GREECE

Hellenic Republic

Elliniki Dhimokratia

CAPITAL: Athens (Athínai)

FLAG: The national flag consists of nine equal horizontal stripes of royal blue alternating with white and a white cross on a royal-blue square canton.

ANTHEM: Ethnikos Hymnos (National Hymn), beginning "Se gnorizo apo tin kopsi" ("I recognize you by the keenness of your sword").

MONETARY UNIT: The euro replaced the drachma as official currency in 2002. The euro is divided into 100 cents. There are coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents and 1 euro and 2 euros. There are notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 euros. €1 = $1.25475 (or $1 = €0.79697) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Epiphany, 6 January; Independence Day, 25 March; Labor Day, 1 May; Assumption, 15 August; National Day (anniversary of successful resistance to Italian attack in 1940), 28 October; Christmas, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Shrove Monday, Good Friday, and Easter Monday.

TIME: 2 pm = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

Greece is the southernmost country in the Balkan Peninsula, with a total area of 131,940 sq km (50,942 sq mi); about a fifth of the area is composed of more than 1,400 islands in the Ionian and Aegean seas. Comparatively, the area occupied by Greece is slightly smaller than the state of Alabama. Continental Greece has a length of 940 km (584 mi) n–s and a width of 772 km (480 mi) e–w. It is bounded on the n by Macedonia and Bulgaria, on the ne by Turkey, on the e by the Aegean Sea, on the s by the Mediterranean Sea, on the sw and w by the Ionian Sea, and on the nw by Albania, with a total land boundary length of 1,228 km (763 mi) and a coastline of 13,676 km (8,498 mi). The capital city of Greece, Athens, is located along the country's southern coast.

TOPOGRAPHY

About four-fifths of Greece is mountainous, including most of the islands. The most important range is the Pindus, which runs down the center of the peninsula from north to south at about 2,650 m (8,700 ft) in average elevation. Mt. Olympus (Ólimbos; 2,917 m/9,570 ft) is the highest peak and was the legendary home of the ancient gods.

Greece has four recognizable geographic regions. The Pindus range divides northern Greece into damp, mountainous, and isolated Epirus (Ipiros) in the west and the sunny, dry plains and lesser mountain ranges of the east. This eastern region comprises the plains of Thessaly (Thessalía) and the "new provinces" of Macedonia (Makedonia) and Thrace (Thraki)—"new" because they became part of Greece after the Balkan wars in 1912–13. Central Greece is the southeastern finger of the mainland that cradled the city-states of ancient Greece and comprises such classical provinces as Attica (Atikí), Boeotia (Voiotia), Doris, Phocis, and Locris. Southern Greece consists of the mountainous, four-fingered Peloponnesus (Pelopónnisos), separated from the mainland by the Gulf of Corinth (Korinthiakós Kólpos). Islands of the Aegean comprise the numerous Cyclades (Kikládes); the Dodecanese (Dhodhekánisos), including Rhodes (Ródhos); and the two large islands of Crete (Kríti) and Euboea (Évvoia).

Greek rivers are not navigable. Many dry up in the summer and become rushing mountain torrents in the spring. The longest river is the Maritsa, which runs along the northeast border a distance of 480 km (300 mi).

Greece is located above the convergence of the Eurasian and the African Tectonic Plates, a situation which causes frequent earthquakes and tremors. While many quakes are low magnitude tremors with minimal damage and injury, stronger quakes are not entirely uncommon. On 14 August 2003, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake occurred in western Greece causing injuries to about 50 people and damaging roads and buildings.

CLIMATE

The climate in southern Greece and on the islands is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Winters are severe in the northern mountain regions. The summer heat is moderated by mountain and sea breezes. Precipitation is heaviest in the north and in the mountains. Average annual rainfall varies from 50 to 121 cm (20–48 in) in the north and from 38 to 81 cm (15–32 in) in the south. The mean temperature of Athens is 17°c (63°f), ranging from a low of 2°c (36°f) in the winter to a high of 37°c (99°f) in the summer.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Of the 4,992 species of higher plants recorded in Greece, about 742 are endemic to the country. Many pharmaceutical plants and other rare plants and flowers considered botanical treasures flourish in Greece. Vegetation varies according to altitude. From sea level to 460 m (1,500 ft), oranges, olives, dates, almonds, pomegranates, figs, grapes, tobacco, cotton, and rice abound. From 460 to 1,070 m (1,500–3,500 ft) are forests of oak, chestnut, and pine. Above 1,070 m (3,500 ft), beech and fir are most common.

Fauna are not plentiful, but bear, wildcat, jackal, fox, and chamois still exist in many sparsely populated areas. The wild goat (agrimi), which has disappeared from the rest of Europe, still lives in parts of Greece and on the island of Crete. There are about 95 species of mammal throughout the country. Migratory and native birds abound and there are more than 250 species of marine life. Natural sponges are a main export item.

ENVIRONMENT

Among Greece's principal environmental problems are industrial smog and automobile exhaust fumes in metropolitan Athens. Over half of all industry is located in the greater Athens area. From June to August 1982, the air pollution became so oppressive that the government closed down 87 industries, ordered 19 others to cut production, and banned traffic from the city center. In July 1984, the smog again reached the danger point, and 73 factories were ordered to cut production and cars were banned from the city. In January 1988, the number of taxis in the center of Athens was halved, and private cars were banned from the city's three main thoroughfares. The smog regularly sends hundreds of Greeks to the hospital with respiratory and heart complaints. Greece is among the 50 nations with the world's highest levels of industrial carbon dioxide. In 1992, it ranked 37th, with emissions totaling 73.8 million metric tons, a per capita level of 7.25. In 1996, the total rose to 80.6 million metric tons.

Water pollution is a significant problem due to industrial pollutants, agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides, and sewage. The Gulf of Saronikos is one of the most polluted areas because 50% of Greece's industrial facilities are located there. Greece has 58 cu km of renewable water resources with 81% used for farming and 3% used for industrial purposes.

Greece's pollution problems are the result of almost complete disregard for environmental protection measures during the rapid industrial growth of the 1970s, compounded by unbalanced development and rapid, unregulated urban growth. Government policies have emphasized rational use of natural resources, balanced regional development, protection of the environment, and increased public participation in environmental matters. Four environmental and planning services were consolidated under the Ministry for Physical Planning, Housing, and the Environment.

In 2003, about 3.6% of the total land area was protected by the state. Meteora and Mount Athos are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are 10 Ramsar wetland sites in the country. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 11 types of mammals, 14 species of birds, 6 types of reptiles, 4 species of amphibians, 27 species of fish, 1 type of mollusk, 10 species of other invertebrates, and 2 species of plants. Endangered species include the Mediterranean monk seal, the hawksbill turtle, Atlantic sturgeon, and the large copper butterfly.

POPULATION

The population of Greece in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 11,100,000, which placed it at number 74 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 18% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 15% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 98 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–10 was expected to be stagnant at 0.0%, a rate the government viewed as too low. The projected population for the year 2025 was 11,394,000. The population density was 84 per sq km (218 per sq mi).

The UN estimated that 60% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 0.58%. The capital city, Athens (Athínai), had a population of 3,215,000 in that year. Another major urban area is Thessaloniki with a metropolitan population of 824,000.

MIGRATION

Under League of Nations supervision in 1923, more than one million Greek residents of Asia Minor were repatriated, and some 800,000 Turks left Greece. During the German occupation (1941–44) and the civil war (1944–49), there was a general movement of people from the islands, the Peloponnesus, and the northern border regions into the urban areas, especially the Athens metropolitan area, including Piraiévs. Between 1955 and 1971 about 1,500,000 peasants left their farms—about 600,000 going to the cities, the rest abroad. According to the 1981 census, 813,490 Greeks had migrated since 1975 to urban areas, and 165,770 had moved to rural areas. The growth rate of the Athens, Thessaloniki, Pátrai, Iráklion, and Vólos metropolitan areas during 1971–81 far exceeded the population growth rate for the nation as a whole.

Many Greeks leave the country for economic reasons. In the years after World War II, the number of annual emigrants has varied from a high of 117,167 (in 1965) to a low of 20,330 (in 1975). The net outflow of Greek workers during the 1960s was 450,000; during the 1970s, however, there was a net inflow of 300,000. This mainly reflected declining need for foreign labor in western Europe.

In 1974, when the Greek military government collapsed, about 60,000 political refugees were living overseas; by the beginning of 1983, about half had been repatriated, the remainder being, for the most part, Communists who had fled to Soviet-bloc countries after the civil war of 1944–49. After the fall of Communism in 1989 slightly more than half of the migrants to Greece were Albanians, followed by other influxes from nearby countries. In 2002 Greece received $1.18 billion in remittances.

In 2004, Greece received 7,375 applications for asylum, as compared to 4,367 in 1997. Most of them were from Iraq, Afghanistan, Georgia, Algeria, and Iran. In that same year Greece had a population of 2,489 refugees and another 3,459 persons of concern (primarily Iraqi Christians) according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). According to Migration News, in 2005 Greece had 900,000 to 1.2 million immigrants, including 400,000 in irregular status. In August 2005 Greece passed a new immigration law allowing for foreigners legally living in the country in 2004 to become permanent residents in 2006. However, the ethnic Greek Albanians and about 500,000 unauthorized foreigners were excluded from this policy change.

In 2005, the net migration rate was estimated as 2.18 migrants per 1,000 population.

ETHNIC GROUPS

About 98% of the population is Greek. Minority groups include Turks, Macedonian Slavs, Albanians, Armenians, Bulgarians, Jews, and Vlachs. Though a number of citizens identify themselves as Pomaks, Romas, Macedonians, Slavomacedonians, Roma, and Arvanites, the government does not officially acknowledge these groups as minorities. Though some citizens describe themselves as Turks or Turkish, use of the term is prohibited in titles of organizations or associations. The Greeks also object to use of the term Macedonian by the Slavic speaking inhabitants of that region.

LANGUAGES

Modern Greek, the official language, is the first language of about 99% of the population. English, learned mostly outside the school system, and French are widely spoken. Turkish and other minority languages, such as Albanian, Pomakic, Kutzovalachian, and Armenian, also are spoken. The vernacular and the language of popular literature are called dimotiki (demotic). The official language dialect—katharevousa—generally used by the state, the press, and universities, employs classical terms and forms. In 1976, the government began to upgrade the status of dimotiki in education and government. The liturgical language is akin to classical Greek.

RELIGIONS

The government does not keep statistics on membership in religious groups; however, it is estimated that about 97% of the population are nominally members of the Greek Orthodox Church. Official estimates place the number of Muslims at about 98,000 people, with most living in Thrace. Jehovah's Witnesses and the Roman Catholic Church each have about 50,000 members. There are about 30,000 Protestants and 5,000 Jews. There are small congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Church of Scientology, and the Anglican church. There is a very small Baha'i community.

Under the constitution, the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ (Greek Orthodox) is the "prevailing" religion of Greece; the church is self-governing under the ecumenical patriarch resident in Istanbul, Turkey, and is protected by the government, which pays the salaries of the Orthodox clergy. The Orthodox Church is also allowed a significant influence in economic and political policies. The constitution prohibits proselytizing. The Orthodox Church, Judaism, and Islam are considered to be "legal persons of public law," a designation of preferred legal status that makes it easier for these groups to own property and gain legal representation in court. Religious groups must obtain a house of prayer permit through the Ministry of Education and Religion in order to open a public place of worship. Approval for a permit is based in part on the opinion of the local Orthodox bishop.

TRANSPORTATION

Greek transportation was completely reconstructed and greatly expanded after World War II. The length of roads in 2002 was 117,000 km (72,704 mi), of which 107,406 km (66,742 mi) were paved. Toll highways connect Athens with Lamía and Pátrai. In 2003 there were 5,024,600 motor vehicles, including 3,885,908 passenger cars and 1,138,692 commercial vehicles in use.

The Hellenic State Railways, a government organ, operates the railroads, which in 2004 had a total length of 2,571 km (1,597 mi), that which consisted of standard, narrow and dual gauge lines. Standard gauge lines made up the bulk of the nation's railway system, at 1,565 km (973 mi), of which 764 km (475 mi) was electrified. Narrow gauge lines accounted for 983 km (611 mi), with dual gauge trackage amounting to 23 km (14 mi). The agency also operates a network of subsidiary bus lines connecting major cities. The privately owned Hellenic Electric Railways operates a high-speed shuttle service between Piraiévs and Athens.

Principal ports are Elevsís, Thessaloniki, Vólos, Piraiévs, Iráklion, and Thíra. In 2005 the Greek merchant fleet had 861 ships (down from 2,893 in 1982) of 1,000 GRT or over, for a total of 30,186,624 GRT. In addition, Greek shipowners had many other ships sailing under Cypriot, Lebanese, Liberian, Panamanian or other foreign registries. The Greek fleet was hard hit by the international shipping slump of the 1980s. The inland waterway system consists of three coastal canals and three inland rivers, for a total of 80 navigable km (50 mi).

Greece had an estimated 80 airports in 2004. As of 2005, a total of 67 had paved runways, and there were also eight heliports. Athens' main airport connects the capital by regular flights to major cities in Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The new Athens airport at Spata opened March 2001. Olympic Airways, nationalized in 1975, operates a large internal domestic network as well as international flights. In 2003, about 7.519 million passengers were carried on domestic and international flights. Also during 2003, Greek aircraft performed 63 million freight ton-km of service.

HISTORY

Civilization in Greece first arose on Crete in the 3rd millennium bc, probably as a result of immigration from Asia Minor (now Turkey). The Minoan civilization (c.3000–c.1100 bc), named after the legendary King Minos (which may have been a title rather than a name), was centered in the capital of Knossos, where it became known as Helladic (c.2700–c.1100 bc). During the 2nd millennium bc, Greece was conquered by Indo-European invaders: first the Achaeans, then the Aeolians and Ionians, and finally the Dorians. The Greeks, who called themselves Hellenes after a tribe in Thessaly (they were called Greeks by the Romans after another tribe in northwestern Greece), adapted the native culture to their own peasant village traditions and developed the characteristic form of ancient Greek political organization, the city-state (polis). The resulting Mycenaean civilization (c.1600–c.1100 bc), named after the dominant city-state of Mycenae, constituted the latter period of the Helladic civilization.

