight
corruption among public officials. The case of the Vatopedi Monastery on
Athos and the corruption scandal with the Siemens company in Greece
received the most publicity.
The country has a high income level.
Greece is the only EU country where the minimum wage was reduced from
2008 to 2019. Since 2017, the economy began to grow; in 2017 and 2018,
GDP growth was less than 2% per year. On February 1, 2019, the minimum
wage in Greece was raised to 650 euros per month. This is the first
increase in the minimum wage in 7 years since the beginning of the debt
crisis in the country. Until 2012, the minimum wage in 14 payments per
year was 751 euros, then it was reduced to 586.08 euros for citizens
over 25 years old and to 510 euros for young people. Thus, the increase
in the minimum wage for the majority of the population amounted to about
11%, and for young people its increase exceeded 27%. The Keitz index
(the ratio between the minimum and average wages in the country) in
Greece as of January 1, 2019 (average - 1060.45 € and minimum - 683.76
€) is about 64%.
A significant proportion of Greece's income comes from tourism;
according to 2009 data, it accounts for 15% of the country's GDP. At the
same time, according to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, if
we take into account hidden income (36% in 2007), the contribution of
tourism will be 18-20% of GDP. In addition, about 900 thousand people
are employed in the tourism sector, including 6.9% of the total
population in the HoReCa sector, which is the third indicator in the EU
after Malta and Spain. In 2008, Greece received 17.5 million tourists.
In 2014, this number rose to 22 million people. Most of all, tourists
from Germany and the UK like to relax in Greece - in 2014, 2.46 million
and 2.09 million people came from these countries, respectively.
According to a survey conducted in China in 2005, Greece was named the
number one tourist choice by the Chinese. In 2007, over 19 million
tourists visited Greece, making it one of the top ten tourist
destinations in the world. The island of Rhodes has been recognized as
the best resort by European tourists. In 2008-2009, the number of
tourists decreased slightly. Greek hoteliers hope to increase the share
of tourists from the CIS countries by the general introduction of
All-inclusive accommodation systems and the hiring of Russian-speaking
staff.
Among the most famous and popular tourist centers in
Greece: historical and cultural - Athens, Delphi, Corfu, Crete; beach
recreation centers - the Halkidiki peninsula, the resort islands of
Mykonos, Santorini, Paros and Crete; centers of pilgrimage for
Christians - Mount Athos, Meteora monasteries, Byzantine monuments of
Thessaloniki (St. Demetrius Basilica, Hagia Sophia and others) are
included in the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.
As of July 2021, the population of Greece is 10,569,703 according to
The World Factbook.
The age structure of the population of Greece
as of 2020: 0-14 years old - 14.53%; 15-64 years old - 63.04%; 65 years
and older - 22.43%. The average age of the Greek population according to
The World Factbook for 2020 was 45.3 years (9th in the world), including
43.7 years for men and 46.8 years for women. The ratio of the number of
men and women: the entire population - 0.95 (2020). Average life
expectancy of the population of Greece as of 2021: total - 81.28 years;
men - 78.73 years; women - 84 years. As of 2021, the birth rate is 7.72
newborns per 1,000 inhabitants (222nd in the world). The total fertility
rate (TFR) is 1.39 births per woman. Due to the demographic aging of the
population, the mortality rate is steadily increasing; as of 2021, the
mortality rate is 12.05 deaths per 1,000 people (14th in the world). As
of 2021, the net migration rate in Greece is relatively low at 0.97
migrants per 1,000 inhabitants (61st in the world). As of 2019, the
average age of a woman at first birth in Greece is 29.9 years (compared
to the Republic of Korea, the country with the lowest TFR in the world
at 0.84 births per woman in 2020, the average age of a woman at first
birth in 2019 year was 32.2 years). Greeks are a rapidly aging nation:
according to Eurostat, the proportion of the population over the age of
75 will increase from 19% to 31% by 2050. Today, the number of employees
in the country is 4 people per 1 pensioner, the number of workers is
predicted to decrease to 2 people.
As of 2021, 80% of the total
population lives in cities, with a projected annual growth of 0.11%. The
population density is 82.3 inhabitants per km2. The most populous cities
in Greece are: Athens, Thessaloniki, Piraeus, Patras, Heraklion, Larissa
and Volos.
