Greece

Official name Ellinikí Dhimokratía (Hellenic Republic)
Form of government unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house (Hellenic Parliament [300])
Head of state President: Karolos Papoulias
Head of government Prime Minister: Alexis Tsipras
Capital Athens
Official language Greek
Official religion See footnote 1.
Monetary unit euro (€)
Population (2014 est.) 10,932,000COLLAPSE
Total area (sq mi) 50,949
Total area (sq km) 131,957
Urban-rural population Urban: (2010) 61.2%
Rural: (2010) 38.8%
Life expectancy at birth Male: (2012) 77.5 years
Female: (2012) 82.8 years
Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate Male: (2010) 98.3%
Female: (2010) 96.1%
GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2012) 23,260

About Greece

Greece achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830. During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it gradually added neighboring islands and territories, most with Greek-speaking populations. In World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy (1940) and subsequently occupied by Germany (1941-44); fighting endured in a protracted civil war between supporters of the king and other anti-communist and communist rebels. Following the latter's defeat in 1949, Greece joined NATO in 1952. In 1967, a group of military officers seized power, establishing a military dictatorship that suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country. In 1974, democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy. In 1981, Greece joined the EC (now the EU); it became the 12th member of the European Economic and Monetary Union in 2001. In 2010, the prospect of a Greek default on its euro-denominated debt created severe strains within the EMU and raised the question of whether a member country might voluntarily leave the common currency or be removed.

It is the southernmost of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. Geography has greatly influenced the country’s development. Mountains have historically restricted internal communications, but the sea has opened up wider horizons. The total land area of Greece (one-fifth of which is made up of the Greek islands) is comparable in size to England or the U.S. state of Alabama.

Greece has more than 2,000 islands, of which about 170 are inhabited; some of the easternmost Aegean islands lie just a few miles off the Turkish coast. The country’s capital is Athens, which expanded rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. Attikí (ancient Greek: Attica), the area around the capital, is now home to about one-third of the country’s entire population.

A Greek legend has it that God distributed soil through a sieve and used the stones that remained to build Greece. The country’s barren landscape has historically caused the people to migrate. The Greeks, like the Jews and the Armenians, traditionally have been a people of diaspora, and several million people of Greek descent live in various parts of the world. Xeniteia, or sojourning in foreign lands, with its strong overtones of nostalgia for the faraway homeland, has been a central element in the historical experience of the Greek people.

Greece is a country that is at once European, Balkan, Mediterranean, and Near Eastern. It lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa and is heir to the heritages of Classical Greece, the Byzantine Empire, and nearly four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule.

Geography of Greece

The Land

Greece is bordered to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and to the west by the Ionian Sea. Only to the north and northeast does it have land borders (totaling some 735 miles [1,180 km]), with, from west to east, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia (see Researcher’s Note: Macedonia: the provenance of the name), Bulgaria, and Turkey. The Greek landscape is conspicuous not only for its rugged beauty but also for its complexity and variety. Three elements dominate: the sea, the mountains, and the lowland. The Greek mainland is sharply indented; arms and inlets of the sea penetrate so deeply that only a small, wedge-shaped portion of the interior is more than 50 miles (80 km) from the coast. The rocky headlands and peninsulas extend outward to the sea where there are many island arcs and archipelagoes. The southernmost part of mainland Greece, the Pelopónnisos (ancient Greek: Peloponnese) peninsula, connects to the mainland only by the narrow isthmus at the head of the Gulf of Korinthiakós (Corinth). Greece’s mountainous terrain covers some four-fifths of the country, much of which is deeply dissected. A series of mainland mountain chains running northwest-southeast enclose narrow parallel valleys and numerous small basins that once held lakes. With riverine plains and thin, discontinuous strips of coastal plain, these interior valleys and basins constitute the lowland. Although it accounts for only about one-fifth of the country’s land area, the lowland has played an important role in the life of the country.

Relief'

Three characteristics of geology and structure underlie these landscape elements. First, northeastern Greece is occupied by a stable block of ancient (Hercynian) hard rock. Second, younger and weaker rocks, the majority of which are of limestone origin, make up western and southern Greece. These were heavily folded during the Alp-building phase of the Paleogene and Neogene periods (about 65 to 2.6 million years ago), when Earth movements thrust the softer sediments east-northeast against the unyielding Hercynian block and produced a series of roughly parallel tectonic zones that gave rise to the mountain-and-valley relief. Third, both the Hercynian block and the Hellenidic (Alpine) ranges were subsequently raised and fractured by tectonic movements. These dislocations created the sunken basins of the Ionian and Aegean seas as well as the jagged edges so typical of Greece’s landscape. Earthquakes are frequent reminders that similar earth movements continue, particularly along the major fault lines. One result of the region’s geologic instability is the widespread presence of marble, which is limestone that has been altered by pressure and heat. Seismic disturbances are sometimes associated with volcanic explosions, especially those involving the island of Thíra (ancient Greek: Thera; also called Santoríni), which was virtually destroyed by a major eruption in the 2nd millennium bce. The vents of the Kaméni islands in the sea-filled explosion crater of Thíra remain active. The island of Mílos (Melos), which rises to 2,465 feet (751 metres) above sea level, is composed of young volcanic rocks.

Relief and geology provide the basis for describing the Greek landscape in terms of six major regions: central, northeastern, eastern, southern, and western mainland Greece, along with the islands.