The Mycenaeans, who were rivals of the Minoans, destroyed Knossos about 1400 bc and, according to legend, the city of Troy in Asia Minor about 1200 bc. The Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations both came to a relatively abrupt end about 1100 bc, possibly as a result of the Dorian invasion, but the foundations had already been laid for what was to become the basis of Western civilization. It was the Greeks who first tried democratic government; produced the world's first outstanding dramatists, poets, historians, philosophers, and orators; and made the first scientific study of medicine, zoology, botany, physics, geometry, and the social sciences.

In the 1st millennium bc, overpopulation forced the Greeks to emigrate and to colonize areas from Spain to Asia Minor. The Greeks derived their alphabet from the Phoenicians during the 8th century bc. By the 6th century bc, the two dominant polises (city-states) were Athens and Sparta. The 5th century bc, recognized as the golden age of Athenian culture, brought the defeat of the Persians by the Athenians in the Persian Wars (490–479 bc) and the defeat of Athens and its allies by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 bc). The territory that is present-day Greece was under Spartan rule.

The inability of Greeks to unite politically led to the annexation of their territories by Philip II of Macedon in 338 bc and by his son Alexander the Great. Through Alexander's ambition for world empire and his admiration of Greek learning, Greek civilization was spread to all his conquered lands. The death of Alexander in 323 bc, the breakup of his empire, and the lack of national feeling among the Greeks prepared the way for their conquest by Rome at the close of the Macedonian Wars in 146 bc.

Greece was made a Roman province, but Athens remained a center of learning. To speak the Greek language was to speak the language of culture, commerce, art, and politics. Greeks were widely influential in Rome, in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, and elsewhere. For this reason, the period between the death of Alexander and the beginning of the Roman Empire is known as the Hellenistic period.

When the Roman Empire was officially divided in ad 395, Greece, by this time Christianized, became part of the Eastern Roman Empire, eventually known as the Byzantine Empire (so named from Byzantium, the former name of Constantinople, its capital). The Byzantine Empire lasted for more than a thousand years. During this period, Greek civilization continued to contribute to Byzantine art and culture.

The formal schism between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism came in 1054, when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael Cerularius excommunicated each other. The continuity of Byzantine rule was broken by the fall of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Under the Latin Empire of the East, which lasted until 1261, Greece was divided into feudal fiefs, with the Duchy of Athens passing successively under French, Spanish, and Florentine rulers.

The Ottoman Turks, who conquered Constantinople in 1453 and the Greek peninsula by the end of the decade, gave the Greeks a large degree of local autonomy. Communal affairs were controlled by the Orthodox Church, and Greek merchants ranged throughout the world on their business ventures, but Greece itself was poverty-stricken. Following an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Turks in 1770—an uprising aided by Russia, as part of Catherine the Great's plan to replace Muslim with Orthodox Christian rule throughout the Near East—the Greeks, led by the archbishop of Patras, proclaimed a war of independence against the Turks on 25 March 1821. The revolution, which aroused much sympathy in Europe, succeeded only after Britain, France, and Russia decided to aid the Greeks in 1827. These three nations recognized Greek independence through the London Protocol of 1830, and the Ottomans accepted the terms later in the year.

The same three powers also found a king for Greece in the person of Otto I of Bavaria. During his reign (1832–1844), Otto I faced a series of foreign and domestic problems. In March 1844, Otto's administration was pressured to draft a constitution to establish a new government. Under this document, the leader would reign as a constitutional monarch and the legislature would be elected by all property-holding males over the age of 25. Otto managed to hold onto power for another decade, until the outbreak of the Crimean War (1854–1856). Otto sent troops to occupy Ottoman territory with the pretense of protecting Christians in the Balkans, but the European powers sided against him. Otto, humiliated, was forced to give up his "Christian Cause" in the Balkans. He abdicated in 1862.

Next Prince William George of Denmark, who ruled as King George I, took control of Greece until his assassination in 1913. During and after his rule, Greece gradually added islands and neighboring territories with Greek-speaking populations, including the Ionian Islands, ceded by the British in 1864; Thessaly, seized from Turkey in 1881; Macedonia, Crete, and some Aegean islands in 1913; and the Dodecanese Islands and Rhodes, ceded by Italy in 1947.

The first half of the 20th century for Greece was a period of wars and rivalries with Turkey; of republican rule under the Cretan patriot Eleutherios Venizelos; of occupation by Italy and Germany during World War II (in World War I, Greece had been neutral for three years and had then sided with the Allies); and of a five-year civil war (1944–49) between the government and the Communist-supported National Liberation Front, in which US aid under the Truman Doctrine played a significant role in defeating the insurgency. In September 1946, the Greeks voted back to the throne the twice-exiled George II (grandson of George I), who was succeeded upon his death in April 1947 by his brother Paul I. A new constitution took effect in 1952, the same year Greece joined NATO. For much of the decade, Greece backed demands by Greek Cypriots for enosis, or the union of Cyprus with Greece, but in 1959, the Greek, Turkish, and Cypriot governments agreed on a formula for an independent Cyprus, which became a reality in 1960.

King Paul died on 6 March 1964 and was succeeded by his son Constantine. Meanwhile, a parliamentary crisis was brewing, as rightist and leftist elements struggled for control of the army, and the government sought to purge the military of political influence. On 21 April 1967, a right wing military junta staged a successful coup d'etat. Leftists were rounded up, press censorship was imposed, and political liberties were suspended. After an unsuccessful countercoup on 13 December 1967, King Constantine and the royal family fled to exile in Italy. Lt. Gen. George Zoetakis was named regent to act for the king, and Col. George Papadopoulos was made premier. A constitutional reform was approved by 92% of the voters in a plebiscite held under martial law on 29 September 1968. Under the new constitution, individual rights were held to be subordinate to the interests of the state, many powers of the king and legislature were transferred to the ruling junta, and the army was granted extended powers as overseer of civil order. The constitution outlawed membership in the Communist Party. US military aid to Greece, suspended after the 1967 coup, was restored by President Richard M. Nixon in September 1970.

Following an abortive naval mutiny in 1973, Greece was declared a republic by the surviving junta. Papadopoulos became president, only to be overthrown by a group of officers following the bloody repression of a student uprising. The complicity of the junta in a conspiracy by Greek army officers on Cyprus against the government of Archbishop Makarios precipitated the final fall from power of Greece's military rulers in July 1974, when the Turkish army intervened in Cyprus and overwhelmed the island's Greek contingent. Constantine Karamanlis, a former prime minister and moderate, returned from exile to form a civilian government that effectively ended eight years of dictatorial rule.

General elections were held on 17 November 1974, the first since 1964, marking the recovery of democratic rule. In a referendum held on 8 December 1974, 69% of the electorate voted to end the monarchy and declare Greece a parliamentary republic. On 7 June 1975, a democratic constitution was adopted by the new legislature, although 86 of the 300 members boycotted the session. Karamanlis became Greece's first prime minister under the new system, and on 19 June 1975, parliament elected Konstantinos Tsatsos as president.

Prime Minister Karamanlis, who had withdrawn Greece from NATO's military structure in 1974 to protest Turkey's invasion of Cyprus, resumed military cooperation with NATO in the fall of 1980 (a few months after he was elected president of Greece) and brought his nation into the European Community (EC) effective 1 January 1981. With the victory of the PanHellenic Socialist Movement (Panellinio Socialistikou Kinema—PASOK) in the elections of October 1981, Greece installed its first Socialist government. The new prime minister, Andreas Papandreou—the son of former prime minister George Papandreou and a man accused by rightists in 1967 of complicity in an abortive leftist military plot—had campaigned on a promise to take Greece out of the EC (although his government did not do so). In November 1982, he refused to allow Greek participation in NATO military exercises in the Aegean, which were then canceled. In January 1983, the government declared a general amnesty for the Communist exiles of the 1944–49 civil war.

In mid-1982, in an attempt to deal with the deepening economic crisis, the government created a ministry of national economy, which embraced industrial and commercial affairs. The proposed "radical socialization" of the economy, however, provoked widespread opposition, which limited it to the introduction of worker participation in supervisory councils; state control was imposed only on the pharmaceutical industry (in 1982). Of Greece's largest enterprises, only the Heracles Cement Co. was nationalized (in 1983). Relations with labor were strained as the government sought to balance worker demands that wages be indexed to inflation with the growing need for austerity; in late 1986, the government imposed a two-year wage freeze, which provoked widespread strikes and demonstrations.

In 1985, Prime Minister Papandreou unexpectedly withdrew his support for President Karamanlis's bid for a second five-year term and announced amendments to the constitution that would transfer powers from the president to the legislature and prime minister. Karamanlis resigned and Papandreou proceeded with his proposed changes, calling an election in June and winning a mandate to follow through with them (parliament's approval was given in March 1986). Subsequently, however, the government began to lose power; the opposition made substantial gains in the 1986 local elections, and a 1987 scandal associated with Papandreou further weakened the government. In January 1988, Papandreou met with Turkish premier Turgut Ozal in Switzerland; they agreed to work toward solving the problems between the two countries.

Two rounds of parliamentary elections were held in 1989; neither was conclusive. After the June vote, the center-conservative New Democracy (ND) party, with 146 of 300 seats, formed a government with left wing parties and concentrated on investigating scandals of the Papandreou government, including those of the former prime minister himself. That government resigned in the fall, and new elections were held in November. The ND and PASOK both improved their totals and an all-party coalition was formed to address economic reform. That government, however, also failed. In April 1990 elections, the ND emerged victorious to lead the government.

In the balloting of 10 October 1993, PASOK won 171 seats to 110 for the ND and Papandreou was again elected prime minister, despite repeated scandals of both personal and political nature. In 1995, parliament appointed Konstandinos Stephanopoulos president. Voters appeared dissatisfied with ND's economic reforms while PASOK won support for its hardline foreign policy demanding that the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia change its name. Many Greeks believe the name of the newly independent state implies territorial designs on the northern Greek region, which once formed part of historic Macedonia. In 1995, Papandreou became ill and was not able to adequately perform his duties. In January 1996, PASOK named Costas Simitis prime minister. In June of that year, Papandreou died at 77, ending the tumultuous political career of postwar Greece's most important—and controversial—politician.

In 1996, Simitis, facing strong resistance to austerity measures from labor and farmers, called on the president to dissolve parliament and hold early elections. Simitis had vowed not to call for a dissolution, but faced with mounting opposition to his austerity measures—taken to prepare the Greek economy for European monetary union in 1999—felt he needed a reinforced mandate. The election, held on 22 September 1996, returned PASOK and Simitis to power, giving them, in fact, a commanding majority in parliament.

The next four years were highlighted by continued Greek-Turkish tension, and Simitis's push for Greek entry into the monetary union. Relations with Turkey reached a new low in early 1999 when Turkey's most-wanted man, Kurdish terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan, was captured by the Turkish secret services in Nairobi, Kenya. Ocalan had sought refuge in the Greek embassy and was seized while en route to the airport, apparently on the way to an asylum-granting country in Africa. Ocalan's capture led to subsequent Turkish charges that the Greek state sponsored international terrorism.

The outbreak of a war in Kosovo little over a month later also placed Greece in an awkward diplomatic position. Although the overwhelming majority of the Greek public opposed the war, the Simitis government maintained its ties to NATO and offered logistical—although not combat—support to its allies. Nevertheless, the widespread anti-Western backlash remained for some months. Rioting greeted US president Bill Clinton when he visited Greece in November 1999.

Unexpectedly, relations with Turkey began to significantly improve in August 1999 following a devastating earthquake in Turkey that killed over 20,000 Turkish citizens. Greece was among the first countries to offer aid to its traditional foe. When a smaller earthquake struck Greece the following month, Turkey reciprocated the Greek gesture. In the aftermath of the tragedies, Greece and Turkey continued a dialogue that resulted in the signing of cooperation accords in the areas of commerce and the fight against terrorism. In addition, Greece supported the decision of the December 1999 European Union (EU) summit in Helsinki to place Turkey as a candidate for EU membership, which also contributed to improving relations between Greece and Turkey. When the EU in late 2002 announced Turkey would not be one of 10 new candidate countries invited to join the body as of 2004, Greece pressed the EU to set a date for the start of accession talks. Greece itself entered the euro zone on 1 January 2002.

Relations between the two countries also warmed due to cooperation on a project to build a natural gas pipeline connecting them; the pipeline was scheduled to be in operation by November 2006.

Negotiations between the Greek and Turkish leaders in Cyprus were held in early 2003 to see if they could agree on a plan to unify the island prior to Cyprus signing an EU accession treaty on 16 April. The talks failed, and the internationally recognized Greek government of Cyprus signed the accession treaty. However, later that month, Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash opened the borders of northern Cyprus to Greeks, and by 15 May 2003, about 250,000 Greek Cypriots and 70,000 Turkish Cypriots—40% of the island's combined population—had visited each other's side.

Approximately 90% of Greece's population was opposed to the US-led war in Iraq that began on 19 March 2003. Prime Minister Costas Simitis indicated that by waging war, the United States and United Kingdom were undermining the EU. Yet he gave the coalition permission to use of Greece's airspace in launching strikes against Iraq.

Greece's international standing received a boost when the country hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In February 2005, parliament elected Karolos Papoulias president by a vote of 279 out of 300 votes; he took office on 12 March 2005.

GOVERNMENT

Before the 1967 coup, executive power was vested in the crown but was exercised by a Council of Ministers appointed by the king and headed by a premier. The 1975 constitution abolished the 146-year-old Greek monarchy and created the office of president as head of state. If a majority in parliament fails to agree on the selection of a president, the office is filled in a general election. The president, who is limited to two five-year terms, appoints the prime minister, who is head of government and requires the confidence of parliament to remain in power. (The constitution was amended in 1986 to reduce the power of the president, limiting his right to dissolve parliament on his own initiative and depriving him of the right to dismiss the prime minister, veto legislation, or proclaim a state of emergency; basically, these powers were transferred to parliament.) The prime minister selects a cabinet from among the members of parliament.