As of 2011, the majority of the population of Greece
are Greeks (91.6%), although these data are disputed due to
inconsistencies in data on minorities, especially linguistic ones,
followed by Albanians - 4.4%, and other nationalities - 4%. It is
believed that Greek statistics do not keep records of the population by
nationality, but this is a false conclusion. The main officially
recognized religious minority of modern Greece are the Muslims of Thrace
and the Dodecanese Islands, including Turks (1% of the Greek
population), Pomaks (Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, 0.3%) and Muslim
gypsies (0.1%). But here Greece follows the letter of the Lausanne
Accords of 1924 and demands the same from Turkey, since this part of the
population remained within the borders of Greece on the same terms that
they were supposed to protect the Greek minority of Constantinople and
the islands of Imvros and Tenedos. The Greek minority in Istanbul is
almost gone.
There are minorities that are distinguished mainly
by ethnographers on linguistic grounds, but they have their own
specifics: Albanians (4%; including Arvanites) are a bilingual
population with Greek self-consciousness, which gave the country dozens
of national heroes in the fight against Turks and Muslim Arvanites,
“Slavic-speaking Greeks” or Macedonian Slavs (1.2%), who at the
beginning of the 20th century called themselves Bulgarians and were
recognized as such, Aromunians (1.1%, including Meglenites) are a
bilingual group with Greek self-consciousness, which gave the country
national heroes and good half of its patrons, Orthodox gypsies (another
0.8%).
Armenians, Serbs (0.3%), Arabs (0.3%), Jews (0.05%), etc.
are officially recognized. As of 2019, according to UN estimates, 1.2
million immigrants lived in Greece and their descendants, or 11.6% of
the country's population.
More than 4 million Greeks live abroad,
of which over 2 million live in the USA, Canada and Australia.
The Constitution of Greece, which entered into force on June 11,
1975, begins with the words “in the name of the holy, consubstantial and
inseparable Trinity” (Greek. Εις το όνομα της αι ομοουσίου αδιαιαιάices)
and in Article 3 (Relations of the Church and “Relations 3 ") reads:
The dominant religion in Greece is the religion of the Eastern Orthodox
Church of Christ. The Orthodox Church of Greece, recognizing our Lord
Jesus Christ as its head, is inseparably doctrinally connected with the
Great Church of Constantinople and with every other Church of Christ of
the same faith, steadily observing, like them, the holy apostolic and
catholic canons and sacred traditions. It is autocephalous and is
governed by the Holy Synod of bishops who are in church service, and the
Permanent Holy Synod elected by them, which is created in the manner
determined by the charter of the Church, in accordance with the
provisions of the Patriarchal Tomos of June 29, 1850 and the Act of the
Synod of September 4, 1928.
The church regime existing in certain
regions of the state does not contradict the provisions of the previous
paragraph.
The text of Holy Scripture remains unchanged. Its official
translation into any other form of language without prior permission
from the Autocephalous Church of Greece and the Great Church of Christ
in Constantinople is prohibited.
The Greek Constitution
recognizes Orthodoxy as the leading religion in the country, while at
the same time guaranteeing religious freedom for all citizens. The Greek
government does not keep official statistics on the religious
affiliation of its citizens. According to a sociological survey by
Eurostat for 2010, 79% of Greeks answered that they believe in God,
which is the third indicator among EU member states, behind only Malta
and Cyprus.
97% of Greek citizens identified themselves as "Greek
Orthodox", according to US government data for 2006. The Greek Orthodox
Church dominates, its head is Archbishop Jerome II, whose residence is
in Athens. At the same time, the entire north of the country and the
Dodecanese Islands are included in the canonical territory of the Church
of Constantinople. Also, the monastic state on Mount Athos is
subordinate to the Church of Constantinople, and the Cretan Orthodox
Church is semi-autonomous.
A few inhabitants of several islands
of the Aegean Sea, which at one time belonged to the Venetian Republic,
are Catholics. In Thrace and on the island of Rhodes, in addition to the
Greeks, Muslim Turks live (1.3%). Judaism has existed in Greece for over
2000 years. Sephardim once formed a large community in the city of
Thessaloniki, but no more than 5,500 people were able to survive the
Holocaust. The Protestant community in the country has about 3,000
people. They are Assemblies of God, Evangelicals and Baptists. There are
about 30,000 Jehovah's Witnesses.
