Athens Capital of Greece
Local: Greece is divided into 52 prefectures (nomoi-singular: nomos) which are in turn divided into 147 provinces (eparchies-singular: eparchia). The eparchies are subdivided into 272 municipalities (demoi). These are further divided into communities and, finally, localities. The office of the prefect (nomarches) is an elected one, and has jurisdiction over elected local officials. Mount Athos and its monasteries enjoy a special autonomy status. The prefectures are:
Macedonia: Thessaloniki, Kastoria, Florina, Pella, Kozani, Grevena, Kilkis, Pieria, Imathia, Serres, Drama, Kavala, Chalkidiki, Agion Oros (Mount Athos)
Thrace: Xanthi, Evros, Rodopi
Epirus: loanina, Thesprotia, Arta, Preveza.
Thessaly: Larisa, Magnesia, Trikala, Karditsa.
Central Hellas: Attiki, Viotia, Fthiotida, Fokida, Evritania, Etoloakarnania, Evia.
Peloponese: Corinthia, Argolis, Laconia, Mesinia, Ilia, Achaia, Arcadia.
Aegean Islands
North Aegean Islands (Lesvos, Chios, Samos)
Dodekanese (Rodos, Kos, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kastelorizo, Leros, Patmos, Nisyros, Symi, Tilos, Halki, Kasos, Astypalaia) Cyclades (34 islands in Central and North Aegean Sea. The biggest among them are: Andros, Tinos, Syros, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini, Kithnos, Serifos, Sifnos, Milos)
Eptanese (Islands of Ionion Sea) Corfu (Kerkyra), Lefkada, Kefallinia, Zakynthos, Ithaka, Paxi, Antipaxi
Crete (Western Crete - Eastern Crete): Cities: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, Agios Nikolaos
The National Flag of Greece consists of four white and five blue alternating horizontal stripes, with a white cross on the upper inner corner. Blue and white are the national colours of Greece.
GEOGRAPHY: Greece lies at the Southeastern tip of Europe occupying a total area of 131,990 sq. km of which about one-fifth is composed of islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas. It is bordered on the north-west by Albania, on the north by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Bulgaria, on the north-east by Turkey, on the east by the Aegean Sea,on the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the west by the Ionian Sea, a total length of 1,228 km.
- See a «Map Gallery» of Greece in Turism section
Land use: 23% arable land; 40% meadows and pastures; 20% forests and woodland; 9% other;
Terrain: Mostly mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands.
Climate: Mediterranean. Summers are hot and dry, winters usually mild. Most of the rain falls in autumn and winter.
Topography: Greece, the southernmost extremity of the Balkan peninsula, is a mountainous, stony country with a highly indented and crenellated coast. According to a Greek myth, when god created the world he distributed all the available soil through a sieve and when he had provided every country with enough of it he tossed the remaining stones from the sieve over his shoulder - and there was Greece. More than two thirds of the country is classified as hilly and mountainous. The Pindos range traverses the Greek mainland from N.W. to S.E. dividing it in two. The mainland coastline is 4,000 km long while 9,841 islands, 114 of which are inhabited, add another 11,000 km of coastline.
Greece is divided into ten regions of which Macedonia is the largest with an area of 34,177 sq. km and a population of 2,263,099. The highest Greek mountain is Mount Olympus (2,917 m.), believed to be the seat of the 12 Gods of ancient Greek mythology. The largest river is Aliacmon (297 km.).
The largest city and capital is Athens, with a population of over 3m. Piraeus is the main port. The second largest city, Thessaloniki, capital of Macedonia, with a population of nearly 1m, is an important seaport functioning as the gateway to the Balkans and a major economic and cultural centre for the whole of northern Greece.
Time: 2 hours ahead of GMT in winter and 3 hours ahead of GMT in summer
Flora: Trees include white poplars, spearheaded cypresses, chestnut, pine, fir and olive trees. Of special beauty are the cultivated and wild flowers of Greece, many of which are mentioned in classical poetry and mythology, such as evosmon, anemone, violets, tulips, peonies, narcissus, parthenium, primrose and chamomile.
