GREECE / HELLASΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ ΔΙΑ ΒΙΟΥ ΜΑΘΗΣΗ/

 LIFE LONG LEARNING PROGRAΜ

Geography and other factors

 

Geographical location
 

Greece is located in the Northern hemisphere of the earth and belongs to Europe

(southeast) and to the European Union.

It is a Balkan country in the north and borders with Albania, European Turkey, FYROM

and Bulgaria. It is supposed to be the "crossroad of three continents", since it is located

among Europe, Asia and Africa.

This position has many advantages (e.g. encouraging the trade), so in the past there have

been many battles to conquer it ...

Area - Population
 

The total area of Greece is 131957 m².

The inhabitants, according to the 2001 census, are 10,964,020.

According to estimates for July 2008 the country numbered 10722816 residents.
 

In recent decades, Greece has accepted large numbers of immigrants.

Their number is estimated at 10% of the total population which is 950,000 people.

The largest groups come as far as the census of 2001 is concerned from Albania, Romania,

Bulgaria, Pakistan, Ukraine, Poland and Egypt.

Apart from foreign immigrants since the fall of the Wall there also have arrived a number

of expatriates from the former USSR and the Balkans.

The most returnees come from Albania, Russia and Georgia.

Climate

Greece is a Mediterranean country, which means that it is washed by the Mediterranean

Sea. This affects the climate. In particular, the climate of our country is Mediterranean

with mild winters and hot, dry summers.
 

Sea - Rivers - Lakes - Mountains and Plains
 

Greece is surrounded by the Mediterranean, but for practical reasons we separate it into

smaller seas, which are:
 

Ionian Sea
 

Aegean Sea
 

Libyan Sea
 

The three largest rivers are: Aliakmonas, Achelous, Pinios (Thessaly).

None of them is navigable.

Regarding the lakes, the largest one is Trichonida in Central Greece followed by Volvi in

Macedonia. There are ponds as the Kremasta etc.

 Greece is mostly a mountainous country (that’s why it is narrow populated),

and only a small portion of its land is exploitable. Some mountain in height range are:

Olympus (Macedonia-Thessaly),

Smolikas (Epirus),

Voras (Macedonia),

Grammos, etc.
 

The plains of Greece occupies the 1 / 5 of the land. The main ones are:

Western Thessaly, Giannitsa, Thessaloniki, Serres, Larissa, Drama and Komotini.

 Additional information

The capital of Greece is Athens with 3.192.020 population.

The official language is the Greek and the official religion is Christianism (Orthodoxy).

The constitution of our country is chaired Parliamentary Democracy and the official

currency is the Euro.

Greece is member of E.U. since 1981.

The topical time is GMT +2h.

In order for Greece to be more easily and effectively administered it is divided into 7

geographical districts (Peloponnesus, Central Greece, Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia,

Thrace, and Crete). It is also divided into 13 regions and 51 prefectures.
 

The most beautiful feature of Greece is her wonderful, coastlines and beaches combined

with the large, beautiful islands. It has many bays, peninsulas and capes, and some ports

such as the one of Piraeus which is the most important.

Finally it is worth noting that our country has very much earthquakes.

The great earthquake that caused the volcano of Santorini “buried” one whole culture center.

 

 Our islands are composed of clusters which are:

Ionian Islands
1. Zante
2. Ithaca
3. Cephalonia
4. Lefkas
5. Paxos
6. Corfu
7. Kythyra

Aegean Islands

1. Islands of Northern Aegean: Thassos, Samothrace

2. Islands of North East Aegean: Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Limnos,

Ikaria, Agios Efstratios, Psara, Fournoi (Ovens).
 

3. Islands of Northwest Aegean: Skyros, Alonnisos, Skiathos.
 

4. Saronic Islands: Salamis, Aegina, Hydra, Poros, Spetses.

5. Islands of South Aegean: Cyclades ( Naxos, Andros, Paros, Tinos, Milos,

Kea, Amorgos, Ios, Kythnos, Mykonos, Syros, Thira/ Santorin, Serifos,

Sifnos, Sikinos, Anafi, Kimolos, Folegandros, Dilos).

6. Dodecanese: Rhodos, Karpathos, Kos, Kalymnos,

 Astypalaia, Kasos,

Tilos, Symi, Leros, Nisyros, Patmos, Pserimos, Leipsoi, Kastelorizo.

There are also the islands of

Kriti

 and Evvoia.  

Imvros and Tenedos belong to Turkey.

The Economy and Tourism
 

Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the public sector contributes approximately

50% of GDP (Gross National Product).

Tourism is a very important «industry», and this contributes largely

to the GDP and is also a source of foreign exchange.

 In 2004 the largest «industry» in Greece with revenue around 12 billion Euro was the

often invisible Geek Shipping.

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