CENTRAL GREECE: THE PÍNDOS MOUNTAINS

The central mountain range, the Píndos (ancient Greek: Pindus) Mountains, forms the core of mainland Greece. Following the general northwest-southeast trend of the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, the Píndos sweep down from the Albanian and Macedonian frontiers, creating a powerful barrier. The two passes of Métsovon and Mount Timfristós divide the range into three units: a fairly open segment in the north where impervious shales and sandstones have weathered and formed into extensive upland valleys and gently inclining hills; the Píndos proper in the centre, some 20 miles (32 km) wide and predominantly limestone; and an almost uncrossable zone in the south, about 50 miles (80 km) wide, deeply cut by winding rivers and composed of a mixture of limestone, slates, and sandstones. The range’s highest point, Mount Smólikas, 8,652 feet (2,637 metres) high, is found in the north.

NORTHEASTERN GREECE: MAKEDONÍA AND THRÁKI

Several topographic regions surround the main mountainous core and are often penetrated by extensions of it. The northernmost part, roughly the regions of Greek Makedonía (Macedonia) and Thráki (Thrace), extends in a long, narrow, east-west band between the Aegean coast and the frontier with the countries of Macedonia and Bulgaria. It consists of forest-clad, crystalline mountain massifs and plateaus created by the fracturing of the Hercynian block and separated from each other by the alluvial deposits of the five great rivers of northern Greece: the Maritsa (Évros), Néstos, Strymónas (Struma), Vardaráis (Vardar; Axiós;), and Aliákmonos (Aliákmon). The fracturing of the Hercynian also accounts for the odd three-pronged shape of the Chalkidikí (Chalcidice) Peninsula, on whose easternmost prong is located Mount Athos (Holy Mountain), which is the famous site of Greek Orthodox monastic communities. Along and beyond the Bulgarian border rise the Rodópi (Rhodope) Mountains, mainly composed of sharp-edged and sloping plateaus, reaching 7,260 feet (2,213 metres) at Mount Órvilos. The Maritsa River, in its low-lying, marshy valley, marks the Turkish border. From there to the lower Strymónas River extends a succession of plains, some of which are often swampy, such as the deltaic plain of the lower Néstos, and others have been turned into fertile agricultural land, as is the case in the former Lake Akhinós. Inland there are basins of structural origin, such as the Plain of Drámas (Drama). Lakes Koróneia (Korónia) and Vólvi, which separate the Chalkidikí Peninsula from the rest of the coastal region, also occupy structural depressions. Farther west, the large plain drained by the Vardaráis and lower Aliákmonos rivers is being continually extended as the river deltas push out into the Gulf of Thermaïkós (Thérmai). The forested Vérmion (Vérmio) Mountains and, beyond them, the barren inland basins around Lakes Vegorítida (Vegorrítis) and Kardítsa mark the boundary with the Píndos Mountains.

EASTERN GREECE: THESSALÍA AND ATTIKÍ

The western part of this region contains the massive limestone formations so characteristic of northern and western Greece, while to the east the peninsula of Attiikí (Attica) represents the western margin of the Hercynian crystalline rocks of the Aegean shores. Essentially an upland area, its relief is articulated by four northwest–southeast-trending spurs thrusting out from the main Píndos mass. A number of distinctive basins and plains lie amid these upland ribs. The northernmost, a rather broken spur called the Kamvoúnia Mountains, runs along the coast of the Gulf of Thermaïkós and continues south to form the peninsula bounding one side of Vólou Bay. Among its peaks are Mount Ólympos (Olympus)—the mythical seat of the gods, whose often cloud-topped summit rises to 9,570 feet (2,917 metres), the highest point in Greece—and the equally fine peaks of Mounts Kisszavos (Ossa) and Pílios (Pelion). The next spur to the west is the Óthris mountain range, which continues across the narrow Oreón Channel in the northern sector of the long, narrow island of Évvoia (Euboea). Between the two spurs lie the ancient basins (formerly the site of lakes) of Thessalía (Thessaly), Tríkala , and Lárisa, drained by the Pineiós (Piniós) River. Just to the south the basin of Almyrós (Almirós), of similar origin, lies around Vólou Bay.

To the southwest the third spur leaving the Píndos is that of the Oíti, which continues in the Óchi (Ókhi) Mountains of southern Évvoia. Just before the Oíti reaches the sea, near the head of the Gulf of Maliakós, is the pass of Thermopýles (Thermopylae, scene of the famous battle of antiquity). The last (and perhaps the most important) of the four spurs thrusting down into eastern Greece is the one that curves away to the southeast through the twin-peaked mass of Mount Parnassós (Parnassus). This mountain, rising to an elevation of 8,061 feet (2,457 metres), was held to be the home of the Muses. The view from its summit at sunrise, with a broad expanse of the heart of Greece gradually unfolding, is regarded as one of the finest in the world. The range continues as the backbone of the peninsula lying between the Gulf of Évvoia and the Gulf of Korinthiakós (Corinth), and it reaches as far as Mount Párnis, just to the north of Athens. To its north lie the plains of Fokída (Phocis) and Voiotía (Boeotia), and around its southern tip lie the hotter and more arid depressions of Attiikí.