Fauna: Wild animals include boar, bear, wild cat, brown squirrel, jackal, fox, deer, wolf. A rare white goat is found in Crete. A number of 358 species of birds are found throughout Greece, two-thirds of which are migratory. Among the birds of prey are the golden and imperial eagle, and several species of falcons. Other indigenous varieties of birds are the owl, pelican, pheasant, partridge, woodcock and nightingale.
Marine Fauna: Some 246 species of marine life have been identified in Greek seas. Among the best known one species such as red mullet, lobster, squid, octapus, shrimp, crab, oyster, mussel and cockle. River fish are rare. Dolphins, so familiar in the legends and sculpture of antiquity, are still present in the Greek seas.
THE PEOPLE
Population: 10,264,156 (1991 census-estimate). More than 10 m. Greeks are estimated to live abroad, including over 2 m. in America.
Sex distribution: Male 49.2%, female: 50.8%. Urban 57.7%, rural 42.3%. Density 77.8 inhabitants per sq. km.Life expectancy: males 72.2 years (1985) females 76.4 years (1985)
Religious affiliations: Of all citizens of the Hellenic Republic 97.6% are Greek Orthodox, 1.3% Muslim, 0.4% Roman Catholic, 0.1% Protestant, 0.6% other, including Jews. The Greek Orthodox Church is autocephalous, with its own Charter but indissolubly united in doctrine with the Great Church of Constantinople, i.e. the Ecumenical Patriarchate. On the peninsula of Chalkidiki, located in southeastern Macedonia, is the famous Mount Athos, where a number of monasteries of the Greek Orthodox Church form, as they have for centuries, an autonomous monastic community.
Language: The Greek language with a documented record spanning three and a half millennia is a strong element of national continuity. Modern Greek derives from the same idiom used by Homer. Greek is also the language of the Gospels. The Greek alphabet and the Greek language have contributed much to all western languages. Today's Greeks, however, are the only ones who ensure this linguistic continuity.
| HISTORY |
Greece has a history stretching back almost 4.000 years. The people of the mainland, called Hellenes, organised great naval and military expeditions, and explored the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, going as far as the Atlantic Ocean and the Caucasus Mountains. One of those expeditions, the siege of Troy, is narrated in the first great European literary work, Homer's Iliad. Numerous Greek settlements were founded throughout the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and the coast of North Africa as a result of travels in search of new markets.
During the Classical period (5th century B.C.), Greece was composed of city-states, the largest being Athens, followed by Sparta and Thebes. A fierce spirit of independence and love of freedom enabled the Greeks to defeat the Persians in battles which are famous in the history of civilization - Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.
In the second half of the 4th century B.C., the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered most of the then known world and sought to Hellenize it.
In 146 BC Greece fell to the Romans. In 330 A.D. Emperor Constantine moved the Capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, founding the Eastern Roman Empire which was renamed Byzantine Empire or Byzantium for short, by western historians in the 19th century. Byzantium transformed the linguistic heritage of Ancient Greece into a vehicle for the new Christian civilisation.
The Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in 1453 and the Greeks remained under the Ottoman yoke for nearly 400 years. During this time their language, their religion and their sense of identity remained strong.
On March 25, 1821, the Greeks revolted against the Turks and by 1830 they had won their independence. As the new state comprised only a tiny fraction of the country, the struggle for the liberation of all lands inhabited by Greeks continued. In 1864, the Ionian Islands were added to Greece, in 1881 parts of Epirus and Thessaly. Crete and Macedonia were added in 1913, while the islands of the Eastern Aegean in 1914. Western Thrace was added in 1919. Territorial gains after Balkan and First World War; absorbed over 1 mln refugees after defeat in Asia Minor, 1922; a republic between 1924-1935; German occupation, 1941-1944; civil war, 1944-1949; Years of political upheaval followed, culminating in the 7-year dictatorship (1967-1974). Democracy restored in 1974 and monarchy definitely abolished by a referendum on the same year. Greece’ s accession to the European Common Market in 1981 and to the European Monetary Union (June 2000), are considered to be the milestones of its modern political history.
CONSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE
1. THE EXECUTIVE
1.1. THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
The president, who is elected by parliament for a term of five years and may succeed himself once, used to have the power to declare war and conclude treaties. However, constitutional amendments in 1986 considerably reduced the president's power and enhanced those of the prime minister. Today, the president's office is largely ceremonial. He appoints the prime minister and, on the latter's recommendations, the other members of the cabinet. Further, the president may call special sessions of parliament. Although the president can veto legislation, his veto can be overridden by a majority of the total membership of parliament. Most power, however, rests with the parliament and the prime minister.
PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC: Stephanopoulos Constantinos
1.2. THE GOVERNMENT
National: Greece is an independent sovereign Republic with a presidential parliamentary government. (Formerly, Greece was a constitutional monarchy but that form of government was rejected by a referendum on December 8, 1974.) Under the 1975 Constitution, there is a separation of powers to the executive, legislative, and the judiciary. The head of government (executive) is the premier-prime minister,-the leader of the party with a majority or plurality in parliament. The cabinet, consisting of the premier and other ministers, is accountable to a one-chamber parliament of 300 members. In the legislature, representatives to the parliament are elected by the people for a term of four years. There is also an independent judiciary.
LEGISLATURE: The legislative authority of the Republic is exercised by the unicameral Chamber of Deputies (Vouli ton Ellinon) now consisting of 300 members, elected by universal suffrage for a four-year term.
1. THE JUDICIARY 1.1. GREEK LAW
Greek Law belongs to the civil law tradition. The division between civil (private) and public law is important in the Greek legal order. The most important codofications in Greek law are the following: Civil Code, Penal code, code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure, Code of Private Maritime Law and Military Penal Code.
Greece is also a country with a long constitutional tradition having a written constitution. The present constitution was enacted in June 1975 and partly revised in 1985. Greece being a member of the European Union, european Community law has pervasive effects upon the Greek legal order and the regulations have direct applicability and effect in Greece. When required, domestic law is adapted to the provisions of Community law.
1.2. GREEK JUSTICE
The right of access to the courts is constitutionally guaranteed. The administration of justice is exercised through an independent judiciary system of civil, criminal and administrative courts. Civil courts are divided in district courts and 12 courts of appeal. Criminal courts are classified with respect to the category of the offence. Areios Pagos is the country’s Supreme Court hearing appeals on both civil and criminal cases. Ordinary administrative courts have jurisdiction over all substantive administrative disputes. The supreme administrative court, the Council of State (Symvoulion tis Epikrateias), reviews the legality of administrative acts and has the power to annul them. As a rule, the Council of State reviews the decisions of the administrative courts of appeal.
The Auditors’s Court (Elegtiko Synedrio), has jurisdiction over cases arising from pension grants and from the audit of accounts in general, cases related to the liability of civil servants and disputes for any loss through fraud or negligence of the state or the above agencies and corporate bodies.
Finally, the Supreme Special Court, in addition to the review of the constitutionality of laws, has jurisdiction over disputes arising from parliamentary elections or referenda; disputes from conflicts of competence; controversies related to the designation of rules of international law as generally acknowledged; and cases regarding the incompatibility or the forfeiture of office by a member of parliament.
ECONOMY: Free-market economy; Member of EMU since June 2000; Currency: drachma; GDP 3,8% (2000 est.); inflation 2,1% (2000 est.). Strong service sector but programme of privatisations accelerated since 1996; world’s largest shipping fleet (under own and other flags); agriculture based on cereals, cotton, tobacco, fruit, figs, raisins, wine, olive oil, vegetables; major tourist area, especially on islands.
EDUCATION: Greece spends 9,8% of its budget (1998) on education, which is compulsory for nine years and free of charge at all, levels in any state institution. Educational system can be described as follows:
WELFARE The Welfare State in Greece is administered through a complex system of public and private institutions. There are more than 239 insurance agencies and institutions under the supervision of six different Ministries (of Labour and Social Insurance, of Health and Welfare, of Defence, of Agriculture, of Merchant Marine and of Finance). Approximately 100 of the above institutions provide medical health care benefits and the remaining offer varying forms of pension plans, unemployment benefits and other types of insurance. The two main social security institutions, known by their Greek acronyms as IKA (for labourers) and OGA (for farmers) cover more than 80% of the working population.