In 2017, Hellenic polytheism,
or Hellenism, was legally recognized as an actively practiced religion
in Greece. The number of active practitioners is 2,000 people. Hellenism
refers to various religious movements that continue, revive or
reconstruct ancient Greek religious practices.
The natural and technical sciences developed in Greece after
independence, although separate works on medicine were published before
that time, in particular “On Diet” (Greek Διαιτητική) by Konstantinos
Michael, 1794, “History of the Art of Medicine” (Greek Ιστορίας Ιατρικής
) Sergio John, 1818; "Handbook of Hygiene" (Greek Υγιεινατάριον) by
Spyridon Vlandis, 1820.
Founded in 1837, the University of Athens
quickly became the scientific center of the country. In 1887, his
departments of natural sciences were merged into a department, and later
the faculty of natural sciences. The development of sciences was also
facilitated by industrialization, on the path of which Greece began in
the second half of the 19th century. At the end of the century, the
chemist Anastasios Christomanos, the founder of a specialized
laboratory, examined the Greek ores for a whole range of minerals. The
general inspector of the Lavrion mines, the future first president of
the Athens Academy, Fokion Negris published extensive information about
the geological structure, and the physicist and mathematician
Konstantinos Mitsopoulos investigated the seismicity of Greece.
Biologists Theodoros Orfanidis, Theodor Heinrich Hermann von Geldreich,
Spyridon Miliarakis, Ioannis H. Politis were engaged in research on the
flora and fauna. The foundations of medicine in Greece were laid by
Georgios Sklavunos, author of Human Anatomy (1906). At the beginning of
the 20th century, the growth in the pace of economic development
contributed to the rise of technical sciences, the center of which was
the Athens Polytechnic Institute.
In 1837, the Greek
Archaeological Society was founded to revive archaeological science, to
create conditions for the proper preservation of antiquities. For half a
century, this work was also promoted by foreign archaeological schools
in Athens, which operate to this day: French (1846), German (1874),
American (1881), British (1886), Austrian (1898). Among the Greek
archaeologists proper, Konstantinos Kurunyotis, Nikolaos Platon,
Kyriakos Pittakis, Valerios Stais, Aris Poulianos and the current head
of the restoration work on the Acropolis of Athens, Manolis Korres, are
widely known.
At the present stage, the leading scientific
institution in the field of physical sciences is the Democritus Center
for Nuclear Research, founded in 1961 in Aya-Paraskevi. It has a nuclear
reactor, a subcritical reactor and a Van de Graaff generator. Research
in astronomy, atmospheric physics, seismology and meteorology is carried
out by the Athens National Observatory. Scientific research in applied
mathematics is carried out by the specialized bureau and computing
center of the Athens Academy of Sciences. The most important works in
the field of electronics, artificial intelligence, electrochemistry,
aerodynamics are carried out at the Aristotle University and the
Technical University of Athens.
Ioannis Argyris is a Greek
mathematician and engineer, one of the authors of the finite element
method and the direct stiffness method. The mathematician Constantine
Carathéodory worked in the field of real analysis, calculus of
variations and measure theory at the beginning of the 20th century, his
teaching helped Albert Einstein in the mathematical part of his theory
of relativity. Biologist Fotis Kafatos is a pioneer in molecular cloning
and genomics. Dimitris Nanopoulos is a renowned theoretical physicist
who has made significant contributions to the fields of particle physics
and physical cosmology. Georgios Papanikolaou is a pioneer in cytology
and early cancer detection, and the inventor of the Pap test. Greek car
designer Alec Issigonis created the "Mini" car design, while Michalis
Dertouzos was one of the pioneers of the Internet. Greek informatics
Christos Papadimitriou, Diomidis Spinellis, Joseph Sifakis, Michalis
Yannakakis are widely known in the world. Nicholas Negroponte founded
the MIT Media Lab and the One Laptop Per Child program.
Education in Greece is compulsory for all children between the ages
of 6 and 15. It includes primary (Greek Δημοτικό Σχολείο) - 6 classes,
and incomplete secondary (Greek Γυμνάσιο) - gymnasium, 3 classes,
education. There are preschool institutions: kindergartens (Greek
Παιδικός σταθμός) for children from 2.5 years old, working separately or
as part of kindergartens (Greek Νηπιαγωγείο).
Most children start
going to kindergarten two years before starting school, between the ages
of 4 and 6.
The next stage is elementary school, which will last six
years.