Legislative power is vested in a parliament (Vouli), a unicameral body of 300 deputies elected by direct, universal, secret ballot for maximum four-year terms. A proportional electoral system makes it possible for a party with a minority of the popular vote to have a parliamentary majority. In the 1974 elections, voting was made compulsory for all persons aged 21–70 residing within 200 km (124 mi) of their constituencies. Suffrage is now universal and compulsory at age 18.

POLITICAL PARTIES

After World War II, political parties in Greece centered more on leaders than platforms. The Greek Rally, founded and led by Field Marshal Alexander Papagos, won control of the government in the 1951 elections. About 10% of the vote was received by the Union of the Democratic Left, a left wing party founded in 1951 as a substitute for the Communist Party, outlawed since 1947. When Papagos died in October 1955, Constantine Karamanlis formed a new party called the National Radical Union, which won the elections of 1956, 1958, and 1961 and held power until 1963, when Karamanlis resigned and the newly formed Center Union, comprising a coalition of liberals and progressives and led by George Papandreou, subsequently won a narrow plurality, with Papandreou becoming prime minister. In elections held in February 1964, the Center Union won 174 out of 300 seats; however, King Constantine dismissed Papandreou in July 1965, and Stephanos Stephanopoulos formed a new government. This government, too, was short-lived. Political conflict came to a head when Panayotis Kanellopoulos, leader of the National Radical Union, who had been appointed premier of a caretaker government, set new elections for 28 May 1967. On 21 April, however, a military coup resulted in the cancellation of elections and suppression of political parties, which lasted until 1974.

On 28 September 1974, following his return from exile, Karamanlis formed the New Democracy Party (Nea Dimokratia—ND), advocating a middle course between left and right and promoting closer ties with Western Europe. The Center Union–New Forces (EKND), renamed the Union of the Democratic Center (EDHK) in 1976, rallied liberal factions of the former Center Union and announced a line that generally paralleled ND policies. The EDHK disintegrated following the 1981 elections. Other groups to emerge, most of them led by former opponents of the junta, included the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (Panellinio Socialistiko Kinema—PASOK), led by Andreas Papandreou; the United Left (UL), which brought together elements of the Union of the Democratic Left and the Communist Party to oppose the upcoming elections; and the National Democratic Union (NDU), which represented an amalgam of various elements, including some royalists and right wing activists. Also in 1974, the Communist Party (Kommounistiko Komma Ellados—KKE) was made legal for the first time since 1947; the party later split into two factions, the pro-Soviet KKE-Exterior and the Eurocommunist wing, called the KKE-Interior. In May 1986, the KKE-Interior changed its name to the New Hellenic Left Party.

In the general elections held on 17 November 1974, the ND won an overwhelming majority in parliament, with the EKND forming the major opposition. The ND was again the winner in 1977, although its parliamentary majority dropped from 220 to 172. After parliament elected Karamanlis president in 1980, George Rallis succeeded him as prime minister. In the elections of 18 October 1981, Papandreou's PASOK won 48% of the popular vote and commanded a clear parliamentary majority. Although PASOK won again in the election of 2 June 1985, its share of the total votes cast fell to 45.8%.

In the elections of 10 October 1993, PASOK had about the same percentage (46.9%) and a majority of 171 seats. The ND followed with 110 seats and an offshoot party, Political Spring, had 10 seats. The Communists gained 9 places.

In the parliamentary elections of 22 September 1996, PASOK retained its majority, but lost 9 seats. ND emerged with 108 seats; the KKE, 11; Coalition of the Left and Progress, 10; and the Democratic and Social Movement Parties, 9. The Political Spring lost all its seats in the election, gaining only 2.95% of the popular vote.

PASOK continued its dominance of the post-1974 era with yet another victory at the polls on 9 April 2000. In a close election PASOK won 158 seats (43.8% of the vote), ND earned 125 seats (42.7%), the KKE held steady at 11 (5.5%), while the Coalition of the Left and Progress saw its share of the seats drop to 6 (3.2%). The Democratic Social Movement failed to clear the 3% hurdle needed for representation and Political Spring once again failed to win any seats.

Following the 7 March 2004 elections, ND increased its seats in parliament to 165 (45.5%), while PASOK's number declined to 117 (40.6%). The KKK gained one seat, winning 12 (5.9%), with the Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) holding steady at 6 seats (3.3%).

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The 1975 constitution restored the large measure of local self-government initially provided for in the constitution of 1952 and re-emphasized the principle of decentralization, although local units must depend on the central government for funding. Under the military regime of 1967–74, local units had been closely controlled by the central authorities.

Greece is divided into 13 regional governments (periferiarchis ), which are subdivided into 51 prefectures or nomarchies (nomoi ), in addition to the autonomous administration of Mt. Áthos (Aghion Oros) in Macedonia. Each prefecture is governed by a prefect (nomoi) who is elected. There are also 272 municipalities or demoi (cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants), administered by mayors; communes (with 300 to 10,000 inhabitants), each run by a president and a community council; and localities.

The rocky promontory of Mt. Áthos, southeast of Salonika, is occupied by 20 monasteries, of which 17 are Greek, one Russian, one Serbian, and one Bulgarian. Mt. Áthos is governed by a 4-member council and a 20-member assembly (1 representative from each monastery). The special status of Mt. Áthos was first formalized in the 1952 constitution.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

The 1975 constitution (Syntagma) has been revised twice, in 1985 and in 2001. The constitution provides for an independent judiciary.

The constitution designates the Supreme Court (Areios Pagos) as the highest court of appeal. It consists of both penal and civil sections. A Council of State does not hear cases but decides on administrative disputes, administrative violations of laws, and revision of disciplinary procedures affecting civil servants. The Comptrollers Council decides cases of a fiscal nature. The 1975 constitution also established a Special Supreme Tribunal as a final arbiter in disputes arising over general elections and referenda, in addition to exercising review of the constitutionality of laws. Other elements of the judicial system include justices of the peace, magistrates' courts, courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and various administrative courts. Judges of the Supreme Court, the courts of appeal, and the courts of first instance are appointed for life on the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice. The president has the constitutional right, with certain exceptions, to commute and reduce sentences.

ARMED FORCES

In 2005 Greece's active armed forces totaled 163,850 members and were supported by some 325,000 reservists. As of that year, there were 110,000 active personnel in the Army, 19,250 in the Navy, and 23,000 in the Air Force. The Greek field army has a large and varied combined arms structure, with units manned at three different levels of readiness: 85% are fully ready; 65% are ready within 24 hours; and 20% are ready within 48 hours. The 1,150 troops serving on Cyprus include 1 mechanized brigade. The Army operates 1,723 main battle tanks, 175 reconnaissance vehicles, 501 armored infantry fighting vehicles, 1,640 armored personnel carriers, and 4,660 artillery pieces. The Navy had 13 tactical submarines, 18 frigates, 4 corvettes, 36 patrol and coastal combatants, and 13 mine warfare vessels, as well as various amphibious and support vessels. The Navy's aviation arm is focused on antisubmarine warfare and search and rescue. The Air Force operated 283 combat capable aircraft in addition to 120 fixed and rotary wing transport aircraft. The paramilitary consisted of 4,000 coast guard and customs officers. Greek military personnel provided support to UN peacekeeping missions in seven countries or regions around the world. In 2005, the defense budget totaled $4.46 billion. The United States has one major naval base on Greek soil and several smaller installations.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Greece is a charter member of the United Nations (UN), having joined on 25 October 1945, and participates in ECE and several nonregional specialized agencies. Greece was admitted to NATO in 1951 but suspended its military participation (1974–80) because of the Cyprus conflict. It belongs to the Council of Europe, the OECD, OSCE, WTO, G-6, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Zone, and the Western European Union. Greece is also a permanent observer at the OAS. The country became a full member of the European Union as of 1 January 1981.

In August 1987, Greece and Albania signed a pact ending the state of war that had existed between them since World War II (1939–45). The Greek government continues to be in dispute with the neighboring Republic of Macedonia over the name of the latter. In 1995, Greece agreed to recognize the country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Greece and Turkey have unresolved boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea and tension between the two countries has grown in connection with the Greek-Turkish disputes in the nation of Cyprus. Greece has supported UN operations and missions in Kosovo (est. 1999), Western Sahara (est. 1991), Ethiopia and Eritrea (est. 2000), and Georgia (est. 1993). Greece has guest status in the Nonaligned Movement.

Greece belongs to the Australia group, the Zangger Committee, the Nuclear energy Agency, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (London Group), and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). In environmental cooperation, Greece is part of the Antarctic Treaty, the Basel Convention, Conventions on Biological Diversity and Air Pollution, Ramsar, CITES, the London Convention, International Tropical Timber Agreements, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change and Desertification.

ECONOMY

The Greek economy suffers from a paucity of exploitable natural resources and a low level of industrial development relative to the rest of Western Europe. By 1992, it had fallen behind Portugal to become the poorest European Community (now European Union—EU) member; with the entrance into the EU of 10 primarily Eastern European nations in 2004, that was no longer the case. In 2004, agriculture (with forestry and fishing) generated about 7% of GDP but employed about 12% of the labor force. Agricultural exports include tobacco, cotton, wheat, raisins, currants, fresh fruits, tomato products, olive oil, and olives. In 2004, industry and construction accounted for about 22% of GDP and 20% of the labor force. Wholesale and retail trade and other services provided some 71% of GDP, employing 68% of the labor force.

Next to food processing, textile manufacturing used to be the most important industry, but chemicals and metals and machinery have outstripped it in recent years. Paper products has been a fast-growing industry since 1980. Greece has stimulated foreign investments in the development of its mineral resources by constitutionally providing guarantees for capital and profits. The government has encouraged tourism, which has developed into a major source of revenue (15% of GDP in 2004). Greece continues to play a dominant role in the international shipping industry.

During the late 1950s and 1960s, the government took steps to reclaim land, develop new farms, increase credits and investments for agriculture, protect agricultural prices, and improve the agricultural product and utilize it to the best advantage; however, the country still depends on many imports to meet its food needs. Industrial output contributed substantially to the rapid increase in national income after 1960, and manufacturing and service industries were the fastest-growing sectors in the 1970s. In the 1980s, however, the economy retracted sharply because of the worldwide recession and growth in real terms was sluggish. In the best year of the decade, 1988, GDP grew by 4.9%. In 1993, GDP dropped by 0.5%, but rebounded in 1995 by 2.0%. Inflation, which neared 20% in 1991, had been lowered to 8.1% in 1995, lower than the many European Union (EU) countries that struggled mightily with inflation in the mid-1990s. As Greece pursued an economic austerity program aimed at meeting the criteria for European economic and monetary union (EMU), inflation continued to fall, reaching less than 4% at the end of 1998. Greece entered into the EMU in 2001.

As of 2006, Greece had failed to meet the EU's Growth and Stability Pact budget deficit criteria of 3% of GDP since 2000. Greece is a recipient of EU aid, amounting to 3.3% of annual GDP. The country's public debt burden is a major drag on economic growth and prosperity, at 112% of GDP in 2004. Unemployment remained high at 10% in 2004 and the country was in need of introducing social insurance reform. Greece has a large public sector (some 40% of GDP), but is implementing privatization policies. Per capita GDP is about 70% of the leading eurozone economies. Public and private investment was strong in 2003, in preparation for the 2004 Olympic Games that were held in Athens; the Greek economy grew at a rate of approximately 4% in 2003 and 2004. Spending on the Olympic Games contributed to an estimated general government deficit of 6.6% of GDP in 2004; however, the deficit was forecast to fall substantially in 2005–07, although it was projected to remain above the 3% of GDP limit established by the EU's Growth and Stability Pact. GDP growth was expected to slow from 4.2% in 2004 to 3.4% in 2005, 3.1% in 2006, and 2.9% in 2007. Inflation was likely to rise from 3% in 2004 to 3.8% in 2005, driven by indirect tax rises and high international oil prices, before easing again to 3.3% in 2006 and 2.8% in 2007.

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Greece's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $242.8 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $22,800. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 3.3%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 3.8%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 6.2% of GDP, industry 22.1%, and services 71.7%.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $1.564 billion or about $142 per capita and accounted for approximately 0.9% of GDP.

The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Greece totaled $114.60 billion or about $10,418 per capita based on a GDP of $172.2 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 2.4%.

LABOR

In 2005, Greece's labor force was estimated at 4.72 million people. In 2004, it was estimated that agriculture accounted for 12% of the labor force, followed by industry at 20% and the services sector at 68%. Unemployment was estimated at 10.8% in 2005.

In 2005, about 26% of salaried, nonagricultural employees belonged to unions. Altogether, there were over 4,000 trade unions. Unions were organized on a territorial rather than a plant basis: all workers of a certain trade in a town usually belong to one union. On a nationwide scale, union members of the same trade or profession form a federation; the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) is the central core of the private sector union movement. Government plays an important role in labor-management relations. Collective bargaining and the right to strike are protected by law, although workers must give notice of an intent to strike (4 days for public utilities, 24 hours in the private sector). Because of a history of compulsory arbitration as a means to resolve labor disputes, unions successfully lobbied for new legislation, passed in 1992, which restricted the use of compulsory arbitration in favor of mediation procedures.

As of 2005, the maximum legal workweek is 40 hours in the private sector and 37.5 hours in the public sector. The minimum monthly salary negotiated by the GSEE for that same year was around $35 per day or $779 per month. This amount provided a decent standard of living for a family. Annual vacations (of up to a month) with pay are provided by law. In general, employment of children under the age of 15 in the industrial sector was prohibited. The minimum age for children employed in cinemas, theaters and family businesses was 12. Industrial health and safety standards are set by law and regularly enforced.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture in Greece suffers not only from natural limitations, such as poor soils and droughts, but also from soil erosion, lack of fertilizers, and insufficient capital investment. The total farm labor force in 2003 was 129,900 full-time and nearly 1.4 million part-time workers.

About 30% of the land area is cultivable, and it supports over half of the population. Of the land under cultivation in 2003, about 72% was planted in seasonal crops, and 28% in orchards and vineyards. About 38% of the agricultural land was irrigated in 2003. Although agriculture accounts for 17% of the work force, its role in the economy is declining; in 2003 agriculture accounted for 7% of GDP, down from 25% in the 1950s.