SOUTHERN GREECE: THE PELOPÓNNISOS

The entire southern portion of mainland Greece forms a peninsula lying to the south of the Gulf of Korinthiakós. Technically, this region, the Pelopónnisos, also known as the Morea, is now an island, for the 3.9-mile (6.3-km) Korinthiakós Canal cuts across the narrow neck of land that formerly separated the Gulf of Korinthiakós from that of Aígina (Aíyina). The Pelopónnisos consists of an oval-shaped mountain mass with peaks rising to 7,800 feet (2,400 metres) and four peninsular prongs, which point southward toward the island of Crete (Modern Greek: Kríti). At its heart are the arid limestone plateaus of Arkadía (Arcadia), where streams disappear underground into the soluble rock and from which the barren upland of the Táygetos (Taïyetos) Mountains, reaching an elevation of 7,800 feet, extends southward to form the backbone of one of the southern peninsulas. A thin fringe of fertile coastal plain in the north and west, together with the larger alluvial depressions forming the Gulfs of Lakonia (Laconia), Messenía (Kalamata), and Argolikós (Árgolis), surrounds this mountainous core. The coast is indented and has some harbours.

WESTERN GREECE: ÍPEIROS AND AKARNANÍA

Western Greece consists of Ípeiros (Epirus) and Akarnanía (Acarnania), which is the area north of the Gulf of Korinthiakós to the Albanian frontier, and is often considered to include the offshore Iónia (Ionian) Islands. The distinctiveness of western Greece is enhanced by the fact that the barrier effect of the Píndos and the ameliorating climatic influences from the west result in a quite different landscape from that of the rest of Greece. The west’s physical attributes have exaggerated its historical isolation from the other areas of mainland Greece. Fertile basins are not well developed, constricted as they are by the parallel ranges of the coastal mountains. The mountain regions themselves, however, are adequately supplied with precipitation. The flat, alluvial plain of Árta, built up from detritus brought down by the Árachthos (Árakhthos) River has become, with irrigation, a fertile agricultural region.

THE ISLANDS OF GREECE

The Ionian Islands off the western coast of Greece structurally resemble the folded mountains of Ípeiros. Of the six main islands, Corfu (Modern Greek: Kérkyra), opposite the Albanian frontier, is the northernmost; it is fertile and amply endowed with well-watered lowland. The other islands, Paxoí (Paxos), Lefkáda (Leucas), Itháki (Ithaca), Kefalonía (Cephallenia), and Zákynthos (Zacynthus), lie farther south; lack of rainfall accentuates their gaunt, broken limestone relief, although Lefkáda and Zákynthos have sheltered eastern plains. A seventh island, Kýthira (Cythera), is grouped with the Ionian Islands for administrative purposes but is geographically discrete. The Aegean islands, also exhibiting the characteristic landforms of the mainland, are situated in distinct clusters in the Aegean Sea, east of the Greek mainland.

In the north, off Thráki (Thrace), lie Thásos, an oval block of ancient mineral rocks similar in composition to neighbouring blocks on the mainland, and harbourless Samothráki (Samothrace), an island of volcanic origin. Límnos (Lemnos), situated midway between Asia Minor and the Mount Athós peninsula, is almost cut in two by the northern Pourniás Bay and the deep southern harbour afforded by the Bay of Moúdros (Moúdhrou).

To the southeast the rocky but sheltered islands of Lésbos (Lésvos), Chíos (Khíos), and Sámos lie close to the Turkish coast and are extensions of peninsulas on the coast of Asia Minor. Across the central Aegean, near northern Évvoia, lie the Northern Sporades (“Scattered Islands”); their crystalline rocks are similar to those of the Greek mainland. Farther south, in the heart of the Aegean, lie the Kykládes (Cyclades; “Islands in a Circle”). These roughly centre on Dílos (Delos) and represent the tips of drowned mountain ridges continuing the structural trends of Évvoia and the region around Athens.

Between the Kykládes and the Turkish coast, Dodekánisa (the Dodecanese group), of which Ródos (Rhodes) is the largest of a dozen major islands, has a varied geologic structure ranging from the gray limestones of Kálymnos (Kálimnos), Sými (Sími), and Chálki to the complete ancient volcanic cone that forms Nísuros (Nísiros).

Finally, the long narrow shape of Crete stands to the south at the entrance of the Aegean. With an area of 3,190 square miles (8,262 square km), it is by far the largest of the Aegean islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean. Crete is geologically linked to the south and west of mainland Greece. Its rugged, deeply ravined, asymmetrical limestone massif, falling steeply to the south, from a distance resembles four separate islands: the westernmost Lefká (Levká) Mountains; the central Psíloreítis (Ídi) Mountains, with Crete’s highest point, the summit of Mount Psíloreítis, called Timios Stavrós, 8,058 feet (2,456 metres) high; the east-central Díkti Mountains; and the far eastern Tryptí (Thriptís) Mountains. Another range, the Asteroúsia (Kófinas) Mountains, runs along the south-central coast between the Mesarás Plain and the Libyan Sea. Of Crete’s 650 miles (1,050 km) of rocky coastline, it is the more gradual slope on the northern side of the island that provides several natural harbours and coastal plains.

Drainage

The main rivers of Greece share several characteristics: in their upper courses most flow in broad, gently sloping valleys; in their middle courses they plunge through a series of intermontane basins in narrow, often spectacular gorges; and in their lower courses they meander across the coastal plain to reach the sea in marshy, ever-growing deltas. Most rivers are short. In limestone districts a generally permeable surface with sinkholes (katavóthra) leading to underground channels complicates the drainage network. River regimes in all regions are erratic, unsuitable for navigation, and of limited usefulness for irrigation. The Vardaráis, Strymónas, and Néstos, which cross Greek Makedonía and Thráki to enter the northern Aegean, are the major rivers, but only because they drain large regions beyond the Greek frontier. Also in the northeast are the eastward-flowing Aliákmonos and Piniós, and in the Pelopónnisos is the Evrótas, which flows southeastward into the Gulf of Lakonia.

