Greece

Flag of Greece

Interesting Facts:

Athens is the capital of Greece

Greek is one of the oldest languages of Europe


125 inhabited islands (3000 islands altogether)

Pindus Mountains – Greece’s largest mountain range
 
Crete – largest of the Greek islands

Piraeus – Greece’s largest port

The popular yo-yo toy, the second oldest known toy in the world, originated in the days of ancient Greece, around 3,000 years ago
 
The Greeks were the first to have a democratic government
 
The first Olympic games were held in Greece almost 3000 years ago

The Greeks were the first to develop an alphabet with vowels

55% of the youth in Greece graduate from a 4yr college - Highest rate in the world

Greece has the lowest crime rate in Europe, and second in the world

 
Greece is the only country in the world that is officially Orthodox (Christian)

Greece is the only country in Europe where state and religion is united

Greece has the largest maritime fleet in the world


Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation in the Greek island of Patmos

Greece is a small country with a total population of about 10 million people


Map of Greece


The President of Greece
the
Hellenic Republic

Dr. Karolos Papoilias


 

He is the elected Head of State

He was sworn in as President of Greece on 12 March 2005

He was 75 years old when he took office

He won by an unprecedented 279 votes in the country's 300-seat parliament


Government –

The government of Greece is a parliamentary democracy

The people elect 300
parliamentary deputies who from the
parliament which conducts the legislative duties of the government

The political party which can collect 151 seats or more in the
parliament assumes the duties of the administration

The president is not elected by the people, he is elected by the
parliament

The party president automatically becomes Prime Minister and he then appoints people to become cabinet ministers

Greece is considered a dictatorship government because
Papoilias and his political party has absolute majority of the parliament deputies (members of parliament) are NOT allowed to vote against ANYTHING their party supports

Currency of Greece

Greece's monetary unit is the Euro

No other currency is accepted

The euro comes in seven denominations: 5, 10, 20,50, 100, 200 and 500

The pictures on the Euros illustrate the evolution of architectural styles in the history of Europe

Before the year 2002 Greece used the demise for it's currency

In the year 2002 the euro became the only accepted currency to be used in Greece


Today the old drachmas are worthless and can not be used or exchanged for the euro





The euro coins
 

The euro coin comes in eight denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cent and 1 and 2 euro

One face(or side of a coin) is common to all the countries and represents cohesion between the Member States of the European Union

The other face shows national symbols chosen by the different countries

All euro coins, whatever the national face, are accepted in all euro area countries

  Religions in Greece



The Greek population is composed of a 97% of Christian

Orthodox
Greek Muslims make up about 1.3% of the population


The rest of the population is Roman Catholic and Jewish


Some groups in Greece have started an attempt to reconstruct Hellênismos, the old Greek pagan religion


Greece (and the Greek Islands) and Russia are the only countries to have such a great proportion of people that belong to the Orthodox Church
 
The Orthodox Church forms the third largest branch of Christianity after the Roman Catholics and the Protestant
 


Industries In Greece


Industries


*Food products such as:
olive oil, honey, mastic, ouzo, tsipouro, cheeses and wine


*Metals and metal products


*Textiles


*Electronics such as:
 
radios, televisions, and communications equipment


*Petroleum refining


*Machinery and transport equipment


*Tourism



Resources of Greece include:

bauxite, nickel, iron pyrites, magnetite, asbestos, marble, salt, chromite, lignite

Exports

machinery, fruit and vegetables, chemicals, clothing, mineral fuels and lubricants, textiles, iron and steel, aluminium and aluminium alloys

Imports
 
petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and transport equipment, food and live animals, chemicals and chemical products


Agricultural Products
 of
Greece

      A Greek farmer bundles straw

Greek agriculture employs 528,000 farmers, 12% of the total labor force

Greece only produces 3.6% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) or gross domestic income (about $16 billion annually)

A large number of the country's immigrants are employed in the agricultural sector of the economy


Products grown in Greece Include:

sugar
beets

tomatoes
 
wheat                                                                  corn                                                                  

oranges

peaches

nectarines

olive

cotton

barley

apples

karpoozi
(watermelon)
peponi (honey-dew melon)

tobacco
livestock( goats, sheep, chickens, and pigs)
dairy products



Agricultural products that make up one-third of total exports includes:
processed foods
beverages
tobacco