Secondary education is also divided into two stages: basic
secondary (gymnasium) and upper secondary (lyceum or vocational school).
Education at each stage lasts 3 years, at the evening form of study at
the school - 4 years.
There are different types of secondary schools:
religious, sports, music, special schools for children with
disabilities, even schools for adults who failed to complete secondary
education in their youth.
The grading system in high school is
twenty-point, in order to move to the next course, you need to score 10
points. At the end of the gymnasium, the student receives a certificate,
which allows him to continue his education in a lyceum or vocational
school, where, in addition to general education, students receive
vocational training. At the end of each year, exams are taken: transfer
in the first two years and graduation at the end of training. After
successfully passing the exams, graduates receive a certificate of
completed secondary education, with which they can enter a higher
educational institution: a university or a technical educational
institution.
The system of higher education in Greece is divided into
two sectors: university and technical. At the moment, there are 24
universities and 16 technical educational institutions (TEI) in Greece,
where education is more applied.
To become a student of a Greek
university, you do not need to take entrance exams: the competition is
based on the average score in the certificate.
The culture of Greece was formed over many thousands of years,
starting from the time of the Minoan civilization, the formation took
place during Classical Greece and Greece during the Roman domination.
Ottoman domination also influenced the culture of the Greeks. But even
during the Greek Revolution, great works of literature, music, and
painting were created. Orthodox Christianity had a huge impact on the
entire culture of modern Greece. Some researchers, for example, Robert
Kagan, believe that the modern culture of Greece is much more connected
with the cultural heritage of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires than
with the culture of ancient Hellas. At the same time, as the historian
of Haverford College A. Kitroff notes: "The idea that modern Greeks
descend directly from the ancient Greeks is one of the fundamental
moments of self-awareness of the modern Greek nation."
Greece has
18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Greek is one of the oldest modern languages in the world. It has
been used for over 4,000 years, and Greek writing has been around for
over 3,000 years. Today, the Greek language is the basis of the
vocabulary of any Indo-European language, most of the basic concepts of
scientific vocabulary also have a partially Greek origin. The modern
Greek language is Dimotika, a South Greek dialect adapted as a standard
variant of the language. It differs significantly from kafarevusa,
which, in fact, was artificially created on the basis of the ancient
Greek koine and planted at the initiative of Adamantios Korais, a Greek
writer, educator and active public figure of the era of the national
liberation movement of the 19th century.
Greece has always been a
relatively homogeneous country linguistically. At the beginning of the
20th century, a Greek-Turkish population exchange took place, which
further intensified the process of assimilation of ethnic minorities.
Today, about 99% of the population of the country uses Greek as the
first or even the only language. The main dialects of the Greek
language: Pontic dialect, Cappadocian dialect, Tsakonian dialect,
Jewish-Greek dialect. In the last decade, the spread of Internet
services and mobile communications has caused the romanization of Greek
writing. This phenomenon is known as "Greeklish" (English Greeklish) -
it is common throughout the Greek diaspora and even in countries with a
majority of the Greek population - in Greece and Cyprus.
The Western philosophical tradition originated in ancient Greece as
early as the 6th century BC. e. The first ancient Greek philosophers are
usually called "pre-Socratics", most of their works have not survived
even in fragments. Among the pre-Socratics, seven ancient sages occupy a
separate place. One of them is Thales of Miletus, since the time of
Aristotle is considered the first philosopher of Greece, who belonged to
the so-called Milesian school. It was followed by the Eleatic school,
which dealt with the philosophy of being.
The classical period of
Greek philosophy is traditionally associated with Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle. In this era, Ancient Athens becomes the center of Greek
philosophy. Socrates was the first to think about the human personality,
Plato founded the Academy and created philosophy as a logical and
ethical system, and Aristotle - the science of philosophy as a doctrine
of a really existing world. Among other prominent philosophical schools
that later arose in Greece, it should be noted: Stoicism, Epicureanism,
Skepticism and Neoplatonism.