In recent decades, Greek agriculture has been characterized by an increasing diversification of fruit crops for export. Agricultural production of principal crops in 2004 was estimated as follows (in thousands of tons): sugar beets, 2,300; corn, 2,300; olives, 2,130; tomatoes, 1,800; wheat, 1,800; peaches and nectarines, 955; oranges, 903; cotton, 359; apples, 288; barley, 220; and tobacco, 127.

Progress has been made toward modernization in machinery and cultivation techniques. Agricultural products, including processed foods, beverages, and tobacco, make up one-third of total exports. To expand agricultural production and encourage farm prosperity, the government exempts agricultural income from most taxes, extends liberal farm credits, and subsidizes agriculture. It also operates a service by which individual growers or cooperatives may hire heavy farm equipment at low prices, encourages the development of industries that use farm products, provides educational programs, and has sought to halt the trend toward ever-smaller farm holdings. There were 255,000 tractors, 5,150 harvester-threshers, and 13,450 milking machines in use in 2003.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

In 2005 there were 9,000,000 sheep, 5,400,000 goats, 1,000,000 hogs, 600,000 head of cattle, 68,000 donkeys, 29,000 horses, 28,000 mules, and 28,000,000 chickens. Although production of milk, meat, and cheese has risen greatly since the end of World War II (1939–45), Greece still must import substantial quantities of evaporated and condensed milk, cheese, cattle, sheep, hides, and meat. Estimated meat production in 2005 included 134,000 tons of poultry, 134,000 tons of pork, 124,000 tons of mutton and goat meat, and 75,000 tons of beef and veal. Livestock products in 2005 included (in thousands of tons) cow's milk, 780; sheep milk, 700; goat milk, 495; cheese, 246; eggs, 105; honey, 15; and butter, 4. Recent modernization in machinery has especially helped poultry and hog operations. Exports of dairy and egg products were valued at $216.4 million in 2004 (mostly going to European Union nations).

FISHING

The fishing industry has expanded and been modernized in recent years. In 2002, the Greek fishing fleet consisted of 19,504 vessels with 97,579 GRT, and there were 33,992 people employed in small scale fisheries. The total fish catch was 197,596 tons in 2003. A total of $317.2 million of fish and fish products were exported that year. In the north of Greece, freshwater fisheries have been restocked and developed, but the inland catch only accounted for 3% of total volume in 2003.

Sponge fishing, formerly an important undertaking in the Dodecanese and other regions, decreased in volume from 135.5 tons of sponges in 1955 to 2.5 tons in 2003.

FORESTRY

Forests cover about 28% of the total area. Much of the forest area was destroyed during the 1940s, but the government's reforestation program planted more than 100 million trees during the 1970s and 1980s. Pine, fir, and oak are the most common trees, and resin and turpentine are the principal products. In 2004, 1,672,000 cu m (59,022,000 cu ft) of roundwood were harvested, including 1.073 million cu m (37.88 million cu ft) of firewood. Sawn wood production in 2004 totaled 196,000 cu m (6,911,000 cu ft), and wood-based panels, 770,000 cu m (27.2 million cu ft). Production of timber is insufficient to meet the domestic demand, and many forestry products are imported. Total trade in forestry products in 2003 amounted to $929 million imports and $112.4 million in exports.

MINING

The minerals industry, consisting of the mining, industrial minerals, and metal processing sectors, was a small but important part of the national economy. Greece, the only Balkan country in the European Union (EU), was the union's largest producer of bauxite, magnesium, nickel, and perlite, and was second to the United States in bentonite production (from Milos Island). Chromite (from Tsingeli Mines, near Volos) and zinc (from Kassandra Mines, in Olympias and Stratoni) were other important commodities. Greek marble, produced in all parts of the country, continued to play a leading role in the international dimension stone market because of its versatility and many colors (ash, black, brown, green, pink, red, and multicolored). With the exception of bauxite, Greece's mines operated far below their productive capacity. A relatively small industrial base, lack of adequate investment, and distance from EU markets, have restricted the export potential of the country. The emerging Balkan markets could offer opportunities for growth. About 50% of the country's mineral production was exported. Northern Greece was thought to contain a significant amount of exploitable mineral resources, and most new activities were directed toward gold.

Production in 2003 of bauxite was 2.418 million metric tons, compared to 2,468,865 metric tons in 2002. Nickel (content of ferronickel) output in 2003 was estimated at 18,000 metric tons, while crude perlite production in that year was estimated at 850,000 metric tons, up from 838,997 metric tons in 2002. Other types of magnesite produced were dead-burned, caustic-calcined, and crude huntite/hydromagnesite, which had unique flame-retardant properties. Grecian Magnesite S.A., with its openpit mine at Yerakini, was a leading magnesite producer in the western world. Also produced in 2003 were alumina, lead, manganese, silver, barite, cement, kaolin, feldspar, gypsum (from Crete), anhydrite, nitrogen, pozzolan (Santorin earth, from Milos), pumice (from Yali), salt, silica, sodium compounds, dolomite, marble, flysch, quartz, sulfur, zeolite, and crude construction materials. No asbestos was produced in 2003. Other mineral deposits of commercial importance were antimony, gold (placer dredger), asbestos, emery, ceramic clay, talc, and limestone. Industrial processing of mineral ores was very limited until the 1960s and 1970s, when facilities for refining nickeliferous iron ore and bauxite were developed.

ENERGY AND POWER

Coal and oil are imported to supply power for the many small generating plants spread over the country. Before World War II, the Athens-Piraiévs Electricity Co. operated the only modern plant in Greece, which ran on imported coal. In 1950, the government-organized Public Power Corp. was established to construct and operate electricity generating plants and power transmission and distribution lines; by 1955, it had erected four major power plants. In 1965, the first two units of the Kremasta hydroelectric station were opened; by 2001, installed capacity totaled 10.2 million kW. Production of electricity increased from 8,991 million kWh in 1970 to 50,400 million kWh in 2000, of which 91.5% was provided by thermal power, 6.6% by hydroelectric stations, and the rest by other sources. It has been estimated that 15% of Greece's energy needs can be supplied by wind power by 2010, and there are wind farms on Crete, Andors, and a number of other Greek islands. As of 2002, solar water heaters were used in 20% of Greek homes.

As of 2003, 63% of Greece's total energy consumption came from oil. Greece has actively explored offshore oil resources. A field off Thásos in the northern Aegean began operations in July 1981. Total production, however, fell from 25,000 to 6,000 barrels per day between 1986 and 1998. In 2004, oil production totaled an estimated 6,411 barrels per day, of which crude oil accounted for 2,836 barrels per day, from reserves estimated at 7 million barrels, as of 1 January 2005. Consumption in 2004 totaled an estimated 429,000 barrels per day, making Greece strongly reliant on imported oil, mostly from Russia, Libya, OPEC, the Persian Gulf, and Egypt. Natural gas production in 2003 totaled an estimated 1.0 billion cu ft, compared with an estimated consumption of 86 billion cu ft for that same year. Two-thirds of Greece's imports of natural gas come from Russia, with the remainder from Algeria. Greece's only substantial fossil fuel resource is brown coal, or lignite. Its lignite reserves totaled an estimated 4,299 million short tons in 2003, with production and consumption estimated at 75.3 million short tons and 76 million short tons, respectively for that same year.

INDUSTRY

Manufacturing, which now ranks ahead of agriculture as an income earner, has increased rapidly owing to a vigorous policy of industrialization. However, Greek industry must rely on imports for its raw materials, machinery, parts, and fuel. Greece has only a rudimentary iron and steel industry and does not manufacture basic transport equipment, such as cars and trucks. Industry is concentrated in the Athens area.

Chief industries in 2006 were food, beverages and tobacco; metals and metals manufactures; machinery and electrical goods; chemicals; textiles; and nonmetallic minerals. Although the government controls certain basic industries, such as electric power and petroleum refining, most industry is privately owned. The portion of government-controlled industries is declining as the state has divested itself of substantial control over key holdings such as Olympic Airways and the telecommunications company, OTE. There is substantial room for investment in tourism infrastructure.

The industrial sector accounted for 22% of GDP in 2004, and it grew by 4.1% that year. High technology equipment is a growth sector, as are the production of electrical machinery, office machinery and computers, defense products, building products and equipment, medical equipment, environmental engineering products and services, and certain agricultural products.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Academy of Athens, founded in 1926, oversees the activities of research institutes in astronomy and applied mathematics and in atmospheric physics and climatology. Greece has five other scientific research institutes. Specialized scientific learned societies include the Association of Greek Chemists, founded in 1924, and the Greek Mathematical Society, founded in 1918, both headquartered in Athens. Advanced scientific and technical training is provided at nine colleges and universities. The University of Athens has maintained a zoological museum since 1858. In the early 1980s, the government established a Ministry of Research and Technology to foster scientific and technological development.

In the period 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 26% of university enrollment. In 2001, Greece had 1,357 scientists and engineers per million people who were engaged in research and development (R&D). In that same year, total spending on R&D amounted to 1,226.070 million, or 0.65% of GDP. The government sector accounted for the largest portion of R&D spending in 2001 at 46.6%, followed by the business sector at 33.1%. Foreign sources accounted for 18.4%, with higher education accounting for 2%. In 2002, high technology exports by Greece totaled $524 million, or 10% of the country's manufactured exports.

DOMESTIC TRADE

Industry and trade are centered on about 20 seaports throughout the country. Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki are the principal commercial cities; importers and exporters have offices in these cities and branches in other centers. There are about 300,000 wholesale and retail trading establishments in the country.

In general, small shops specialize in particular lines of merchandise, but there are a growing number of department stores. Most people buy in the small shops and in the markets. Usual private sector business hours are from 8 or 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Banking hours are from 8:30 am to 2 pm Monday through Friday. Stores are open from 9 am to 6 pm, Monday through Saturday, but some have longer evening hours. Businesses are often closed for extended vacations throughout July and August, reopening in September after the annual trade fair.

Advertising is used widely in the towns and cities, and several advertising agencies are active in Athens and Thessaloniki. The most common media are television, newspapers, radio, films, billboards, neon signs, and window displays. The principal annual trade fair is the International Fair of Thessaloniki, held in September.

FOREIGN TRADE

Garments and cotton have traditionally provided Greece with the most exports, followed by petroleum products; fruit, nuts, and vegetable oils; and tobacco. Tobacco exports from Greece are substantial on the world commodities export market. In 2004, the major exports were machinery (19.3% of all exports), food (17.1%), and transportation (13.7%, not including services). The major imports in 2004 were machinery (20.7% of all imports), chemicals and plastics (14.2%), and food (13.7%). Trade is the second-largest services sub-sector, after property management. The transportation and communications sector has grown in importance following the liberalization of the telecommunications market, while the financial services sector also increased in the mid-2000s. Greece's leading markets in 2004 were Germany (12.6% of all exports), Italy (10.5%), the United Kingdom (7%), and France (4.2%). Leading suppliers included Germany (12.3% of all imports), Italy (12%), France (6.5%), and the Netherlands (5.1%).

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

Because it imports more than twice the value of its exports, Greece has registered chronic annual deficits in its balance of payments. The major contributors to Greece's foreign exchange earnings are tourism, shipping services, and remittances from Greek workers abroad. Greece's relatively small industrial base and lack of substantial investment since the mid-1990s limited the country's export potential. Greece's productive base expanded in 1999 and 2000, however, in part due to a thriving stock exchange, and low interest rates. A devaluation of the drachma in 1998 and Greece's inclusion in the euro zone in 1999 restored Greek competitiveness. Merchandise exports amounted to $15.7 billion in 2004 and imports to $47.4 billion, while the current-account deficit was $13 billion. The current-account balance averaged -6.7% from 2001–05.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

The government-controlled Bank of Greece (founded in 1927) is the central bank and the bank of issue; it also engages in other banking activities, although the European Central Bank is in charge of monetary policy. There are 33 Greek commercial banks, which are dominated by two massive, state-controlled banking groups, the National Bank and the Commercial Bank. Nineteen of the commercial banks are foreign, including three American banks. The two leading private banks are Alpha Credit and Ergo, which ranked third and fifth, respectively, in 1997 in the Greek banking industry in terms of assets. Banks still must redeposit 70% of all their foreign exchange deposits with the Bank of Greece at the going interest rate plus a small commission. In 1999, as part of a general privatization program, the government began selling shares in the National Bank of Greece and Ionian Bank was sold outright and taken over by Alpha Credit.

The Currency Committee, composed of five cabinet ministers, controls the eight specialized credit institutions: the Agricultural Bank, National Investment Bank, National Investment Bank for Industrial Development, Hellenic Industrial Development Bank, National Mortgage Bank, Mortgage Bank, Postal Savings Bank, and Consignments and Loans Fund. The money supply in 2001, as measured by M1, was 24.7 billion euros. The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to $22.2 billion. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was $129.6 billion.

The Athens Stock Exchange (Chrimatisterion) was founded by royal decree in 1876. In 1967, significant reforms were instituted, including more stringent listing requirements, bringing about a rapid increase in the number of listed securities. New legislation was introduced in 1988 to expand and liberalize its activities. The rule changes provided for the establishment of brokerage companies, thus breaking the traditional closed shop of individual brokers. In 1997 there were 53 brokerage houses and just 6 private brokers. Computerized trading was implemented in 1992 and there has since been a rapid evolution of the market. The aim is

to secure total dematerialization of shares and to allow brokers to screen-trade from their offices. A satellite trading floor was established in Thessaloniki in 1995. In 1996, Greek law was harmonized with the European Union financial services directive, and banks may now be directly represented on the floor of the exchange instead of having to establish subsidiary brokerage houses. The late 1990s witnessed a boom on the exchange. In 1998, the index rose 85%, while the first five months of 1999 saw a further jump of 43.7%. However, this expansion did not continue into the new millennium. Between 2002 and 2003, the index lost 33.1% of its value. As of 2004, a total of 340 companies were listed on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), which had a market capitalization of $125.242 billion that year. In 2004, the ASE rose 23.1% from the previous year to 2,786.2.

INSURANCE

Most of Greece's large insurance companies are partly or wholly owned by banks. In addition, insurers are required to join several unions, trade groups, and insurance pools. Brokers in Greece also must be accepted by the Ministry of Trade. In Greece, the social security scheme and third-party automobile liability insurance are compulsory. In 2003, the direct premiums written were valued at $3.668 billion, of which nonlife premiums accounted for $2.040 billion. Ethniki was the country's largest nonlife and life insurer in 2003, with total gross earned non life premiums (including personal accident and inwards reinsurance) and gross written life insurance premiums valued at $361.2 million and $258.3 million respectively.