Soils

Throughout the rocky highland areas of Greece, which are characterized by their limestone formations, the soil is thin and relatively poor. The valley areas contain claylike soil known as terra rosa, reddened earth that originates from the residue of limestone rocks. These areas are adequate for farming. The most fertile regions, however, are along coastal plains and beside rivers. The clay and loam soils that predominate there may even require drainage prior to cultivation.

Climate

The Mediterranean climate of Greece is subject to a number of regional and local variations based on the country’s physical diversity. In winter the belt of low-pressure disturbances moving in from the North Atlantic Ocean shifts southward, bringing with it warm, moist, westerly winds. As the low-pressure areas enter the Aegean region, they may draw in cold air from those eastern regions of the Balkans that, sheltered by the Dinaric mountain system from western influences, are open to climatic extremes emanating from the heart of Eurasia. This icy wind is known as the boreas. Partly as a result, Thessaloníki (Salonika; Thessalonica) has an average January temperature in the low 40s F (about 6 °C), while in Athens it is in the low 50s F (about 10 °C), and in Iráklieo (Candia) on Crete it is in the low to mid-50s F (about 12 °C). Occasionally the warmer sirocco (shilok) winds are drawn in from the south. The western climatic influences bring plenty of precipitation to the Ionian coast and the mountains behind it; winter rain starts early, and snow lingers into spring. On Corfu, January temperatures average in the low 50s F (10 °C), and the island’s average annual precipitation is about 52 inches (1,320 mm), compared with that on Crete of about 25 inches (640 mm) and that at Athens of about 16 inches (400 mm). Few populated areas have lasting snowfalls, but snow is commonly found on the highest peaks.

In summer, when the low-pressure belt swings away again, the climate is hot and dry almost everywhere. The average July sea-level temperature approaches 80 °F (27 °C), although heat waves can push the temperature well above 100 °F (38 °C) for a day or so. Topography is again a modifying factor: the interior northern mountains continue to experience some precipitation, while along the winding coast the afternoon heat is eased slightly by sea breezes. In other regions, such as Crete, the hot, dry summers are accentuated by the parching meltemi, or etesian winds, which become drier as they are drawn southward.

In all seasons—perhaps especially in summer—the quality of light is one of Greece’s most appealing attractions. However, atmospheric pollution has become a serious problem in the cities, notably Athens, obscuring the sky and posing a hazard to the ancient monuments.

Plant and animal life

As in other Balkan countries, the vegetation of Greece is open to influences from several major biogeographic zones, with the major Mediterranean and western Asian elements supplemented by plants and animals from the central European interior. The subtle but complex vegetation mosaic is a product of the climatic effects of elevation, the contrast between north and south, local relief, and eight or nine millennia of human settlement and land use. Degraded plant associations (areas where the variety and size of species and the density of plant cover are reduced) and soil erosion are common.

Vegetation types from central Europe prevail on the mountain flanks and generally in the north. In central and southern regions and in the narrow belts along the valleys of the mountains, about half the land is under scrub of various kinds; and maquis—the classic Mediterranean scrub, with oleander, bay, evergreen oak, olive, and juniper—is especially prevalent in the Pelopónnisos. Evergreen trees and shrubs and herbaceous plants are found in the lowland, their flowers offering brilliant patterns in springtime. Pines, plane trees, and poplars line the rivers, the higher slopes, and the coastal plains. Forests and scrub are found at the highest elevations; black pine forests cover Mount Ólympos. Oak, chestnut, and other deciduous trees are found in the north, giving way at higher elevations to coniferous forests dominated by the Grecian fir, in which clearings are carpeted in spring and summer with irises, crocuses, and tulips. Greece is home to about 6,000 species of wildflowers, of which some 600 are endemic.

The forested zones, especially in the north, harbour such European mammals as wildcats, martens, brown bears, roe deer, and, more rarely, wolves, wild boars, and lynx. Animals of the Mediterranean regions include hares, wild goats, and porcupines, all adapted to the heat and lack of moisture. Birds include owls, vultures, pelicans, storks, and herons, and many varieties from farther north spend the winter in Greece, while others stop on Greek land and water while migrating to and from Africa. Reptile and marine life have come under increasing pressure, the former by overdevelopment and the latter by exhaustive fishing.

Demography of Greece

The People

• Ethnic groups

The population of Greece, in particular that of northern Greece, has always been characterized by a great deal of ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity. Migrations, invasions, imperial conquests, and 20th-century wars all contributed to this cultural diversity, which continues to characterize modern Greece—in spite of several instances of population exchanges, which occurred as a result of treaties between Greece and Bulgaria in 1919 and between Greece and Turkey in 1923, along with long-standing government policies of assimilation, or Hellenization. According to the dominant ideology of the Greek state, all the people of Greece are, or should be, Greek. As a result, the existence of ethnic and national diversity in the country has remained a sensitive issue. The Greek government’s official position is that there are no ethnic or national minorities in the country and that virtually the entire population is Greek. The only minority officially recognized by the Greek government is a religious minority, the Muslim minority of Thráki (Thrace), whose existence was acknowledged in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Nonetheless, the population of Greece includes people who identify themselves as Turks, Macedonians, Albanians, Aromanians (Vlachs), and Roma (Gypsies). Greek is the language of the majority of Cyprus’s population, and enclaves of Greeks—as defined by the language they speak—are to be found to different degrees in southern Albania, southern Italy, Turkey, and Bulgaria. Greek expatriate communities play a distinctive role in Europe, North and South America, Australia, and South Africa.