Outstanding representatives of the
Greek Renaissance (XV-XVIII centuries) are the cleric Theophilos
Koridalleus, Nikolai Mavrokordat, Vikentios Damodos, Methodios
Anthrakitis. The modern Greek Enlightenment is characterized by a return
to the ancient Greek heritage, its leaders are Evgeny Bulgaris, Josipos
Misiodakas, Benjamin of Lesbos, and the revolutionary Rigas Fereos. In
the first years of independence from the Ottoman Empire, religious
philosophy (Philippos Ioannou, Petros Brailas-Armenis) and Hegelianism
became widespread.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the main
motive of philosophical works was an attempt to substantiate the Great
Idea (Yannis Kambisis, Ioannis Zervos, Ion Dragoumis), the political
conductor of which was Eleftherios Venizelos, and the ideas of
positivism spread in philosophy (Theophilos Voreas and Panagiotis
Agiosophitis). In the post-war period, neo-Kantianism (Ioannis
Theodorakopoulos, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Konstantinos Tsatsos),
phenomenology (Konstantinos Georgoulis and Leandros Vranousis), as well
as irrationalism and intuitionism became influential philosophical
trends. Existentialism is represented by Yorgos Sarandaris, Dimitrios
Kapetanakis, Christos Yannaras.
Greek literature is divided into three periods: Ancient Greek,
Byzantine and Modern Greek. In ancient Greece, literature flourished
before classical science, education, and art. Around the 8th century BC
Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, poems related to the heroic epic
dedicated to the Trojan War. Hesiod continued the tradition of Homer in
Theogony. Fragmentarily, the verses of Sappho and Anacreon have come
down to us, whose names gave the name to the Sapphic stanza and
Anacreontics. Ancient Greek drama developed as an independent genre,
among its bright representatives Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides,
Aristophanes.
The period of Byzantine literature covers the
4th-15th centuries, it is written in the Middle Greek language. Until
now, literature has been preserved, created mainly by the church, which
played an important economic and political role in Byzantium. At the
same time, the latter inherited the traditions of Hellenistic prose. The
well-known story "Alexandria" of the 11th-12th centuries is full of
fabulous episodes from the life of Alexander the Great, Christianized in
various editions. The poetry of Roman the Melodist stands out
especially, out of more than a thousand hymns written by him, about 80
have survived. The chronicles of George Amartol are of great
historiographical significance.
The birth of modern Greek
literature was marked by the Cretan Renaissance poem "Erotokritos",
written by Vitsendzos Kornaros in the vernacular. The poem consists of
ten thousand verses and sings of the valor, patience and love of the
hero Erotokritos. However, the Greek Revolution gave a real impetus to
the development of modern Greek literature. The Athenian school of
purists appeared, the ideological leader of which was Adamantios Korais,
the creator of the kafarevusa, and the Ionian school, headed by
Dionysios Solomos, the author of the “Hymn to Freedom” (became the
anthem of Greece), which promoted the living folk language - Dimotika.
The literature of the 20th century is represented by the talents of
many writers and poets, including Andreas Kalvos, Yiannis Psycharis,
Alexandros Pallis, Angelos Sikelianos, Kostis Palamas, storyteller
Penelope Delta, Yiannis Ritsos, Alexandros Papadiamandis, Kostas
Kariotakis, Kostas Varnalis, Konstantinos Cavafy, Demetrius Vikelas,
Nikos Kazantzakis, as well as Nobel laureates Yorgos Seferis and Odyseas
Elitis.
In the conditions of democracy of Ancient Greece, for the first time,
an integral environment of city-states - policies was created. A system
of regular city planning was developed with a rectangular grid of
streets and the main square - the agora - the center of trade and social
life. A type of residential building was developed with rooms facing the
inner spatial core - the peristyle.
The cult and architectural
and compositional center of the ancient Greek city was the acropolis
with a temple dedicated to the deity - the patron of the city. The
peripter became the classically completed type of temple. The most
striking example of it is the main temple of the Acropolis of Athens -
the Parthenon. Based on the aesthetic understanding of the stable-beam
structure in ancient Greece, an order system of architectural
composition was created, which harmoniously combines the high artistry
of architectural forms with the perfection of design and material. The
rapid development of the social life of the ancient Greek polis gave
rise to such types of structures as the theater, stadium, palestra, and
so on. Thus, the Theater of Dionysus appeared in Ancient Athens, and
later the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the unique marble stadium of
Panathinaikos.
In the Middle Ages, mainly monastic architecture
developed in Greece, Greek cities fell into decay. People's housing was
built of various types, depending on the shape of the relief.