Insurance companies have begun to develop private pension schemes and corporate pension schemes. However, most occupational pension funds remain under state control because they are part financed by state-enacted levies. Insurance companies have also been responsible for the recent explosion in unit trusts (mutual funds), from two in 1989 to 152 in December 1995, when there were more than D2 trillion (7.8% of GDP) under management.

PUBLIC FINANCE

The state budget includes ordinary revenues and expenditures and a special investment budget administered by the Ministry of Coordination. The public sector, which employs 15% of the workforce, has many more civil servants than required for a country the size of Greece. Public payrolls, liberal social security benefits, and loss-generating state owned companies have all contributed to a government deficit. Recent austerity measures implemented to meet the criteria for European Monetary Union membership significantly lowered the budget shortfall.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Greece's central government took in revenues of approximately $94.1 billion and had expenditures of $103.4 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$9.2 billion. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 108.9% of GDP. Total external debt was $75.1 billion.

TAXATION

The corporate income tax rate in Greece in 2005 was 32%. The profits of general partnerships (OE) and limited partnerships (EE) were taxed at 25%. A discount of 2.5% was given to companies that settled their corporate tax liability in full when they filed their

tax returns. A surcharge is applied to gross rental income, but the surcharge is not to exceed the primary corporate tax. Capital gains were taxed at rates between 20% and 35%. Dividends paid to the corporate or individual shareholder are not taxed. Interest paid to Greek legal entities is 20% and 35% to foreign legal entities that do not have a permanent establishment in Greece.

The progressive personal income tax schedule for 2005 has a top rate of 40%. Various deductions or tax credits can be applied to taxable income for medical and hospitalization expenses; social security taxes; interest payments on home loans; and donations to charitable organizations, with special deductions for families whose income is derived primarily from their own work on agricultural enterprises. The withholding tax is 15% on interest income from banks and 10% on interest income derived from treasury bills and corporate bands. There is a 20% tax on royalty payments, but these are often reduced or eliminated in bilateral double tax prevention treaties, of which Greece has concluded more than 35. Gift and inheritance taxes, property taxes on large estates having a certain value, real estate transfer taxes, and taxes on urban property and rural property are also levied.

The main indirect tax in Greece is its value-added tax (VAT) introduced in January 1987. The standard VAT rate in 2005 was 19%. There were also three reduced rates—0% on domestic transportation, lawyers and land registrar fees; 4.5% on books and newspapers; and 9% on foodstuffs, agricultural products and medical materials. Excise duties are charged on tobacco, alcohol, gasoline, and automobiles.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

The import tariff protects domestic products and provides a source of government revenue. Many Greek industries are not yet large enough or sufficiently modern to compete in price with foreign products, either in markets abroad or in Greece itself. As a full member of the European Union (EU) since 1981, Greece eliminated its remaining tariffs and quotas on imports from EU nations by 1986 and aligned its own tariffs on imports from other countries with those of EU members. Greek exports to EU countries are tariff-free. Imports from non-EU countries are subject to the EU's common customs tariff. Most raw materials enter duty-free, while manufactured goods have rates between 5% and 7%. Textiles, electronics, and some food products have higher rates. Motor vehicles, yachts, and motorcycles are subject to special duties. In addition, Greece imposes an 8–19% value-added tax and special consumption taxes on alcohol and tobacco.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

The government encourages foreign capital investment and protects foreign investors against compulsory appropriation of their assets in Greece. Incentives include reduced tax rates and increased depreciation rates.

Total direct foreign investment (FDI) was estimated at $3.78 billion in 1995. From 1995 to 1997, FDI inflow averaged about $1 billion a year. In the wake of the Russian financial crisis of 1998, FDI inflow fell to $700 million in 1998 and to $567 million in 1999. FDI inflow in 2000 reached over $1 billion and grew to a record $1.56 billion in 2001. In 2002, FDI inflow fell nearly 90% to $50.3 million. For the period 1999 to 2002, FDI inflow averaged about $833 million.

Outward FDI flow was $542 million in 1999, over $2 billion in 2000, and $611 million in 2001. Outward FDI increased to $655.3 million in 2002. For the period 1999 to 2002, average outward FDI from Greece was $993.3 billion.

From 2001–05, FDI inflows averaged 0.6% of GDP. The corporate tax rate was being cut from 35% to 32% on income earned in 2005, to 29% on income earned in 2006, and to 25% on income earned in 2007. Value-added tax (VAT) is levied at 19%, 8%, and 4.5%. Although there is no official estimate of total foreign investment in Greece, as of 2002 the total stock of FDI was estimated at $6 billion, or approximately 4.3% of GDP. Greece's investment abroad is directed primarily to the Balkans. Greek direct investment in the Balkans was estimated at $3.6 billion in 2002.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Until the mid-1970s, Greek governments devoted themselves principally to expanding agricultural and industrial production, controlling prices and inflation, improving state finances, developing natural resources, and creating basic industries. In 1975, the Karamanlis government undertook a series of austerity measures designed to curb inflation and redress the balance-of-payments deficit. A new energy program included plans for stepped-up exploitation of oil and lignite reserves, along with uranium exploration in northern Greece. Increased efforts at import substitution were to be undertaken in all sectors. On 7 March 1975, in an effort to strengthen confidence in the national currency, the government announced that the value of the drachma would no longer be quoted in terms of a fixed link with the US dollar, but would be based on daily averages taken from the currencies of Greece's main trade partners.

The Socialist government that took office in 1981 promised more equal distribution of income and wealth through "democratic planning" and measures to control inflation and increase productivity. It imposed controls on prices and credit and began to restructure public corporations. But the government was cautious in introducing what it called "social control in certain key sectors" of the economy, and it ordered detailed studies to be made first. Its development policies emphasized balanced regional growth and technological modernization, especially in agriculture. The conservative government that came to power in 1990 adopted a 1991–93 "adjustment program" that called for reduction of price and wage increases and a reduction in the public-sector deficit from 13% to 3% of GDP. Twenty-eight industrial companies were to be privatized.

The chief goal of the Simitis government was admission to the European Monetary Union (EMU). As a consequence, his government instituted an austerity program aimed to tackle chronically high inflation, unemployment, and a bloated public sector. By 1998–99, these policies showed significant progress. Greece gained admission to the EMU in 2001, and adopted the euro as its new currency in 2002. The Greek economy was growing at rates above European Union (EU) averages from 2002–05; however, unemployment and inflation rates were still higher than in most euro-area countries. In 2004, Greece's general government debt stood at approximately 112% of GDP. Greece benefits from EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of GDP.

Privatization of state-owned enterprises has moved at a relatively slow pace, especially in the telecommunications, banking, aerospace, and energy sectors. In 2003, preparations for the 2004 Olympics drove investment, but spending on the Olympic Games contributed to a general government deficit of 6.6% of GDP in 2004. With the aid of EU grants, Greece will need to update its infrastructure, especially in the northern regions and on the islands. Improvements in road, rail, harbor, and airport links financed through the EU's Community Support Framework (CSF) programs have contributed to economic decentralization.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The Social Insurance Foundation, the national social security system, is supported by contributions from employees, employers and the government. It provides for old age, disability and survivorship. Work injury and unemployment benefits are also provided. Sickness and maternity benefits have been in place since 1922. Current benefits include medical care, hospitalization, medicine, maternity care, dental coverage, appliances, and transportation. Payments also include birth and funeral grants.

Although the law mandates equal pay for equal work, according to statistics in 2004 women's pay amounted to 75.5% of men's pay. Domestic violence and rape remains underreported, and the number of prosecutions and convictions is low. Women are beginning to enter traditionally male-oriented careers such as law and medicine, but only make up 42.5% of the work force. Sexual harassment is specifically prohibited by law.

Occasional human rights abuses, involving residents, illegal aliens and persons in custody, have been reported. Government measures to improve prison conditions continue. The constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, language, religion, or political beliefs. In practice the government does not always protect these rights.

HEALTH

Since World War II, the government has broadened health services by building new hospitals and providing more clinics and medical personnel. Total health care expenditure was estimated at 8.4% of GDP. As of 2004, there were an estimated 410 physicians per 100,000 people. There are severe air quality problems in Athens. Pulmonary tuberculosis, dysentery, and malaria, which were once endemic, have been controlled. The incidence of typhoid, which was formerly of epidemic proportions, dropped to only 149 cases in 1985 following the application of US aid to improve sanitary conditions in more than 700 villages. At present, 100% of the population has access to safe water. In 2005, the infant mortality rate was 5.53 per 1,000 live births. The total fertility rate in 1980 (2.2) has dropped to 1.3 as of 2000. The birthrate was an estimated 9.8 per 1,000 people. The sharp birth rate decline since World War II has been attributed to the legalization of abortion. In 2005, life expectancy averaged 79.09 years. As of 2002, the overall mortality rate was estimated at 9.8 per 1,000 people.

The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.10 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 600 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 200 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

HOUSING

Construction of new dwellings (including repairs and extensions) reached 88,477 units in 1985 and rose to 120,240 in 1990. Most new construction is in Athens or Thessaloniki, indicating the emphasis on urban development. Considerable amounts of private investment have been spent on the construction of apartment houses in urban areas. In 2001, the total number of dwelling units was 5,476,162. About 47.9% of all dwelling units are owner occupied. About 40% of all dwellings are single household homes.

EDUCATION

Education is free and compulsory for nine years beginning at age six, and primary education lasts for six years. Secondary education is comprised of two steps: first three years, followed by an additional three years of college preparation. At the upper secondary levels, students may choose to attend a three-year vocational school. The central and local governments pay the cost of state schools, and private schools are state-regulated. The academic year runs from September to June. Greek is the primary language of instruction.

In 2001, about 68% of children between the ages of four and five were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 99% of age-eligible students. The same year, secondary school enrollment was about 86% of age-eligible students. Nearly all students complete their primary education. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 12:1 in 2003; the ratio for secondary school was about 9:1.

In July 1982, the Socialist government initiated a program to democratize the higher-education system; a law was approved that diminished the power of individual professors by establishing American-style departments with integrated faculties. Junior faculty members and representatives of the student body were granted a role in academic decision-making. The legislation also curbed university autonomy by establishing the National University Council to advise the government on higher-education planning, and the Academy of Letters and Sciences to set and implement university standards.

Greece has six major universities: Athens, Salonika, Thrace, Ioánnina, Crete, and Pátrai—together with the National Technical University of Athens, the new University of the Aegean, and the Technical University of Crete, plus seven special institutions of higher education. There are several technological educational institutions, which offer nondegree programs of higher education. Private universities are constitutionally banned. In 2003, about 74% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 91%, with 94% for men and 88.3% for women.

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 4% of GDP, or 7% of total government expenditures.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

The National Library traces its origins to 1828, when it was established on the island of Aíyina; the library was moved to its present site in Athens in 1903 and today has more than 2.5 million volumes. Both the National Library and the Library of Parliament (1.5 million volumes) act as legal depositories for Greek publications and are open to the public. Public libraries are located mainly in provincial capitals, and there are regional libraries with book-mobile services for rural areas.

Besides the libraries attached to the universities and other educational institutions, there are several specialized research libraries located in Athens. Outstanding special collections can be found at the Democritus Nuclear Research Center (91,000 volumes), the Center of Planning and Economic Research (30,000 volumes), the Athens Center of Ekistics (30,000 volumes), and the Gennadius Library (80,000 volumes), which houses a large collection on modern Greek history. Being at the crossroads of different civilizations and an important European country, there are several libraries attached to various cultural and ethnic studies centers. Notable among these are the libraries of the Institute for Balkan Studies in Thessaloniki, the British Council, the Society for Byzantine Studies in Athens, and the Center for Asia Minor Studies in Athens.

Most museums are devoted to antiquities and archaeology. One of the richest collections of Greek sculpture and antiquities is found at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, which is also home to the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Benaki Museum, and Kanellopoulos Museum. The most impressive archaeological remains, of course, are the great temples and palaces at Athens (particularly the Parthenon and the Stoa of Attalos), Corinth, Salonika, Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, the island of Delos, and Knossos, on Crete. There are also notable museums dedicated to the work of other cultures, including the Byzantine Museum and the Jewish Museum, both in Athens. Among the newer facilities are the Hellenic Children's Museum (1987), the Museum of Greek Popular Musical Instruments (1991), the Museum of Delphic Celebrations of Angelos and Eva Sikelianou (1991), the Nikolaos Parantinos Museum of Sculpture (1991), and the Maria Callas Museum (2003) all located in Athens.

MEDIA

The Greek Telecommunications Authority operates domestic telegraph and telephone communications. In 2003, there were an estimated 454 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people; about 1,700 people were on a waiting list for telephone service installation. The same year, there were approximately 902 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.

Radio Athens broadcasts are carried by provincial relay stations located in various parts of the country; other stations are operated by the Greek armed forces and by the Hellenic National Radio and Television Institute. There are numerous independent radio and television stations. In 2003, there were an estimated 466 radios and 519 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were 81.7 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 150 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There were 290 secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.

In 2002, there were over 150 daily papers throughout the country. The largest Athens dailies (with estimated 2002 circulation rates) are To Vima (250,000), Eleftheros Typos (167,186), Ta Nea (135,000), Ethnos (84,700), Apogevmatini (72,900), and Avriani (51,300).

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and with a few exceptions the government is said to respect these rights. On matters involving the politically sensitive subject of the recognition of certain ethnic minorities, it is reported that the government is restrictive. The constitution also allows for seizure of publications that insult the president, offend religious beliefs, contain obscene articles, advocate violent overthrow of the political system, or disclose military and defense information. However, such action is very rare.

ORGANIZATIONS

Most of the larger cities and towns have associations of commerce, industry, handicrafts, and finance. There are some consumers' and producers' cooperatives; chambers of commerce and industry function in Athens, Piraiévs, and Salonika. There are professional and trade organizations for a variety of occupations and industries, such as the Association of Greek Honey Processors and Exporters, the Greek Association of Industries and Processors of Olive Oil, and the PanHellenic Association of Meat-Processing Industries. The Federation of Greek Industries draws together many of these business and manufacturing organizations.