• Languages

The Greek language is one of the oldest attested Indo-European languages, its earliest written form (Linear B) dating to about the 15th century bce. Koine (the language of the New Testament) and Byzantine Greek represent the middle phases of Greek. Those ultimately gave way in the 19th century to Modern Greek (except in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church, which still uses Koine), although from roughly the 15th century onward, the language had a very modern aspect to it. Modern Greek comprises Standard Modern Greek and the various regional dialects. Standard Modern Greek is the official state language, and it is an amalgamation of two historical forms: Demotic, which is widely spoken, and Katharevusa, a deliberately archaizing form that was primarily written, appearing in official government documents and newspapers until the mid-1970s. Separate transliteration tables are generally used for Classical and Modern Greek; however, changes in the pronunciation of the Greek language and conflicting transliteration conventions have resulted in widespread discrepancies, even in the rendering of Modern Greek names in Roman orthography. Although not officially recognized, minority languages spoken in the country include Turkish, Macedonian, Albanian (especially in the dialect known as Arvanítika, a variety of Tosk Albanian taken to Greece in the 15th century by settlers from what is now Albania), Bulgarian, Romany, Aromanian (a form of Eastern Romance, akin to Daco-Romanian, spoken by the Aromanians and also called Macedo-Romanian), and Megleno-Romanian (another form of Eastern Romance, spoken in a few villages in the north). The form of Greek known as Tsakonian is different enough from other varieties that it could be considered a separate language too, and a similar claim could be made for the Pontic variety and the Cappadocian variety as spoken now in Greece (these last two occurring in Greece as a result of the population movements mandated by the Treaty of Lausanne).

• Religion

Despite the long Ottoman administration, virtually all of the population belongs to the Church of Greece (Greek Orthodox Church). An autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox church, this body appoints its own ecclesiastical hierarchy and is headed by a synod of 12 metropolitans under the presidency of the archbishop of Athens. Almost all Cretans belong to a special branch of the Church of Greece headed by the archbishop of Crete, who is directly responsible to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, as are the monks of Mount Athos, who constitute a semiautonomous entity with a Greek governor but with their own administration.

The Muslim (primarily Sunni) minority, which constitutes most of the non-Orthodox sector of the population, is mainly Turkish and concentrated in western Thráki and the Dodecanese. Roman and Greek Catholics, predominantly located in Athens and the western islands formerly under Italian rule, account for the rest, except for a few thousand adherents of Protestantism and Judaism. Greece’s Jewish population was almost wiped out by the Nazi genocide of World War II. (See Holocaust.)

• Settlement patterns

In terms of human geography, Greece can be described as “classical Mediterranean” and “Balkan.” History, rather than the physical environment, accounts for the variations in settlement patterns, social composition, and demographic trends that cannot be explained by differentiating between “Old Greece” and the territories annexed in the early 20th century. For example, although Greece is considered an “old country”—relatively densely populated in prehistoric times and well settled and much exploited in and since ancient times (as the large number of Classical monuments and important archaeological sites testifies)—instability is as characteristic of Greece’s settlement pattern as it is of Greece’s history. New villages, associated not only with Ottoman colonization but also with agrarian reform in the first three decades of the 20th century, are neighbours to some of the most ancient towns of Mediterranean Europe, notably Khaniá (Chaniá), Pýlos, Thíra (Santoríni), Árgos, Athens, Spárti (Sparta), and Thíva (Thebes). Traditionally, towns and villages have depended on the fertility of the surrounding land. Isolation, which contributes to this self-sufficiency (the autarkeia of the ancient city-states), survives in the remote villages of mountainous Greece. Only Corinth (Modern Greek: Kórinthos) and Athens were major trading centres in ancient times. The other trading areas were located where sea and land routes coincided with cultivable land. From the Byzantine period onward, fortification became an essential factor for both monastic and secular settlement, emphasizing the importance of the mountain regions and of “perched” sites above lowland. As late as the 1960s, about two-fifths of Greece’s population lived in mountain regions. A return to the plains took place during intermittent periods of relative stability, and the settlement pattern, dispersed or nucleated and often geometrically laid out, thus always seems to be “new.”

Greeks have preserved a strong sense of community, and village life remains a powerful influence. This holds true despite the decline of the rural population, which now constitutes about two-fifths of Greece’s total population. At the other end of the urban scale, Greece’s larger towns and cities have gained considerably in size and commercial importance since the 1970s. The Athens metropolitan area is by far the largest urban concentration, but towns such as Thessaloníki, Pátrai, Vólos, Lárissa (Lárisa), and Irákleio (on Crete) are all fast-growing centres. Of the three-fifths of the population that is urban, a relatively small slice is classified as semi-urban. Urbanization is extending into the countryside, where agrarian reform has severely fragmented landholdings and attracted urban-based financial and marketing entrepreneurs.

