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Greece - GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Population - Local time - Languages - Religion - Political system - Climate - Tourism - Food



Population



Main Cities Population
Athens   3,200,000  
Thessalonica   978  
Patras   300  
Larissa   271  
Heraklion   265  
Volos   200  



Total population (millions): 11.1
Source: World Bank 2004

Urban population: 61%
Source: World Bank 2004

Average annual population growth: 0.4%
Source: World Bank 2004

Surface area (km²) : 131,96


Population origin

Origin of the population% Of the population
Greek95
Macedonian 2.2
Other 2.8




Local time


It is %T:%M %A in Athens


GMT+2 in winter, GMT+3 in summer


Languages


Official language: Greek
Greek is one of the most ancient languages in the world and etymologically has provided the roots for many words in other languages as well as international scientific terminology. It has been orally transmitted for 4,000 centuries, and has been written for about 3 milleniums. Greek plays an important role in the etymology of Indo-european languages and in the international scientific terminology.

Free translation tools in Greece :
Eurodicautom
The European Union Dictionary (12 languages avalaible)

Systran
Free English-Greek-English translator of texts and web pages

Tranexp
Free English-Greek-English translator of texts and web pages



Religion


Religious practises : Christian orthodox 98%
Muslims: 1,3%
Others: 0,7%.


Political system


The political system of the Hellenic Republic is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The President of the Republic who does not have executive authority and is elected by Parliament for a five-year term is not allowed to be re-elected more than once. Parliament, the so-called 'Vouli' has 300 members who are elected for four-year terms. The President of the Republic is Konstantinos Stephanopoulos and its Prime Minister is Konstantjinos Simitis (as of 9 April 2000). The highest administrative court is the Council of State or 'Symvoulio Epikrateias' while for all other cases the highest court is the Supreme Court, or 'Areios Pagos'.
President: Karolos Papoulias since February, 8 of 2005.


Climate

 


Tourism

Number of visitors in Greece 2002 2003 2004 World rank
Number of visitors (1000) 14180   13969   ..   16
Source : World Tourisme Organization, data available in November 2005

 

Tourist sites


If you are interested in history, Greece is an endless museum. If not, the words "greek islands" shoul be enough - however, during the last decade, tourists have discovered that the natural beauties (and nightlife) of the mainland tourist areas cannot be discounted easily.
Most often visited places are :
- Athens: The Acropolis, the Ancient Market, Monastiraki (flea market)
- Delphi : The oracle of Apollo
- Peloponnese: Mycaene, Epidauros, Olympia,
- Macedonia : Vergina, Dion, Mount Athos
- Corfu
- Cyclades: Myconos
- The islands of Dodecanese: Rhodes
- Crete, Minos palace.

For more information about tourism in Greece , check out the following web site(s) :
Greek National Tourism Organization


Food


Traditional dishes


Kourabiedes (buttered biscuits): it is a thick and soft biscuit that is traditionally served at New Year's Day.
Tiropita: Puff pastry with Feta (the Greek traditional cheese: a sweet cheese of ewe milk).
Feta salad: tomatoes and cucumbers salad, with feta.
Dolmatdakia me rizi: stuffed vine leaves.
Tzatziki: this preparation is served in Greece as a hors d'oeuvre or as an accompanying sauce for eggplants, fried courgettes or roasted fish.
Moussaka: cheese-topped dish of eggplant.
Melitzanosalata: salad of egg plant
Furthermore, there is a wide range of olives such as Kalamatas or Bolos.
Ouzo: it is the traditional alcohol drink.

There is a wide range of local quality wines, from many vineyard varieties.

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Last modified in October 2005
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