Full-fledged architecture begins to develop from the 1830s, when Athens
became the capital. Their building plan was created by Greek architects
Stamatios Kleantis and Lysandros Kavtanzoglou. At the same time, the
architects Theophil von Hansen and Ernst Ziller were invited, who
construct public buildings, contributing to the flowering of the
Neo-Greek architectural style. Church architecture of the XIX century
gravitated towards the Byzantine.
Starting from the 1920s, the
port cities - Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki - began to grow rapidly, at
the present time, a type of apartment building with numerous balconies
and terraces, proposed by Kostas Kitsikis, is being formed,
characteristic of Greece. In the future, Greek architecture perceives
the influence of functionalism and neoclassicism. During the 1950s and
1960s, park suburbs grew up around Athens with districts built up with
villas and mansions of rich Greeks with elements of folk architecture
(architect Dimitris Pikionis). Much less cheap apartment buildings were
built (architect Aris Konstantinidis), but the need for the construction
of new hotels and museum premises grew (architects Charalambos Sfaellos,
Prokopios Vasiliadis). Industrial and office construction was developed
by Takis Zenetos.
The folklore music of Greece is in many ways similar to the music of
other Balkan countries - Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania.
They traced similar rhythms and emotional coloring of the songs.
Rebetika is a Greek city song. It was formed at the beginning of the
20th century, when, after the Asia Minor catastrophe, many destitute
refugees poured into Greece and the music of Ionia, that is, the west of
Asia Minor, merged with the tavern music of the portside Greek lumpen
proletariat. The rebetika style was persecuted by the Greek authorities,
so this music came out of the "underground" only in the 1950s with the
support of composers such as Manos Hadzidakis and Theodorakis, who
supported the rebetika as a musical trend that carries elements of
ancient Byzantine music.
One of the most famous Greek singers in
the world is Demis Roussos, who began his solo career in 1971.
Contemporary popular music is heavily influenced by the West. But even
in it, traditional Greek melodies and the use of national instruments
such as bouzouki are often traced.
In 2005, Greek singer Elena
Paparizou won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Number One", a
first for Greece.
Modern Greece has given the world many
composers close to the New Age direction. Among them are the world
famous Vangelis and Yanni and the lesser known Chris Spheeris and
Stamatis Spanoudakis.
Rock is very popular among young people,
the black metal scene in Greece is one of the strongest in the world
along with the Scandinavian countries. Rotting Christ is a Greek
dark/black/gothic metal band, formed in Athens in 1987, known far beyond
the borders of the country. The second cult rock band from Greece is the
occult black metal band Necromantia. The third most important rock band
from Greece is the doom/death band Septic Flesh.
Opera singer
Maria Callas, a contemporary and longtime lover of Aristotle Onassis, is
rightfully considered a phenomenon in the music world. Of the
contemporary opera singers in Greece, Marios Frangoulis stands out.
One of the best modern world guitarists is Antigoni Goni.
By
right, Sakis Rouvas can be called a recognized and successful performer.
Success at Eurovision 2004 in Istanbul with the song "Shake It" brought
Greece third place.
The relatively young dance "Sirtaki" in the
modern world acts as one of the symbols of Greece.
Greece, as the birthplace of the Olympic competition, has the oldest
sporting tradition in the world. It hosted the modern Olympic Games
three times in its new history: the first Olympics in 1896, the first
Extraordinary Olympic Games in 1906 and in 2004 the next Summer Olympic
Games in Athens. The Greek National Olympic Committee was established in
1894 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in
1895. The Greek businessman and poet Demetrios Vikelas became the first
President of the IOC.
The most popular sports in Greece are
football and basketball. Basketball gained popularity in Greece after
the 1968 Cup Winners' Cup was won by the AEK club. The second wave of
growth was caused by victories in the European Basketball Championship
in 1987 and especially in 2005. The most successful basketball clubs in
the Greek Championship are Panathinaikos (31 wins), Aris (10 wins),
Olympiakos (9 wins), AEK (8 wins) and Panellinios (6 wins).
Similarly, the rise of football took place after the victory of the
Greek national team at the European Football Championship in 2004. The
event has been called one of the biggest surprises in modern sports
history. The most successful football clubs in the Greek Super League
are Olympiakos (43 wins), Panathinaikos (19 wins) and AEK (13 wins).