• Demographic trends

Most of the country’s growth in the years after Greece gained its independence from the Ottomans in 1832 resulted from two factors: annexations of surrounding areas—the Ionian Islands (1864); Thessalía and Árta (1881); Ípeiros, Greek Makedonía, and Crete (1913); Thráki (1920); and the Dodecanese (1947)—and the influx of some 1.5 million Greek refugees from Asia Minor in the 1920s as a result of the Treaty of Lausanne. Emigration was significant in 1911–15, and it became particularly heavy after World War II. The most common destinations of the emigrants were the United States, Canada, Australia, and, somewhat later, Germany, Belgium, and Italy.

The 1950s and ’60s were demographically stagnant, but in the 1970s population growth was revitalized. This was, however, almost wholly because of international population movements rather than from an increase in natural growth rates, which remained low. At the middle of the first decade of the new millennium, the majority of immigrants were from central and eastern Europe, primarily Albania, followed by Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. Within Greece the contrast between regions losing population (two-thirds of the southern Pelopónnisos; all the Ionian Islands except Corfu; the mountains of central, southwestern, and northeastern mainland Greece; and most of the islands of the eastern Aegean) and those rapidly gaining people (Attikí and other districts outside the major cities) held social and political implications. In the early 21st century, as the fertility rate remained below the replacement rate and as immigration slowed, the overall population growth rate declined. Although the life expectancy of Greek men and women was for some time slightly longer than that in other western European countries, the difference has been decreasing since the late 20th century because of changes in the diet and activities of Greeks.

Economy of Greece

Greece’s economy underwent rapid growth in the post-World War II period, but it has remained one of the least developed in the European Union (EU). The country’s natural resources are limited, its industrialization process has been slow, and it has struggled with the balance of payments. Shipping, tourism, and remittances from expatriate workers (the last of which have been decreasing steadily) are the mainstays of the economy.

Although the Greek economy traditionally has been based on free enterprise, many sectors of the economy have come under direct or, through the banks, indirect government control. This process of establishing state ownership of the economy has been associated with both right and centre-left governments; however, in the first decade of the 21st century, the centre-right government—partly in response to pressure from the EU—showed an inclination for privatizing some sectors. Trade unions, which are fragmented and highly politicized, wield significant power only in the public sector. Measures taken since the late 1980s, however, have begun to decrease the degree of state control of economic activity. Following entry into the European Economic Community (later succeeded by the EU), Greece became a major beneficiary of the Common Agricultural Policy, which provided subsidies to the country’s generally inefficient agricultural sector and for projects to improve its infrastructure. Rates of productivity, however, have remained low for both agriculture and industry, and the development of the country’s economy has lagged behind that of its EU partners. Unemployment, which historically has been low, grew in the last decades of the 20th century as temporary migrant workers returned to Greece and as demand for immigrant labour has declined in other European countries. Some sectors of the economy, notably shipping and tourism, have shown considerable dynamism but have been highly vulnerable to international developments.

In late 2009 the Greek economy went into a tailspin. This economic and financial crisis had been partly precipitated by the global financial downturn that soured economies throughout the world in 2008–09 in the wake of the burst of the “housing bubble” in the United States in 2007, which left banks around the world awash in “toxic” debt. Beyond the difficulties tied to the international situation, however, it became clear that Greece had its own acute problems derived largely from excessive government borrowing and misleading accounting that had hidden the extent of the government’s extraordinary debt. Severe austerity measures were not enough to rescue the Greek economy and government, and in March and April of 2010 the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—fearing the collapse of the euro currency zone, which Greece had joined in 2001—stepped in with two huge aid packages that came loaded with new demands for austerity measures.

• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Greece’s agricultural potential is hampered by poor soil, inadequate levels of precipitation, a landholding system that has served to increase the number of unproductive smallholdings, and population migration from the countryside to cities and towns. Less than one-third of the land area is cultivable, with the remainder consisting of pasture, scrub, and forest. Only in the plains of Thessalía, Makedonía, and Thráki is cultivation possible on a reasonably large scale. There corn (maize), wheat, barley, sugar beets, peaches, tomatoes, cotton (of which Greece is the only EU producer), and tobacco are grown.

Other crops grown in considerable quantities are olives (for olive oil), grapes, melons, potatoes, and oranges, all of which are exported to other EU countries. Since the last quarter of the 20th century, Greece also has been exporting hothouse-grown vegetables to northern Europe during the winter. Greek wine, including the resin-flavoured retsina, has been produced primarily for domestic consumption, but by the 1990s Greece was producing wines of higher quality for the world market. Sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, and chickens are raised for export and local consumption.

Although inefficient, Greek agriculture has benefited substantially from EU subsidies, and there are many signs of growing rural prosperity. In general, however, the importance of the agricultural sector to the economy is diminishing.

Forests, mostly state-owned, cover approximately one-fifth of the land area, but they are prone to major forest fires. Forest products make no significant contribution to the economy.

Greece’s extensive coastline and numerous islands have always supported intensive fishing activity. However, overfishing and the failure to conserve fish stocks properly, a problem throughout the Mediterranean, have reduced the contribution of fishing to the economy.

• Resources and power

Greece has few natural resources. Its only substantial mineral deposits are of nonferrous metals, notably bauxite. The country also has small deposits of silver ore and marble, which are mined. Fossil fuels, with the exception of lignite, are in short supply: there are no deposits of bituminous coal, and oil production, based on the Prinos field near the island of Thásos, is limited. After the Thásos discovery, a dispute developed in the 1970s between Greece and Turkey over the delineation of the two countries’ respective continental shelves and has remained unresolved. At the start of the 21st century, about nine-tenths of Greece’s electrical power needs were supplied by fossil fuels (primarily by lignite-fueled power stations), and nearly one-tenth by hydroelectric power, with a still considerably smaller slice provided by nuclear energy. From the late 1990s the country began developing solar and wind power.

• Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector in Greece is weak. An established tradition exists only for the production of textiles, processed foods, and cement. One of the world’s largest cement factories is located in Vólos. In the past, private investment was oriented much more toward real estate than toward industry, and concrete apartment blocks proliferated throughout the country. In the 1960s and ’70s Greek shipowners took advantage of an investment regime that benefited from foreign capital by investing in such sectors as oil refining and shipbuilding. Shipping continues to be a key industrial sector—the merchant fleet being one of the largest in the world—though many of Greece’s ships are older than those of other leading countries. In the 1970s many ships that had hitherto registered under flags of convenience returned to the Greek flag; only a small proportion remains under foreign registry. Greek ships, which are predominantly bulk carriers, are extremely vulnerable to downturns in international economic activity, as they are principally engaged in carrying cargoes between developing countries. In the early 21st century about one-fifth of the labour force was employed in manufacturing and construction.

• Finance

The central bank is the Bank of Greece, which issued the drachma, the national currency, until 2001, when Greece adopted the euro as its sole currency. Greece has been a member of the EU since 1981. A significant number of the country’s commercial banks are state-controlled. The state also exercises considerable control over the insurance sector.

There is a stock exchange in Athens, but, for many Greeks, real estate, foreign currency, gold, and jewelry have proved to be more attractive investments than securities and bonds. Although Greece has a pension and social insurance system of considerable complexity, many Greeks have opposed changes to it. By the late 1990s it had become easier for Greeks to obtain their pensions and get medical care. The main social security fund, the Social Insurance Institute (IKA), is prone to recurrent funding crises.

• Trade

At the beginning of the 21st century, about two-fifths of Greece’s trade was with the other member countries of the EU, and its main trading partners were Germany and Italy. The principal exports included food (especially fruit and nuts), clothing and apparel, machinery, and refined petroleum and petroleum-based products. Machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals and chemical products, foodstuffs, ships and boats, and crude petroleum are the country’s main imports.

The emergence of a consumer society has created a huge demand for imported consumer goods—in particular, automobiles—which has had negative consequences for the country’s balance of trade. In the early 21st century, the deficit in the balance of payments was offset by the borrowing that would eventually be responsible for the country’s economic collapse, as well as by limited foreign investment, and, to a lesser extent, by remittances from emigrants.

• Services

Services have become the dominant sector of Greece’s economy, contributing about two-thirds of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employing about the same proportion of the workforce by the early 2000s. Government services were significantly reduced, however, as part of the austerity measures undertaken in response to the economic crisis at the end of the decade.

A host of World Heritage sites are found in Greece, including the Acropolis in Athens (designated a World Heritage site in 1987), the medieval city of Rhodes (1988), and the archaeological site of Olympia (1989), to name but a few. Starting in the 1960s, the number of tourists, notably those from European countries, increased significantly, although Greece faced increasing competition from countries such as Portugal and Turkey. Improved road transport and infrastructure and the creation of a network of truck- and car-carrying ferries linking mainland Greece to the numerous islands and to Italy were instrumental to this growth. By the beginning of the 21st century, some 14 million visitors were arriving annually, many of them from the United Kingdom and Germany, and there was a new emphasis on attracting tourists from China.

• Labour and taxation

In the mid-1970s, with the return of parliamentary democracy, trade unions became mobilized. For the next decade and a half there was a period of increased strike activity, characterized by greater militancy and expanding membership in organized labour. By the early 1990s, however, as the Greek economy became more stable and less industrial, trade union membership and bargaining power were diminished. Though not officially recognized, there are trade union factions belonging to each of the major political parties. Overall, however, union labour in Greece is primarily represented by the General Confederation of Greek Workers (Geniki Synomospondia Ergaton Ellados; GSEE). The Civil Servants’ Confederation (Anotati Diikisis Enoseon Dimosion Ypallilon; ADEDY) is the next most important labour organization. Whether they belong to unions or not, Greeks in a wide variety of occupations—from physicians to public transportation workers—have shown a willingness to undertake wildcat strikes. There was widespread union opposition to the austerity measures (which included reductions in benefits and pensions) introduced by the government in response to the economic crisis that began in 2009.

Greece instituted a value-added tax (VAT) in 1987. In the first decade of the 21st century, the government began to reduce the corporate income tax rate. Individual income tax is progressive, with rates as high as 45 percent in the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century.

• Transportation and telecommunications

Only since the last half of the 20th century have all the country’s villages become accessible to wheeled traffic and linked to the national electricity grid. There are no navigable rivers and only one waterway, the Korinthiakós (Corinth) Canal, which divides the Pelopónnisos from mainland Greece. Although the canal significantly shortens the sea route from the Italian ports to Piraeus (the port of Athens), it has never fulfilled the economic expectations of its builders, because of its shallow draft and narrow width. There are also major ports at Patras and Thessaloníki.