The Academy of Athens serves to promote public interest in science and works to improve availability and effectiveness in science education programs. Artists, writers, musicians, educators, and journalists are organized into professional associations. Scholarly societies include those devoted to archaeology, anthropology, geography, history, political science, and sociology. Several professional associations also promote research and education in their field.

National youth organizations in Greece include the Greek Democratic Socialist Youth, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts of Greece, the Association of Boy Scouts, YMCA/YWCA, the Greek Youth Federation, the Radical Left Youth, and the Student and Scientist Christian Association of Greece. There are several sports organization in Greece, including the historical societies of the Hellenic Federation of Ancient Olympic Games and the International Society of Olympic Historians. The World Chess Federation is based in Athens.

There are national chapters of the Red Cross Society, Caritas, and Amnesty International.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

Principal tourist sites, in addition to the world-famous Parthenon and Acropolis in Athens, include Mt. Olympus (the home of the gods in ancient mythology), the site of the ancient oracle at Delphi, the Agora at Corinth, the natural spring at the rock of the Acropolis, and the Minoan ruins on Crete. Operas, concerts, ballet performances, and ancient Greek dramas are presented at the Athens Festival each year from July to September; during July and August, Greek classics also are performed in the open-air theater at Epidaurus, 40 km (25 mi) east of Árgos. Popular sports include swimming at the many beaches, sailing, water-skiing, fishing, golf, and mountain climbing.

The Greek government encourages tourists and facilitates their entry and accommodation. A passport is needed for admission; residents of the United States, Australia, Canada, and 37 other countries do not require a visa for a stay of up to 90 days.

About 14,180,000 tourists visited Greece in 2002. There were 330,970 hotel rooms in 2003 with 628,170 beds. The average length of stay that same year was seven nights.

In 2005, the US Department of State estimated the cost of staying in Athens at $294 per day. Elsewhere in the country, daily expenses ranged from $53 to $296.

FAMOUS GREEKS

The origins of Western literature and of the main branches of Western learning may be traced to the era of Greek greatness that began before 700 bc with the epics of Homer (possibly born in Asia Minor), the Iliad and the Odyssey. Hesiod (fl.700 bc), the first didactic poet, put into epic verse his descriptions of pastoral life, including practical advice on farming, and allegorical myths. The poets Alcaeus (620?–580? bc), Sappho (612?–580? bc), Anacreon (582?–485? bc), and Bacchylides (fl.5th cent. bc) wrote of love, war, and death in lyrics of great feeling and beauty. Pindar (522?–438? bc) celebrated the Panhellenic athletic festivals in vivid odes. The fables of the slave Aesop (b.Asia Minor, 620?–560? bc) have been famous for more than 2,500 years. Three of the world's greatest dramatists were Aeschylus (525–456 bc), author of the Oresteia trilogy; Sophocles (496?–406? bc), author of the Theban plays; and Euripides (485?–406? bc), author of Medea, The Trojan Women, and The Bacchae. Aristophanes (450?–385? bc), the greatest author of comedies, satirized the mores of his day in a series of brilliant plays. Three great historians were Herodotus (b.Asia Minor, 484?–420? bc), regarded as the father of history, known for The Persian Wars; Thucydides (460?–400? bc), who generally avoided myth and legend and applied greater standards of historical accuracy in his History of the Peloponnesian War; and Xenophon (428?–354? bc), best known for his account of the Greek retreat from Persia, the Anabasis. Outstanding literary figures of the Hellenistic period were Menander (342–290? bc), the chief representative of a newer type of comedy; the poets Callimachus (b.Libya, 305?–240? bc), Theocritus (b.Italy, 310?–250? bc), and Apollonius Rhodius (fl.3d cent. bc), author of the Argonautica; and Polybius (200?–118? bc), who wrote a detailed history of the Mediterranean world. Noteworthy in the Roman period were Strabo (b.Asia Minor, 64? bc–ad 24?), a writer on geography; Plutarch(ad 46?–120?), the father of biography, whose Parallel Lives of famous Greeks and Romans is a chief source of information about great figures of antiquity; Pausanias (b.Asia Minor, fl. ad 150), a travel writer; and Lucian (ad 120?–180?), a satirist.

The leading philosophers of the period preceding Greece's golden age were Thales (b.Asia Minor, 625?–547? bc), Pythagoras (570?–500? bc), Heraclitus (b.Asia Minor, 540?–480? bc), Protagoras (485?–410? bc), and Democritus (460?–370? bc). Socrates (469?–399 bc) investigated ethics and politics. His greatest pupil, Plato (429?–347 bc), used Socrates' question-and-answer method of investigating philosophical problems in his famous dialogues. Plato's pupil Aristotle (384–322 bc) established the rules of deductive reasoning but also used observation and inductive reasoning, applying himself to the systematic study of almost every form of human endeavor. Outstanding in the Hellenistic period were Epicurus (341?–270 bc), the philosopher of moderation; Zeno (b.Cyprus, 335?–263? bc), the founder of Stoicism; and Diogenes (b.Asia Minor, 412?–323 bc), the famous Cynic. The oath of Hippocrates (460?–377 bc), the father of medicine, is still recited by newly graduating physicians. Euclid (fl.300 bc) evolved the system of geometry that bears his name. Archimedes (287?–212 bc) discovered the principles of mechanics and hydrostatics. Eratosthenes (275?–194? bc) calculated the earth's circumference with remarkable accuracy, and Hipparchus (190?–125? bc) founded scientific astronomy. Galen (ad 129?–199?) was an outstanding physician of ancient times.

The sculptor Phidias (490?–430? bc) created the statue of Athena and the figure of Zeus in the temple at Olympia and supervised the construction and decoration of the Parthenon. Another renowned sculptor was Praxiteles (390?–330? bc).

The legal reforms of Solon (638?–559? bc) served as the basis of Athenian democracy. The Athenian general Miltiades (554?–489? bc) led the victory over the Persians at Marathon in 490 bc, and Themistocles (528?–460? bc) was chiefly responsible for the victory at Salamis 10 years later. Pericles (495?–429? bc), the virtual ruler of Athens for more than 25 years, added to the political power of that city, inaugurated the construction of the Parthenon and other noteworthy buildings, and encouraged the arts of sculpture and painting. With the decline of Athens, first Sparta and then Thebes, under the great military tactician Epaminondas (418?–362 bc), gained the ascendancy; but soon thereafter, two military geniuses, Philip II of Macedon (382–336 bc) and his son Alexander the Great (356–323 bc), gained control over all of Greece and formed a vast empire stretching as far east as India. It was against Philip that Demosthenes (384–322 bc), the greatest Greek orator, directed his diatribes, the Philippics.

The most renowned Greek painter during the Renaissance was El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 1541–1614), born in Crete, whose major works, painted in Spain, have influenced many 20th-century artists. An outstanding modern literary figure is Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957), a novelist and poet who composed a vast sequel to Homer's Odyssey. Leading modern poets are Kostes Palamas (1859–1943), Georgios Drosines (1859–1951), and Constantine Cavafy (1868–1933), as well as George Seferis (Seferiades, 1900–72), and Odysseus Elytis (Alepoudhelis, 1911–96), winners of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1963 and 1979, respectively. The work of social theorist Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–97) is known for its multidisciplinary breadth. Musicians of stature are the composers Nikos Skalkottas (1904–49), Iannis Xenakis (b.Romania, 1922–2001), and Mikis Theodorakis (b.1925); the conductor Dmitri Mitropoulos (1896–1960); and the soprano Maria Callas (Calogeropoulos, b.United States, 1923–77). Filmmakers who have won international acclaim are Greek-Americans John Cassavetes (1929–89) and Elia Kazan (1909–2003), and Greeks Michael Cacoyannis (b.1922) and Constantin Costa-Gavras (b.1933). Actresses of note are Katina Paxinou (1900–73); Melina Mercouri (1925–94), who was appointed minister of culture and science in the Socialist cabinet in 1981; and Irene Papas (Lelekou, b.1926).

Outstanding Greek public figures in the 20th century include Cretan-born Eleutherios Venizelos (1864–1936), prominent statesman of the interwar period; Ioannis Metaxas (1871–1941), dictator from 1936 until his death; Constantine Karamanlis (1907–98), prime minister (1955–63, 1974–80) and president (1980–85) of Greece; George Papandreou (1888–1968), head of the Center Union Party and prime minister (1963–65); and his son Andreas Papandreou (1919–96), the PASOK leader who became prime minister in 1981. Costas Simitis (b.1936) was leader of PASOK and prime minister from 1996–2004. He was succeeded by Kóstas Karamanlís (b.1956).

DEPENDENCIES

Greece has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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GREECE

The Hellenic Republic

Major Cities:
Athens, Thessaloníki, Rhodes, Patras, Kavala

Other Cities:
Canea, Corfu, Corinth, Iráklion, Larissa, Piraeus, Sparta, Tripolis, Vólos

EDITOR'S NOTE

This chapter was adapted from the Department of State Post Report 2001 for Greece. Supplemental material has been added to increase coverage of minor cities, facts have been updated, and some material has been condensed. Readers are encouraged to visit the Department of State's web site at http://travel.state.gov/ for the most recent information available on travel to this country.

INTRODUCTION

Greek legend tells that Titans battling Olympian gods once hurled giant rocks at Zeus in an attempt to knock him out of the sky. Their missiles piled up to become the mountains which blanket Greece, and stray boulders splashed into the sea to form the islands that serve as stepping stones across the Aegean.

In the past 30 years, Greece has changed from an agrarian to a semi industrial economy, but on the few fertile plains and many rocky slopes of this tip of the Balkan Peninsula, farmers herd sheep or tend olive groves, wheat fields, and vineyards, as did their ancestors for a thousand years. Each province preserves its traditional costume, brightening the festivals held in the small, square dominated villages. Throughout the storied isles of Greece-some 400 lie in the Aegean and Ionian Seas and account for a fifth of the nation's area-the white of house and church glints against the blue of sky, and men go down to the sea for sponges and fish. This seafaring tradition gives Greece the world's largest merchant tonnage-more than half of it registered under foreign flags for tax reasons.

During the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC) a maritime civilization flourished. By 800 BC Greece was undergoing a cultural and military revival, with the evolution of city-states, the most powerful of which were Athens and Sparta. This period was followed by an era of great prosperity known as the classical or Golden Age. During this time, a tradition of democracy was ushered in. The classical age came to an end with the Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 AD) in which the militaristic Spartans defeated the Athenians.

Greece became a part of the Byzantine Empire in 395 AD. By the 12th century, the Crusades were in full flight and Byzantine power was much reduced by invasions.

For 25 centuries a crossroads between Europe and Asia to both merchant and conqueror, Greece did not achieve political unity until rebellion brought independence after 400 years of Turkish rule in 1830. The Acropolis in Athens stands as an enduring monument to the "glory that was Greece," fountainhead of Western culture and democracy. Below its marble ruins and glass-faced offices serve shipping, tourism, and flourishing light industries in a developing nation that still must import much of its food, machinery, and raw materials.

The arts have been integral to Greek life since ancient times. In summer, Greek dramas are staged in the ancient theaters where they were originally performed. Greek literature's ancient heritage spans poetry, drama, philosophical and historical treatises, and travel-ogues. Western civilization's mania for logic and "ideas" can be traced directly back to ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and the West's sciences, arts, and politics are also deeply indebted to classical Greece.

MAJOR CITIES

Athens

Athens (Athínai, in Greek), the capital of Greece, is situated 300 feet above sea level in east-central Greece on the Attica Plain, bordered by the Aegean Sea and Mounts Parnis, Penteli, and Hymettus. The city proper is built around the historic Acropolis and picturesque Lycabettus Hill. The Attica Plain is the ancient division which outlines the territory of Athens; it is agriculturally rich, but surrounded by semiarid hills and mountains. Athens is the commercial, cultural, and political center of Greece. Like many larger U.S. cities, Athens is a "mother city," the central point of a group of suburban townships with separate entities. Some northern suburbs are Psychico, Filothei, Kifissia, and Ekali. Old phaleron, Kalamaki, Glyfada, and Voula border the sea.

The architecture of Athens varies from the antiquity of the Acropolis to the contemporary structures of the modern suburbs. The city is burgeoning with construction, especially of apartment and office buildings in the downtown area. Like Boston, it is a "mother city," the central point of a group of suburban townships with separate entities. The northern suburbs are Psychico (Psyhiko), Philothei, Kifissia, and Ekali. Old Phaliron, Kalamaki, Hellenikon, Glyfada, and Vouliagmeni are on the seafront.

Ancient Athens began as a city-state in the seventh century B.C. It reached the height of its splendor two centuries later, during the time of its great statesman, Pericles, and of its philosophers and dramatists, Socrates, Anaxagoras, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. During these years, the magnificent white marble Parthenon was built on the Acropolis.

The Spartans captured Athens in 404 B.C., during the Peloponnesian War and, although the city eventually regained its freedom, it never again basked in the power and glory of its earlier days. Athens eventually came under Macedonian and Roman rule, then was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1456, and remained under Turkish control until 1833. It became the capital of modern Greece in 1835. During World War II, the city was occupied for more than three years by the Germans.

Food

On the local market, fresh meat, both local and imported, is cut in the European manner and is expensive; good pork and lamb are available. Local beef is not aged and lacks the tenderness of American beef. Fresh chickens, eggs, and cheese are good buys. Many Greeks shop daily, so the local shopping centers are an important part of every neighborhood. Each has its own grocer, butcher, florist, greengrocer, pharmacy, and a fish merchant. Fresh produce, fruits, plants, eggs, and sometimes fish can also be purchased at the colorful weekly neighborhood farmers' markets. Fish is available but expensive. The huge central market daily sells fresh meats, game, chicken, seafood, spices, and a surprising variety of other commodities. A recent phenomenon is the neighborhood Greek equivalent to the U.S. supermarket. Many of these establishments cater to the demands of clientele with international tastes, so they stock delicacies from around the world in addition to national products. Although some specialty items are expensive, there are also bargains. In any case, there is almost nothing that cannot be found in the Greek food market. Greek bakeries offer a tasty variety of home-style bread from wheat to French and Arabic all made without preservatives. Sweet shops specialize in a variety of Greek pastries and European-style cakes and chocolates. Health food stores are a new fad and located in many areas. Greek wines are plentiful, varied and inexpensive, and some of the finer ones compete well internationally.