In recent decades, volleyball, water polo, and athletics have also
gained popularity in Greece. The national teams adequately represent
Greece in international competitions in weightlifting, gymnastics,
sailing, rowing and canoeing, diving, swimming, rowing, wrestling,
cycling, boxing, shooting, tennis, archery, triathlon. Rugby, cricket,
golf, hockey, equestrian sport have a certain fame. In 1952, the Rally
of Greece was launched, which in 1973 became a stage of the World Rally
Championship and is now considered one of the most difficult, oldest and
most prestigious rally events in the world. Since 1972, the Athens
Classic Marathon has been held annually.
In 1991, Athens, the
capital of Greece, hosted the XI Mediterranean Games, the main sporting
event in the Mediterranean countries. On October 28, 2007, during a vote
in Pescara, Italy, Greece again won the right to host the XVII
Mediterranean Games. They were supposed to take place in the cities of
Volos and Larisa in 2013. However, the organizers did not build sports
facilities on time, and on January 28, 2011, the International Committee
of the Games deprived Greece of the right to host the Games. But on
January 27, 2011, the Association of International Marathons and Runs
signed an agreement with the Greek Ministry of Culture and Tourism,
according to which the association moves its headquarters to Athens.
A 2009 study published by the British public broadcaster BBC showed
that 78% of Greeks turn to television for news, 41% to print media, 35%
to electronic publications and 32% to radio. According to the Press
Freedom Index, published in 2009 by the international organization
Reporters Without Borders, Greece ranks 35th out of 175 countries in the
world. Some international analysts define the Greek media as highly
politicized, while being less politicized than in the late 1980s, and
they also recognize the mutual influence of the authorities and the
press.
Press
The Athens-Macedonian News Agency is considered
the largest, oldest and most authoritative news agency in Greece. The
main daily newspapers have a clear political affiliation: the newspapers
"Katemerini" and "Acropolis" (circulations of 35,500 and 50,800 copies,
respectively) are center-right publications; Eleftheros Tipos
(circulation 135,500) is a publication that leans towards the more
conservative right wing; the newspaper Avgi (circulation 55,000 copies)
is positioned as a left-wing publication, the publications of the
center-left direction include Avriani, Ta Nea and Eleftherotype
(circulation 51,000, 133,000 and 108,000 copies, respectively); finally,
the newspaper Rizospastis (circulation 40,000 copies) is the official
print organ of the Communist Party of Greece. Athens also publishes a
wide range of magazines, among them popular ones: Economics, Ependitis,
Prin, Status, and To Vima. 2% of Greek newspapers and magazines are
exported to Cyprus, the US, Germany and the UK. In Greece, German and
English-language editions are in the greatest demand.
Broadcasting
The first broadcaster in Greece (YRE) appeared in 1938,
in the same year it launched the first radio station in Greece, in 1952
radio broadcasting in Greece became two-program, in 1954 -
three-program, in 1966 - the first two television channels in Greece
were launched and a fourth radio station, in 1987 television in Greece
became three-program. In 1989, the monopoly of public broadcasters on
broadcasting[96] was abolished, the first commercial broadcasters in
Greece were established and the first commercial radio stations and TV
channels in Greece were launched. In 1999 the first NOVA satellite
platform in Greece was launched, in 2006 the first digital platform ΕΡΤ
Ψηφιακή, in 2008 the Conn-x TV IPTV platform, in 2009 the second Digea
digital platform, in 2011 the second OTE satellite platform . On August
17, 2012, on-air analog television broadcasting ceased. On February 12,
2016, licensing of commercial broadcasters was introduced[97]. Depending
on the form of financing, television and radio broadcasting in Greece is
divided into public and commercial, and there are also elements of state
television and radio broadcasting in the form of a satellite TV channel
Βουλή - Τηλεόραση, radio stations of municipalities (Athena 98.4 FM,
Channels 1, etc.), as well as radio stations of educational institutions
( Ράδιο Χώρος 94.2, Yellow Radio, etc.), and broadcasting of public
organizations in the form of party (ΑΡΤ FM 90.6 (People's Orthodox
Call), Στο Κόκκινο 105.5 (SYRIZA), 904 Αριστερά (KPG)) and church radio
stations (Εκκλησία της Ελλάδος, Πειραϊκή Εκκλησία and others).
