Greece

Geography
Greece, officially called the Hellenic Republic is located in the south of Europe on the Mediterranean and bordered by Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Greece's territory includes over one hundred inhabited islands; the main groups of islands are the Ionian, the Northeast Aegean, the Cyclades, and the Dodecanese. Crete is the largest island. There are numerous smaller islands of which few are inhabited.

Athens is the capital and the largest city with the highest number of residents; Thessaloniki is the next most populated city.

Greece is mountainous and hilly with a rocky terrain and a long coastline. The climate is Mediterranean: hot summers with mild winters.

Environment
Greece has over six thousand species of flowering plants: herbs such as thyme, rosemary and lavender; orchids, violets, dianthus, narcissus, and tulips. A variety of trees include beech, cypresses, oaks, pines, poplars, and tamarisk.

Most numerous among the country's wildlife there are the smaller creatures such as lizards, snakes, tortoises, tree frogs, crickets and butterflies. Larger animals like the boar, lynx, mountain goat and the brown bear find survival increasingly difficult. Many species of birds are to be found including falcons, kingfishers, storks, swallows, quail and warblers. The surrounding seas are home to a wide variety of life, including jelly fish, octopus, sea horses, dolphins and sea turtles.

Architecture
Greek architecture, with the Roman architecture which drew heavily on its principles, has been a major influence on western building.

The Minoan palaces, with columns that tapered from top to the bottom were large buildings - the palace at Knossos included over one thousand rooms. At Mycenae and Tiryns, on the mainland, fortress walls built of giant blocks of stone and huge 'beehive' tombs remain, but little else is left of the palace and the houses.

Classical Greek architecture is seen mainly in the temples. The basic form is a rectangular hall surrounded by columns and fronted by a columned porch. There were three base styles of column: Doric, with plain capitals (tops) and no bases, Ionic, with capitals decorated with carvings similar to a pair of ram's horns and bases and, finally Corinthian whose capitals are decorated with elaborately carved acanthus leaves.

The Acropolis of Athens is graced by the most famous building of ancient Greece - The Parthenon, or temple of Athena. The temple was built between 447 and 438 BC, under the direction of Pheidias the sculptor.

Another great contribution to world architecture was the Greek invention of the theatre: a D shaped construction with tiers of seating round the curved sides and the stage at the straight edge.

The later Greek architectural style best known is the Byzantine, largely a style of church architecture.

Population
The population of Greece is over ten and a half million. Many Greeks have migrated to countries around the world. Australia and the United States have large Greek communities. Sydney is said to be the world's largest Greek city apart from Athens.

Languages
Greek is the official language but many Greeks also speak English and French. Greek uses its own alphabet which is very different from the Roman alphabet used in English and the western European languages.

Religion
Christianity was established as the official religion in the fourth century. The Greek Orthodox Church is the official religious body. There are very small Muslim and Jewish communities.

Food
Greek food is traditionally Mediterranean, with tomatoes, olives, olive oil and grilled meat. Middle eastern influences can be seen in foods such as kebabs, pitta bread and houmous and in pastries such as baklava and kataifi.

The long coastline and many islands mean that fish are important in Greek cuisine. Squid and octopus are popular, as is taramasalata, a dish of salted roe. Moussaka, a dish of minced meat and aubergines, covered with béchamel sauce and feta, a salty sheep's milk are Greek specialities. Fruits such as figs and watermelon are popular.

Special foods are prepared for many of the feast days of the Greek Orthodox religious celebrations.

Greek wines are best known for the sweet dessert wines of Samos and Mavrodaphne and for retsina (wine with added pine resin). Ouzo, an aniseed-flavoured spirit, is usually drunk with water.

Economy
The Greek economy has traditionally had an agricultural base. Crops include corn, barley, wheat, grapes, peaches, citrus, olives, figs, pomegranates, tomatoes and potatoes, cotton and tobacco. The resources of the sea are also important, not only fish but also sponges - many Greek sponge divers emigrated to Florida to start a sponge industry there.

The most important mineral deposits are the petroleum and gas fields in the Aegean Sea and bauxite and iron ore on the mainland.

Manufacturing industries include food processing, textiles, chemicals and metal goods.

Earnings from merchant shipping play an important role in the economy. Tourism is the major earner of foreign currency: Greece's climate and coastline as well as its history and architecture attract many tourists every year. Remittances, money sent from relatives overseas, also contribute to the economy.

Greece became a member of the European Community in 1979. It is a relatively poor country and benefits substantially from EU aid. Between 1993 and 1997 the economy showed signs of recovery.

Arts
Examples of early Greek art include jewellery dating back to Prehistoric times and Bronze age artifacts. Among other items, clay vases with their decorations of chariots and horses and scenes from Greek life and mythology are a source of information about the Ancient World. In fact, remains of Greek pottery provide us with evidence of Greek migration - the colonial times of Magna Graecia.

Classical Greek sculpture has been admired for centuries especially the representation of materials gracefully draped over figures. An example of this is the sculpture of the goddess of Victory, Nike.

Ancient Greek literature is still read today. The epic poems of the Trojan War: The Iliad and The Odyssey and the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides played an important part in the establishment of Western literature. The tragedies of Aeschlus, Sophocles and Euripides and the comedies of Aristophanes are classics of the theatre.

The most modern widely known modern Greek writers are the poets Cavafy and Seferis (a Nobel prize winner) and the novelist Kazantzakis (Christ Recrucified, Zorba the Greek).

The oldest music still in day to day use in Greece are the religious chants of Byzantine origins. Popular Greek music shows a very heavy Eastern influence. The bouzouki is the instrument most people think of in connection with Greek music.

Sport
As with most countries, football is the most popular sport. Basketball also has a large following. The Greek coastline and Mediterranean climate attract many water sports enthusiasts for sailing, windsurfing, water skiing and scuba-diving. The country's main contribution to sport has, of course, been the establishment of the Olympic games and the main athletics' disciplines such as discus, javelin, long jump and footraces. The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in Athens in 1896.

Holidays
The Greek Orthodox calendar contains many saints days. The main religious festival is Easter; Christmas New Year's Day, Independence Day and May Day are also major celebrations. There are many cultural and arts festivals. October 28th is the main patriotic holiday: Okhi (No) Day, the day when Greece refused to surrender to Mussolini's invasion.

News
News from Greece is available from the online edition of the Athens News. The main Greek newspapers are clearly linked to different political parties.