Clothing

Wardrobes for Greece should include hot and cold weather clothing similar to that worn in Washington, D.C., although outer wear for snowy conditions is not necessary, except in northern Greece and in mountainous areas. Warm winter clothes and sweaters are necessary because apartments, houses, and some offices are not adequately heated. Summer clothing should be lightweight and include many washable items.

Shoes wear out quickly because of dust, dirt, and uneven pavements. Fashionable shoes in average sizes and widths are available and of good quality but are expensive. People with large, narrow, or wide feet or who are more comfortable in shoes with a special American brand should bring a good supply with them or order through mail-order companies.

Men: Medium-to-heavyweight wool suits are most comfortable during late fall and winter. For outdoors, supplement these with a sweater or a medium weight coat. A lightweight raincoat is also useful. One or two dark conservative suits are a must. Dark suits are worn year round for official functions, receptions, and informal dinners. In spring, summer, and early fall, lightweight suits of Orlon, Dacron, and tropical-worsted gabardine are ideal. English and good Greek woolens are available locally but are expensive. Since the weather is pleasant most of the year, bring informal sportswear (sport shirts, slacks, or jeans, loafers, etc.) for picnics, beaches, and at home. Order shirts, ties, underwear, pajamas, socks, etc., from the U.S. or purchase locally at higher prices.

Women: Lightweight cotton, cotton-linen blends, silk, or other natural fibers in simple styles are preferred during the summer season. Slacks are popular casual attire. Shorts are not popular unless on an island/beach. Dark cottons, shantungs, silks, and polyesters are worn during spring and fall. Suits and jacket dresses give versatility to clothes, particularly for changes of temperature and occasion. Wool dresses, suits, and sweaters are worn from October through April. Leather skirts, jackets, and coats are popular. Any cloth coat is appropriate in winter, as are fur coats. One or two raincoats are desirable. European women dress fashionably, particularly for social occasions. Black is always in style for dressy occasions. Simple dresses are suitable for cocktail parties. Short as well as long dresses are worn for formal occasions.

Stoles or evening sweaters are recommended for evening garden parties in summer. Ready-to-wear clothes of all kinds are a standard item in Greece. Prices and quality vary. Sales held twice yearly (August and February) offer good buys. Local shops carry good purses, belts, buttons, and jewelry. Imported or handmade items are expensive.

Greek markets offer a variety of yard goods. Imported silks, woolens, and cottons are available, but the best quality fabrics are expensive. Some local silks are attractive; Greek cottons, though less expensive, are seldom colorfast or pre-shrunk and never drip dry. Notions of European origin are plentiful. Dressmaking services range from local seamstresses to expensive couturiers. Local seamstresses are expensive. Local silver jewelry is attractive and reasonable. Yarns for knitting are available. Fur jackets, stoles, and coat, are available locally. Prices vary according to styles, kind of fur, and whether the skins are pieced or whole. Stone martens are native to Greece.

Sports clothes are practical. Purchase sports and walking shoes in the U.S. Greek and American women wear blouses or sweaters and skirts year round. These are available locally. Bring several swimsuits, since saltwater and bright sun wear them out rapidly. Attractive European-style swimsuits are available locally but are expensive.

Children: Ready-made clothing for children is available locally, but good quality apparel is expensive. Most families obtain children's clothing through catalog companies. As in the U.S., boys wear jeans or slacks to school, and girls wear dresses or skirts or jeans or slacks with blouses or sweaters. Sweaters are necessary, especially during colder months when building heat is inadequate.

Supplies and Services

Athens has several main shopping areas in the city and the suburbs, where you can find a good variety of locally made and imported goods. Stores of one specialty cluster together-furniture stores in one section and light fixtures in another. Large supermarkets and economy merchandise chains throughout the city carry a wide variety of cleaning and cosmetic products, as well as everyday household items. Each neighborhood has its own dry-cleaner, shoe repair shop, hair-dresser, and men's hair stylist. A contracting dry-cleaning service is available through the employee's association. Hair stylists and beauty shops are expensive compared to U.S. prices for the same service. Friends, neighbors, and associates are helpful on where to find auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians, or carpenters.

Domestic Help

Many house dwellers employ a part-time gardener/handyman. These workers usually speak English, French, or German, in addition to Greek. By government decree and custom, in addition to regular compensation, servants receive bonuses at Christmas (a month's salary); Easter (half a month's salary); and vacation time (8-15 days' wages). Live-in servants also receive food, clothing, and medical care. The servant's medical care is provided under IKA (Greek social security). A legislative decree provides for obligatory insurance enrollment with IKA for all full-time, live-in domestic employees as follows: gardeners, butlers, and cooks pay 35%--45% of monthly wage (13.25% by employees and 22.20% by employer).

General house workers, chambermaids, and laundresses are paid whether living in or out. Some take their meals in the household and other receive food allowance. Mandatory insurance payments provide old-age pension and medical care. Those who employ day workers are not obliged to pay this insurance fee; the workers are responsible for their own coverage.

Religious Activities

In addition to the Greek Orthodox church, several other faiths are represented in Athens. St. Andrew's Protestant and Interdenominational Church has services in central Athens, Kifissia, and Voula/Glyfada. Centrally located are: St. Paul's Anglican, Church of the Latter-day Saints, Grace Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church, Crossroads International Christian Center, Glyfada Christian Center, and First Church of Christ, Scientist. Catholic Mass in English can be heard at St. Paul's in Kifissia. The central Cathedral has services in Greek, with readings and announcements occasionally in English. Beth Shalom Synagogue is located in Athens, and a mosque occupies the top floor of the Caravel Hotel. Sunday school and CCD classes are available through several churches.

Education

The American Community Schools (ACS) (tel. 639-3200) is a private, nonprofit school incorporated in Delaware. The governing body is an eight-member Board of Education elected by the Parents Association.

ACS provides an American educational program and offers the international baccalaureate program to interested students. ACS has two limited special education resource centers for learning disabilities. Admission to these centers is limited and is based on evaluation of records. ACS has a current enrollment of 800. Pupils with American citizenship comprise 50% of the student body; English-speaking citizens of more than 50 other countries make up the remainder. About 150 students graduate from high school each year, and, of these, 80% continue their education at colleges and universities. The school complex is located in Halandri, 7 miles from downtown Athens. It consists of three schools: an elementary school (junior kindergarten through grade 5), a middle school (grades 6-8), and a high school (grades 9-12), as well as administrative offices. Bus service is available. Curriculum includes advanced placement and college preparatory courses, as well as the international baccalaureate program, business education, industrial and fine arts, home economics, physical education, extensive foreign language program, and work-study program. All faculty members are certified and more than 75% hold master's degrees. The international address is: 129, Aghias Paraskevis Street, 152 34 Ano Halandri, Athens, Greece.

Tasis Hellenic International School (tel. 808-1426) is a branch of the American School in Switzerland. It was founded in 1979 in a merger between TASIS Greece and the Hellenic International School, which was established in 1971. It prides itself on having a caring, student-centered community. TASIS Hellenic enrolls 323 students at the Middle and Upper School on the Kifissia campus. TASIS Hellenic offers American college preparatory, Cambridge University I.G.C.S.E. and A-level preparation, American advanced placement courses in all disciplines, and English as a second language. Classes are small; the average class has 15 students. All faculty are certified, and 92% of the graduating seniors continue their education at colleges and universities in the U.S. and the U.K. The academic year extends from September to mid-June. The school year is divided into 2 semesters, with a 3-week Christmas vacation and a 2-week spring break. Grades and teacher comments are sent to parents four times yearly. Bus transportation is provided from all major residential areas in and around Athens.

Tasis also has an elementary school (pre-K to grade 5) with a curriculum that is designed to meet the special needs of the young child. The elementary school is located 12 minutes from the middle and high school campus. The mailing address is: TASIS Hellenic International School, P.O. Box 25 Artemidos and Xenias Street, 145 62 Kifissia, Greece.

St. Catherine's British School (tel. 282-9750/282-9751) is coeducational and caters for children aged 3 to 13 years. Some families are permanent residents of Athens while others are more internationally mobile. The curriculum is closely modeled on the British National Curriculum but has certain adaptations and additions that take into account the school's unique circumstances. All children follow programs of study in English, mathematics, science, art and design, geography, history, music, physical education, religious/moral education, and technology. Every effort is made to keep class size small. The school occupies a site in Lykovrissi, bordering the residential suburb of Kifissia, and is within easy access of other northern suburbs of Athens. All children are required to wear a school uniform, which is designed so that most items are relatively easy to obtain. The school's facilities in terms of playground space, campus environment, and outdoor swimming pool are excellent. Mailing address for overseas mail is: PO. Box 52843, Nea Erithrea, Greece 146 10. Local address is: c/o British Embassy Plutarchou l, Athens 106 75.

Campion School (tel. 813-3883) is an all-age, coeducational international school run on British lines, admitting pupils of any race or nationality. Senior pupils are prepared for the "A," "O," and AP level exams and the SAT. Campion is registered in Massachusetts and has been a member of the Governing Bodies Association in the U.K. since 1970. Campion operates two elementary schools, one in the northern suburb of Halandri and the other in the coastal suburb of Glyfada. The senior school is situated in Ekali, 1.5 kilometers north of Athens. Bus service is available. One-third of the student body is British; the remainder represent 50 other countries. Computer and technical studies are available, and a particularly wide range of foreign languages is taught. The mailing address is: Dimitros & Antheon Street 145 65, Ekali, Greece.

St. Lawrence College (tel. Glyfada: 894-3251) is an independent coeducational school registered inEngland. A British public/prep school prepares students for "A" and "O" level exams, as well as SAT's. Current enrollment is 400 pupils from 18 countries between the ages of 3 and 18 years. The school is located in the Hellenikon area of Athens. Bus transportation is available. Mailing address is: 3 Delta Street, 166 77 Glyfada.

Foreign Language Schools Japanese School (tel. 682-4278). Instruction is in Japanese. Address is: Embassy of Japan, 64 Vassilissis Sophias Avenue 115 28, Athens, Greece.

Dorpfeld Gymnasium (tel. 682-0921). Private German School in Paradissos, Amaroussion.

Italian School (tel. 228-3258). Elementary, high school, and lycee. Instruction is in Italian. Address is: 18 Mitsaki Street 11141, Athens, Greece.

Special Educational Opportunities

Special teachers and speech therapists are available for private hire through the Center for Psychic Health, 58 Notara Street, 10683 Athens, phone 881-2944 and 823-2833. (A private, independent organization called CARE/HELLAS also has a listing of specialists.

The American College of Greece or Deree College (tel. 639-3250) serves nearly 2,000 students at its two campuses. The college is an independent, nonprofit institution accredited by the New England Association for Schools and Colleges and under American direction. Primarily a coeducational liberal arts college in the English and American tradition, the main campus offers a 3-4 year program leading to a bachelor's degree in business administration, economics, psychology, sociology, English, history, and dance. The downtown center offers business and economics courses in the afternoon and evening and offers a 2-year associate degree in secretarial studies. Most Derree students are Greek; 20 other nationalities are also represented. Instruction is in English. Pierce College (tel. 639-3250) is an affiliated secondary school on the main campus. The mailing address is: 6 Gravias Street, 153 42 Aghia Paraskevi, Greece FAX: 600-9811.

The University of LaVeme (tel. 810-0111) is fully accredited with academic requirements identical to the main school in California. Evening classes are held at TASIS School in Kifissia. BA and BS degrees can be pursued in business administration and economics, business management, behavioral science, sociology, history, political science, psychology, social science, and mathematics. Courses leading to a master's degree are available in business administration, management, and history. The mailing address is: Xenias & Artemidos Sts. 145 62 Kifissia, Greece FAX: 620-5929.

College Year in Athens is a program intended as a year abroad to enrich education at the sophomore, junior, and senior levels. Instruction is given in English by visiting U.S. and Greek professors. Courses are Greek civilization, archaeology, culture, art, literature, and politics. A limited number of qualified adults may be accepted as part-time special students for credit. The mailing address is: 59 Denocratous Street, 106 76 Athens, Greece.

Tel.: 726-1622/726-0749, FAX: 726-1497 American School of Classical Studies is primarily a research institute for a limited number of students sent from the U.S. by their graduate schools. The mailing address is: 54 Souidias Street, 106 76 Athens, Greece, Tel.: 723-6313, FAX: 725-0584.

Sports

Opportunities for sports participation abound in Greece. Many tennis clubs exist, from elite to affordable. A superb and rigorous test of golf is available at the 18-hole Glyfada Golf Course. Reasonable annual fees of around $1,000, plus slightly more tourist-oriented daily greens fees, are available. Only four other courses exist in Greece; in Rhodes, Porto Carras (Halkidiki) serving Thessaloniki and Northern Greece, Rhodes, Corfu, and a small 9-hole course at the VOA Station in Kavala. American-style 10-pin bowling lanes are available in a few locations.

The annual Athens marathon group and weekly runs of the international Hash House Harriers welcome joggers wishing company. Roller skating and ice-skating rinks are accessible, and health clubs have become popular. Yachtsmen moor their craft in numerous marinas along the Saronic Gulf, and organized racing is available. The less affluent can charter various size yachts with or without a skipper to cruise the islands. Sailing classes are also available.

Windsurfers love the balmy breeze of the Aegean Sea, and water skiing, although not as popular, is available. Scuba divers and sailors must understand Greek regulations and have knowledge of local waters. For those who enjoy a sandy beach and cool swim, many beaches are available in close proximity to Athens. Some government-operated beaches offer lockers, sports equipment, parking, umbrellas, chairs, and restaurants in various locations.

Eight or more riding clubs are located in Athens, some with indoor and outdoor menages; lessons given in English can be arranged. All riding is English style. Horse racing takes place three afternoons weekly at the Faliron Race course. When the waters cool, the mountains beckon.