TV
Greek television, depending on the form of signal distribution, is
divided into terrestrial, satellite and IPTV. Greek public television is
represented by the broadcaster ERT, broadcasting on the 1st (ERT1), 2nd
(ERT2) and 3rd (ERT3) channels. Commercial TV and radio broadcasting is
represented by broadcasters Mega TV (4th TV channel and radio station),
ANT1 (4th TV channel, radio stations Easy 97.2 and Ρυθμός 94.9), Alpha
TV (6th TV channel, radio stations Alpha 98.9 and Alpha 96 .5) and Skai
TV (TV 8, Skai 100.3, Μelodia 99.2, Red FM 96.3), Star Channel (TV 7,
Star FM 107.7), Epsilon TV (9 channel), as well as regional commercial
broadcasters (up to 15 per region), broadcast on the basis of temporary
permits. There are two digital television operators in Greece, Digea,
which is jointly owned by commercial broadcasters, and ΕΡΤnet, which is
owned by public broadcaster ERT. The main operator of IPTV is OTE (it is
also the main operator of fixed and mobile telephony and the Internet),
which has an IPTV platform OTE TV, satellite TV operators OTE and NOVA,
the latter has a satellite platform NOVA Greece.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting in Greece, depending on the form of distribution, exists only in the form of terrestrial broadcasting, public radio stations are also included in common multiplexes with terrestrial, satellite and IPTV versions of public television channels, in addition, there are Internet radio stations. Over-the-air broadcasting in Greece is carried out in analogue VHF, VHF CCIR version, some public radio stations are also available in medium wave. Общественное радиовещание представлено вещателем ЕРТ, вещающим через радиостанции Πρώτο Πρόγραμμα, Δεύτερο Πρόγραμμα, Τρίτο Πρόγραμμα, ΕΡΑ Σπορ, ERT Περιφέρεια и Kosmos 93,6, коммерческое радиовещание представлено общенациональными радиостанциями : 261 Athens, Εν Λευκώ, Παραπολιτικά 90,1 FM, Best Radio, Kiss FM 92.9, ΣΠΟΡ FM 94.6, Ρυθμός 94.9, Athens DeeJay, Flash 96, Easy 97.2, Love Radio 97.5, REAL FM 97.8, Αθήνα 9.84 (municipal radio station of Athens), Μελωδία 99.2, Βήμα FM 99.5, ΣΚΑΪ 100.3, Sfera 102.2, Nitro Radio, MAD Radio 106.2, in addition, there may be from one to several dozen regional commercial radio stations in the regions.
The Greek Armed Forces are state structures, unified armed forces and
structural organizations, which, in accordance with the Greek
Constitution, are designed to protect the freedom, independence and
territorial integrity of the state and include the ground forces, naval
forces and air forces of the Hellenic Republic . The armed forces of
Greece are completed on the basis of the law on universal conscription,
their number is 177,600 people.
The supreme governing body of the
Armed Forces is the Greek Ministry of Defense, the military command and
control body is the General Headquarters of the Greek National Defense
(Greek Γενικό Επιτελείο Εθνικής Άμυνας - ΓΕΕΘΑ). Greece is a member of
NATO and participates in operations in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chad and
Kosovo and Metohija.
During the war of independence against the
Ottoman Empire in 1821, the Greek land forces and navy were created. In
September 1912, the Air Force was formed as the third branch of the
armed forces. In the first Balkan War, the Greek army fought together
with the allies of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro against Turkey. In the
second Balkan War, the Greek army fought with other Balkan countries
against Bulgaria. During the First World War, the Greek armed forces
took part on the side of the allies. The Asia Minor campaign of
1919-1922 ended in defeat, turned into the loss of territories and the
"Asia Minor catastrophe".
During World War II, Greece, under the
leadership of dictator Ioannis Metaxas, rejected the Italian surrender
ultimatum on October 28, 1940 and was able to fight back against Italian
forces and shifted the hostilities to Albanian territory. The Greek
armed forces were only defeated by the military intervention of the
German Wehrmacht and the Bulgarian armed forces in April and May 1941.
The Greek armed forces participated in the Korean War in the 1950s.
In April 1967, as a result of the rebellion, the military regime led by
Georgios Papadopoulos seized power in Greece. The Cyprus conflict and
the subsequent invasion of Cyprus by Turkish troops in 1974 led to the
fall of the military dictatorship and the return to democracy through
the efforts of Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis.
Greece
spends the largest percentage of gross domestic product (4.3% of GDP) on
defense among NATO member states. The main reason for the cost is the
perception of a threat from Turkey.