Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is located in Southeast Europe. Some key points about Greece include: - Athens is the capital and Greek is the official language. - Greece has faced economic crisis due to high debt levels and weaknesses in the economy. Unemployment, especially among youth, has increased significantly. - Greece has a long history dating back to ancient Greek civilizations and was later part of the Byzantine Empire before gaining independence in the 19th century. - The Greek islands, like Santorini, Mykonos, and Crete are popular tourist destinations known for their beaches, architecture, and archaeological sites dating back to ancient Greece.

1. Greece – Hellenic Republic
Ελλάδα
By Nikola Kohout

2. Contents
• Basics
• Population
– Religion and languages
• History
• Greece and Turkey today
• The economic/financial crisis
• Greek islands
• Culture
– Archaeoligical sites and food
• Sources

3. Basics

4. Basics
• Capital: Athens
• Official language: Greek
• Currency: €
• Population: 10 815 197 (2011)
• Parliamentary constitutional republic
• President: Karolos Papoulias
• Prime Minister: Antonis Samara
• Independence Day: 25th March
• National Celebration: 28th October

5. Population
• Languages:
– 97.4% of the Greek
population speak
modern Greek
– Minorities: 2.6 %
(Turkish,Macedonian,
Aromanians, Pomaks)
– Ancient Greek:
School subject
Church service

6. Population
• Religion:
– Attribute of identification
– State religion: Orthodox Catholic Church
– Confessions:
around 97% orthodox catholic
0.2 % atheists
1.7 % no confession
Greek muslims: ancestors of the Greek that
converted to the Islam during the Ottoman Empire

7. History
• Ancient Greece = “cradle of Europe”
• 120 000 – 10 000 B.C.: First traces of human
inhabitation
• 9th – 8th century B.C. = Greek Renaissance Years:
Greek alphabet, city-states, Homer
• After 395 B.C.: part of the Byzantine Empire
• 1453: capture of Constantinople through the
Ottomans

8. History
• 1821: Greek Revolution
• 1830: Independence
• World War I followed by the Greco-Turkish War
(1919-1922)
• 1922: Asia Minor catastrophy
• World War II: rejection of the Italian Ultimatum

9. Greece and Turkey today
• Discussions about the territorial waters, air corridor,
demilitarization, resources of the Aegean
• Biggest discussion: CYPRUS -> where does it belong to?
– Until 16th century: connection to the culture of Greece
– 1573: conquest of the Ottomans
– London Protocol: Independence of Cyprus
– Makarios became President of the Republic
– 1974: Turkish Invasion
– today: north still Turkish, south still Greek
– Admission of Cyprus to the EU could cause new problems

10. Greece and Turkey today
• Positive aspects:
– Turkey and Greece are partners in the NATO
– Turkey wants to become part of the EU
– Process of “confidence-building measures”
– Since 2002: leader of the two populations in
Cyprus are working together on a
common base

11. The economic/financial crisis
• Reasons/origins:
– Greece lives above its financial circumstances
– Brightened figures
– 2011: debt of € 350 billion (160% of the GDP)
– Weakness of the economy and Greek mentality
– Missing control of the EU
– Deficient statistics -> no working fiscal authorities
– No supervision of the budget; deficit of 15%
– Tax evasion and manipulation of tax returns
– corruption: “Fakelaki”

12. The economic/financial crisis
• Where you see the crisis/what Greek population
thinks:
– Rich people don’t pay taxes
– Nepotism
– A lot of restaurants/bars close
– Football stadiums & holiday houses are empty
– Suicide rate increases: 2009 = 677 suicides
2011 = 1000 suicides
– 62 % unemployment rate among young people
– Growing dissatisfaction with the political parties
– People would like to have back the “Junta”

13. Greek islands
• 6 000 islands
• only 227 inhabited
• 7 500 km of the
country’s total
16 000 km coastline
• 58.5% of the
country’s hotel units
are located on the
islands

14. The Cyclades – Delos, Naxos,
Mykonos, Santorini
• most famous island
group in the Aegean Sea
• group of 56 islands
• architecture in white
and blue
• “Cyclades” refers to the
islands forming a circle

15. Delos – birth place of Apollo & Artemis

16. Naxos Mykonos

17. Santorini - Thira
• Cousteau looked there for the lost city of Atlantis
• Crescent-shaped
• Southernmost island of the Cyclades
• Still an active volcano
• Last big eruption: 3600 years ago
• Capital: Fira -> very turistic
• “wedding destination”
• Red, black and white beaches

18. Santorini

19. Crete – the largest island of Greece
• 4 regions: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, Lasithi
• Heraklion:
– most densely populated region on Crete
– Between “Idí “ and “Dikti”
– Unique mixture of civilizations
– Palace of Knossos
• The island of Zeus

20. Crete

21. Culture – Archaeological sites
• Acropolis:
– In Athens
– Parthenon:
dedicated to Athena
Parthenos
– Part of the UNESCO
world heritage since
1986

22. Culture – Archaeological sites
• Delphi:
– “navel of the world”
– Most important
oracle in the classical
Greek world
– Temple of Apollo
– Castalian spring

23. Culture – Archaeological sites
• Olympia:
– Birthplace of the
Olympic Games
– First list of winners: 776
B.C.
– Temple of Zeus

24. Culture – Archaeological sites
• Epidauros:
– Theatre in the
mountains of Argolis
– Constructed for
14 000 spectators
– “acoustic test”
– Part of the UNESCO
World Heritage

25. Culture - Food

26. Culture - Food

27. Sources
• http://visitgreece.gr/
• http://www.wissen.de/80-jahre-konflikt-griechenland-tuerkei
• http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/soziales/euro-krise-griechen-schauen-pessimistisch-ins-
neue-jahr-a-875155.html
• http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/ausland/richtig-oder-falsch-klischees-ueber-griechen-
1.2878757#
• http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/wirtschaftskrise-immer-mehr-griechen-verueben-
selbstmord-a-868936.html
• http://www.lpb-bw.de/6783.html
• http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/euro-krise-griechen-vertrauen-eu-nicht-
mehr/8060370.html
• http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article115549850/Viele-Griechen-wuenschen-sich-
Militaerdiktatur-zurueck.html
• http://www.deutsch-tuerkische-nachrichten.de/2012/01/354454/ehemaliger-griechischer-
premier-ein-krieg-mit-der-tuerkei-wuerde-nur-zwei-stunden-dauern/
• http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griechisch-T%C3%BCrkischer_Krieg

28. Thank you for your attention!
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