Railway construction began in the 1880s and, given the rugged terrain of the country, involved some difficult feats of engineering. Today the extensive railway system includes a narrow-gauge railway network in the Pelopónnisos. A program to modernize the railway system with the aid of EU funding commenced in the mid-1990s. Public transport in the Athens metropolitan area is heavily dependent on an often overcrowded and sometimes unreliable bus network. Much of Athens is serviced by the Metro; construction of that subway system began in the 1990s but proceeded relatively slowly, as the digging unearthed a treasure trove of antiquities. More subway lines are planned for the Metro, which is supplemented by a small suburban railroad network linking the northern suburb of Kifisiá with the port of Piraeus.

The extensive nationwide bus-and-ferry network has been augmented since the 1960s by the development of a flight network linking Athens with a few dozen domestic airports. The country’s main airports are in suburban Athens and Makedonía, near Thessaloníki. International airports are found also at Alexandroúpoli (Alexandroúpolis) in Thráki and Andravída in the northwestern Pelopónnisos, while others service the country’s important tourist destinations on the islands. For several decades Olympic Airlines was owned by the government and had a virtual monopoly on air travel within Greece, but in 2009 it was acquired by a private investment group. Meanwhile, several small, privately owned airlines began offering limited service, primarily within Greece.

In the early 21st century the saturation rate of cellular phone use was extremely high, with almost as many subscriptions as there were citizens.

Government and Society of Greece

• Constitutional framework

Greece is a parliamentary republic. The current constitution, introduced in 1975 following the collapse of the 1967–74 military dictatorship, initially gave considerable powers to the president, but revisions to the constitution in 1986 made presidential powers largely ceremonial. The president, who is the head of state, is elected by the unicameral Hellenic Parliament (Vouli) and may serve two five-year terms.

The prime minister is the head of government and has extensive powers but must be able to command the confidence of the legislative branch. The latter, the unicameral Hellenic Parliament, consists of 300 deputies who are elected to four-year terms by direct universal vote; it has the power to revise the constitution. Voting is compulsory. A distinctive feature of the Greek electoral system has been the practice of incumbent governments amending the electoral law to suit their own political advantage. However, another round of constitutional revisions in 2001 introduced safeguards against political abuses, bringing about greater transparency in political operations.

• Local government

Reorganized administratively in 2011 according to the so-called Kallikratis Plan, Greece is divided into seven apokentroménes dioikíseis (decentralized administrations), the head of each of which is appointed by the central government. These units are further divided into 13 periféreies (regions), which mirror the 13 geographic diamerismata (regions) that existed under the previous administrative structure. At the next level of local government are the 74 perifereiakés enótites (regional units), the administrative and territorial constituents of parts of the regions. Finally, the most local of these administrative unis are the 325 dímoi (municipalities).

• Justice

The judiciary is essentially the Roman law system prevalent in continental Europe. The two highest courts are the Supreme Court (Areios Pagos), which deals with civil and criminal cases, and the Council of State (Symvoulion Epikrateias), which is responsible for administration disputes. A Court of State Auditors has jurisdiction in a number of financial matters. A Special Supreme Tribunal deals with disputes over the interpretation of the constitution and checks the validity of parliamentary elections and referenda.

• Political process

Many elements of traditional politics remain in Greece, most notably the personality-based nature of the party system. Parties are heavily dependent on the charisma of their leaders, and patronage is important at all levels.

In the early 21st century the major political parties included New Democracy (Nea Dimokratia; ND), the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Panellinio Sosialistiko Kinima; PASOK), Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left), and the Communist Party of Greece (Kommunistiko Komma Elladas; KKE). New Democracy, founded by the veteran conservative politician Konstantinos Karamanlis, consistently supported “neoliberal” policies that aimed at limiting the power of the state and encouraging private initiatives and market economics. The PASOK retained a strong commitment to an independent foreign policy and a modified form of socialism. On the far left was the KKE, which continued to advocate Soviet-style communism.

• Security

The military, made up of an army, a navy, and an air force, was a major arbiter of political life during the 20th century. Greece’s expenditure on defense is one of the highest in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) but is largely motivated by its preoccupation with Turkey, the country’s traditional enemy. Conscription for men is universal, and women have the right to volunteer for service.

• Health and welfare

In the 1980s the government instituted a national health care system. Many Greek doctors train, at least partly, abroad, and they and the major hospitals meet international standards; however, Greeks often choose to travel abroad for medical care if they can afford it. The pension system in Greece is extraordinarily complex. Workers are insured under the Social Insurance Institute and the Agricultural Insurance Organization programs.

• Housing

New housing construction accelerated at the end of the 20th century, particularly in the larger cities. Urban areas are characterized by apartment buildings. In fact, about half of all housing units in the early 21st century were apartments. Discrimination in housing in Greece was noted by international observers, who cited poor access to adequate housing and forced eviction among the Roma (Gypsies).

• Education

Education has long been prized in Greece, both as an end in itself and as a means of upward social mobility. Wealthy Greeks of the diaspora have been major benefactors of schools and universities in their homeland. The state educational system is somewhat rigid, heavily centralized, and generally considered inadequate. As a consequence, many children attend private phrontistiria, institutions that tutor students outside normal school hours.

Education is free at all levels and is compulsory for children between ages 6 and 15. Nearly the entire population is literate. The oldest institutions of higher learning are the National Technical University of Athens (1836), the National and Capodistrian University of Athens (1837), and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1925). The latter institution has a tradition of innovation compared with the more conservative University of Athens. There are several other universities and polytechnical schools and a school of fine arts; however, those institutions are often inadequately equipped and lack a sufficient number of admission openings to satisfy the demand for higher education. Many Greek students therefore choose to study abroad.

Disclaimer

This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].

Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.