Famous Landmarks in Greece

The Acropolis of Athens


The Acropolis of Athens can be seen as a symbol for the Ancient Greek World, the classical period of the Hellenic civilization

It was built around 2,500 years ago


The Acropolis has several temples,one being the Parthenon

The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena, a Greek goddess

The Parthenon is actually the largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece

The Acropolis is now in ruins



Theatre of Dionysos

The Theatre of Dionysos is located in the center of the city of Athens

The Theatre of Dionysos was originally a timber structure that was constructed after the Festival of Dionysia of Athens

It was built sometime around 600 BC

The festival took place during May and consisted of much fighting, dancing, singing and  Greek feasting.




Greek Art

Zeus - Greek god -  Greek Sculpture



 

 

 

 



 




Ancient Greek art is mainly in four forms:



Architecture

includes houses, religious buildings like temples and tombs, and public building like city walls, theaters, stadia, and stoas


Sculptures


includes small figurines and life-size statues, but also relief sculptures which were on the sides of buildings, and also tombstones


Wall paintings

Includes murals and wallpaper and paintings

       
Painted pottery

Stone Age Greek Pottery
called the Neolithic period was around 6000 B.C.

The first pottery was plain, but very soon people began to decorate it.

The earliest kind of decorated pottery in Greece is called Rainbow Ware, though it is really only black and red.


Early Bronze Age Greek Pottery
made Minyan Ware around 2100 B.C
It was made on a potter's wheel


Late Bronze Age Greek Pottery
called the  Mycenean period, around 1500 B.C.
The Greeks began to make pottery with designs on it

The background was usually cream-colored and the designs were painted on in black and red

Geometric patterns, men fighting, people driving a chariot, or imaginary wild animals were used for designs

Dark Age Greek Pottery
Called the Mycenean style pottery was made around 1200 B.C


It was sloppy and tended to be lopsided

Geometric Greek Pottery 
In the  Archaic Period, around 900 B.C. pottery was created with lots and lots of lines and patterns crowding over every inch of the pots

Black-Figure Greek Pottery
In Athens, during the Archaic period, the Athenian potters began to paint their pottery with people in silhouette

This style of pottery is called black-figure, because the people are all black

Red-Figure Greek Pottery
Around 530 B.C. the Athenian potters developed a technique where the background was black and they left the people red

This technique makes the people look much more real



Greek Sculpture

 Painted Pottery

Painting neoclassicism Greek Art

www.buy-original-art.com/.../classical.jpg

Greek Art & Architecture

Music in Greece

Greece has a long tradition of music, going back to ancient years


Many gods and goddesses were connected with music and dance



The word music comes from the Nine Muses of ancient Greece


The Nine Muses are considered the inspiration for all artists





Types of Music



Heptanesian cantatha - usually sung by three male voices and accompanied by guitar, mandolin or other similar instruments

Rebetiko songs - are song by a single voice and is often gloomy and fatalistic in content 

Rembetika music - is the music of the Greek Underground

Kantadhes songs - are performed by three male singers accompanied by a mandolin or guitar
 
Nisiótika songs - 
Athenian songs – serenades


Italian Opera

Éntekhno is orchestral music with elements of Greek folk rhythm and melody

Laiko was the pop music of the 5o’s and 60’s

Tsifteteli - is the Greek belly dance music
 
Elafro- is the easy-listening, western-style music
 


Click on the arrow and listen to a
Greek Folk Song

Favorite Foods

Veal           

Pork

Lamb        

Goat

Fish          

Greek salad –

Tsatziki - Cucumber yogurt dip

Feta - A white goat cheese

Souvlaki - Skewered meat on a spit

Vegetables – (especially tomatoes)

Fruits-(especially watermelon and honey dew melons)

Pita gyro - open pie filled with small pieces of

Moussaka – eggplant and minced meat

Dolma - staffed vineleaves

Baklava - Layers of fila pastry, chopped nuts, and a honey-flavored syrup


And


Spaghetti
 


Click on the arrow and see some of te beautify sights of Greece

Click on the arrow and see some more of the beautify sights of Greece