Greece has several ski areas with lifts, good rental equipment, and instructors. The closest to Athens is near Delphi on Mount Parnassus; Mount Helmos in the Peloponnese is 317 miles from Athens; to the north are Mount Pelion and Metsovo. From mid-September to June, Athenians spend much time rooting for their favorite soccer team in one of two major stadiums in Athens or in Piraeus. The new Olympic Stadium is used for a variety of national and international sports events.

There are mountaineering, hiking, parachuting, track, table tennis, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, fencing, field hockey (not ice), riding, rowing, and volleyball associations. The American Women of Greece (AWOG) gives bridge lessons, and there are several Greek bridge clubs.

Fishing enthusiasts will find excellent trout streams 3-5 hours from Athens. Sole, bass, pike, mullet, tuna, red snapper, and perch can be caught in the Aegean Sea. Greece is not a hunter's paradise, and access to overcrowded areas is difficult. The country-wide hunting license does not indicate the holder has any gun safety knowledge. Dove season lasts from mid August to mid-March; partridge season from mid-September to mid-November; and other birds and game from mid-September to mid-March. Decoys and calls are prohibited. European and American hunting equipment, such as boots, guns, jackets, etc., are locally available, although American-made ammunition is difficult to obtain.

Touring and Outdoor Activities

The heart of an assignment to Greece is definitely its availability of touring and outdoor activities. Outside the greater Athens area, one finds Greece. Even with a 2-or 3-year posting, careful planning is necessary to see what Greece offers, whether with numerous organized tours and cruises or using good guidebooks and literature published by the National Tourist Organization.

Representing every era are historical sites and museums throughout Greece. Within a few hours' drive are Delphi (the ancient navel of the world), Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus, Tiryns, and other renowned sites. By ferry, hydrofoil, cruise liner, or on Olympic Airways, the numerous islands are accessible-each with its distinctive character-Crete, Santorini, Rhodes, Hydra, Corfu, and the innumerable picturesque smaller spots. Back in Athens are the Acropolis, Agora, Byzantine churches, Roman ruins, and 10 fine museums. Accommodations are available year round in Greece; however, during peak tourist season, advance reservations are wise, and in mid-winter, many hotels are closed. Hotels vary from deluxe class to back-packer quality, and recently the National Tourist Organization renovated several typical old Greek villas in several areas for tourist use. Camping is also popular in Greece, and grounds have been established throughout the country. Charter flights fly in and out of Greece regularly, but are not permitted to originate here. Compensating for this, numerous, inexpensive package tours are developed by AWOG and private agencies.

Entertainment

Greece is characterized by the informality, spontaneity, simplicity, and individuality of its entertainment. Night life in Athens is diversified and interesting. Taverna-style restaurants throughout the city and suburbs offer music for dining and dancing. More sophisticated establishments offer floor shows. In summer, outdoor restaurants in the city, the suburbs, and on the sea front are popular. Athens' better restaurants and hotels serve Greek and continental food; several restaurants specialize in Asian and other ethnic food. In restaurants, cafes, bars, and nightclubs, a service charge of 15% is included in the bill; however, it is customary to round the bill up to the nearest Drs 100.

Athens and the suburbs have many movie theaters. Recent American films are popular and widely shown, as are Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, and German films. Most films are shown in their original language, with Greek subtitles.

In summer, most movie houses are traditionally closed, and outdoor theaters take their place. Acoustics at the outdoor cinemas are poor, but the ambiance makes up for it. Theater and movie ushers expect a small tip. The theater, a tradition firmly rooted from classical days, operates in modern Greece year round but suffers the same economic restrictions faced in the U.S. and Europe. Even so, most of the private long-established Athenian theaters have full seasons. Greek translations of classical and contemporary plays by foreign playwrights are included in the repertory. A revival of the ancient outdoor theater, with the plays of Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, and Aristophanes, is the basis of the annual Athens Festival held from June through August. Performances are given in three locations: in Athens at the imposing Roman-era Herodus Atticus theater; at the modern Lycabettus Hill theater, dramatically situated overlooking the city; and at the fourth century B.C. amphitheater, noted for its superb acoustics and setting in the Peloponnese at Epidaurus, 2-1/2 hours from Athens.

There is a dance company that performs at the theater on Philopappou Street (opposite the Acropolis) during summer. Karagiozi shadow theater performances are held in public squares in summer. Greek commercial firms regularly organize recitals and theater and ballet performances with foreign artists and troupes during winter. The National Opera Company and the Athens Ballet Company perform in winter; the Athens State Orchestra and the Athens State Opera offer regular year-round programs. The Athens concert hall, the Megaron, has many classical music and ballet performances and hosts performers from around the world. "The Players," an amateur theater company, and the Hellenic Amateur Musical Society (HAMS), which performs musical plays and light opera, give several productions in English each year and are always looking for volunteers. National and religious festivals are colorful, impressive, and worth seeing. It is also possible to be an armchair viewer, as most significant festivals are shown on TV Typical of such festivities are Epiphany (January) and the pre-Lenten carnival season. Common sense and good taste should govern photographing certain religious celebrations.

Art exhibits are held at many galleries and cultural centers in Athens. The National Gallery of Art, opposite the Hilton Hotel, on Vasileos Constantinou Avenue, contains a collection of works by Greek painters. There are many museums devoted to folk art and handicrafts, where articles of high quality may be found in Athens, as well as in shops, villages, and islands. Greece has a reciprocal agreement with the US. concerning amateur radio operation. Currently, licenses are available. Applicants must have a valid U.S. amateur license issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Greek Government does not allow third party traffic.

Social Activities

Activities includes American clubs, fraternal organizations, and church groups that invite membership. For adults: AWOG; Newcomers; Greek Red Cross; American Legion; Masonic Order; Parent-Teacher Association; Propeller Club; YWCA; Women's International Club. AWOG was founded by the spouse of the American Ambassador in 1948 and is open to all American women, spouses of U.S. citizens, and to a smaller number of Greek and international members. The honorary president is always the spouse of the current American Ambassador. Originally founded as a study group, it has expanded to raise funds for welfare work in Greece, including bazaars, dances, musical programs, etc. It grants scholarships, aid to schools, orphanages, and hospitals. AWOG has an extensive fine arts program, with weekly and monthly tours and lectures. It publishes "Hints for Living in Greece," which is helpful to all newcomers.

Newcomers is an informal and popular women's group with a wide international membership. Newcomers has no club dues, and the only membership requirement is the ability to speak English. Monthly meetings are held in members' homes. Other group activities include Greek cooking, international cooking, potluck dinners and cocktail parties, tennis, golf, play groups, tours, bridge, and walking groups. Religious groups include Catholic Women's Guild; Catholic Youth Organization; Protestant Women of the Chapel; Saint Andrew's Women's Guild; Saint Ann's Sodality; American Jewish Community Group. For young people there are Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

Due to the many Americans and other English-speaking foreigners who live in Athens, international contacts are diverse and abundant. Thus it is easy to make social contacts among those with common interests. Americans are invited by Greek friends to weddings, christenings, and other ceremonies in churches and homes. Dress and etiquette vary according to occasion.

Dozens of clubs and organizations in Greece are dedicated to public service, charity, philanthropy, and the exchange of ideas and cultural aspects of Greece and other countries. It is important to note that Greeks tend to dress more formally for events, and the Greek notion of "informal" is usually business attire.

Membership in the Hellenic American Union is open to Greeks and Americans desiring to strengthen their cultural and friendship ties. The Union holds conferences, offers Greek language and art classes, lectures, and recitals; raises funds for scholarships; and promotes other worthwhile activities. The Propeller Club of the U.S. promotes business,public relations, and cultural exchanges between the U.S. and Greece. Members are Greek and American business representatives, Mission officers, and Greek government personnel. The club holds monthly meetings with guest speakers, and its activities include granting scholarships and aiding schools, orphanages, and hospitals. The club's activities are financed by initiation fees, annual dues, and proceeds from an annual carnival ball cosponsored with AWOG.

Thessaloníki

With over 1 million inhabitants, Thessaloniki is Greece's second largest city, located 300 miles north of Athens in the ancient province of Macedonia. Built around the shores of the Thermaikos Gulf and framed by its acropolis and Mount Hortiatis, Thessaloniki enjoys a splendid natural setting.

Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by Kassandros, brother-in-law of Alexander the Great, probably on the site of classical Therme. Kassandros named the city after his wife, the daughter of Philip of Macedon and half-sister of Alexander the Great. Just two decades earlier King Philip had won a decisive victory for his Thessalian allies at Chaeronia. He named the daughter born to him that year Thessaloniki ("Thessalian Victory") to commemorate his triumph. When Alexander's half-sister was wed to General Kassandros, the city was given to them as a home and renamed after her.

In 146 AD Thessaloniki, by then under the domination of Rome, became an imperial provincial capital governing the area from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. During this era the famous Via Egnatia was constructed as a through-road between Rome in the west and Constantinople in the east. The Via Egnatia is one of the great commercial roads of history and remains one of Thessaloniki's major arteries.

Thessaloniki achieved its greatest prominence during the late Roman and Byzantine periods when it became the first city of the "province" of Greece, far surpassing Athens in commercial and administrative importance. Its large natural port and location at a crossroads in southeastern Europe made it a tempting target for successive conquerors. As the Byzantine Empire declined, Saracens, Normans, and Venetians at various times gained control of the city. Venice bought Thessaloniki in 1423 AD, but the city was seized by the Ottoman Empire in 1430 and suffered a decline in importance under the 482-year Turkish occupation. Many Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 settled in Thessaloniki, giving it, by the 19th century, one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. Turkish rule ended on October 26, 1912, with the recapture of the city by Greek troops. October 26 is also the name-day of the city's patron saint, Demetrios, and the liberation is celebrated every year on that day.

The central part of Thessaloniki was rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1917 using a design drawn by the French architect Hebrard. During World War 11 the Germans occupied the city for nearly 4 years, until their withdrawal in October 1944. More than 50,000 members of the city's vibrant Jewish community perished during the Holocaust. Since the war, and particularly in the last 30 years, the city has expanded rapidly, its population rising from 380,000 in 1961 to 871,500 in 1981. Thessaloniki's character changed during this time from that of a prosperous provincial city to a booming, modern metropolis with all the urban problems that plague the world's large cities.

Thessaloniki is second in Greece only to the Athens/Piraeus area as an industrial and commercial center. Industries in the area produce petrochemical products, textiles, wood and paper products, steel, and assorted manufactured goods. As throughout the city's history, transportation services and shipping remain significant sources of revenue for Thessaloniki. The city dreams of regaining its Byzantine role as a pan-Balkan commercial center.

Although the overwhelming majority of its inhabitants are of Greek ethnic origin, Thessaloniki has small numbers of various other Balkan nationalities, as well as a few thousand members of the once-thriving Jewish community. Thessaloniki also houses two of Greece's largest universities and two US.-affiliated private colleges that attract students from throughout Greece and the southern Balkans.

The post's consular district encompasses the two northernmost Greek provinces-Macedonia and Thrace-extending from Albania in the west to the Turkish border in the east and from the Aegean Sea and Thessaly in the south to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria in the north.

Some 3,500 U.S. citizens live in the Thessaloniki area. Most are of Greek origin and reside permanently in Greece. Several Americans are employed by local English speaking private schools; others teach and study at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki under Fulbright and other programs.

Food

Most Thessalonicans still shop at their small neighborhood stores. These stores come in a variety of distinct flavors: bakeries, pastry shops, butchers, cheese merchants, produce sellers, grocers, and fishmongers. All provide a wide selection of quality products. Additionally, there is a large, covered central market area that sells regional produce and other foodstuffs, and many neighborhoods have weekly farmers' markets. The fresh fruits and vegetables are usually of excellent quality and relatively inexpensive, although more seasonal than in the U.S. Seafood is readily available, but often rather pricey. Cheeses and dairy products are excellent, as is the large variety of bread available locally.

In addition to these traditional sources, there are two American-style supermarket chains with outlets in the city. These supermarkets stock, however, a European style inventory. Diet drinks and low calorie foods are difficult to find.

The city's unfluoridated water is potable but not particularly tasty. Most people drink bottled water, which is readily available at all locations. Local wines are inexpensive and of excellent quality. European and American brands are also obtainable. Beer and liquor are not duty-free outside the commissary. Most Greeks prefer beer or scotch whiskey to wine, so there is no need to purchase other alcoholic beverages.

Shopping, Services, and Transportation

Barbers, hairdressers, and dry cleaners are available at US prices and quality, and traditional tailors and cobblers have shops throughout the city. Electronic, appliance, and automotive repair is also readily available in Thessaloniki, although spare parts for American and some other non-European models are often unavailable. Ford, Honda, Chrysler (Jeep only), Toyota, Hyundai, and all European manufacturers have service and parts facilities in the city but may be unfamiliar with models not sold in Europe.

Taxis in the city are numerous if a bit feisty. Drivers routinely pick up other passengers en route and often refuse to take customers to destinations deemed inconvenient. Radio taxis can be ordered at a slight additional cost but are sometimes unavailable at peak hours. Buses are frequent and inexpensive but often crowded. Traffic is heavy in the city center-often at unusual hours by U.S. standards but generally acceptable in most other neighborhoods. Many city streets are oneway, causing additional confusion. Street parking is difficult everywhere in town. Minor streets are very narrow and crowded with parked cars. Inter-city roads are well marked but of wildly varying quality. Road surfaces are more slippery than in the U. S. and stopping distances longer.

Telephone service is generally reliable and most of the network has been upgraded to all-digital lines. Local providers sell Internet access at approximately U.S. prices, but line speed is limited to 33.6 KB. Modems may require user software reconfiguration to detect local dial tone. Phone calls cost about 100 Drs./minute. Cell phones are ubiquitous and reasonably priced. Officers are provided with mobile phones for official use. Other utilities are normally reliable, but water pressure and supply can be problematic in some areas during the summer.

ATMs connected to U.S. bank networks (Cirrus, Plus) dispense local currency around the clock.

Most shops are small family operations. As described above, the city also has several large supermarkets (which also sell clothing, appliances, electronics, office supplies, and other items), as well as a bulk purchase discount warehouse, Foot-locker shoe stores, a large toy store modeled on Toys "R" Us, and two large hardware stores similar to Home Depot. Numerous shops sell antiques, and there is a weekly open-air flea market near the Rotunda. Sporting goods are expensive and difficult to find.

Most larger stores will have at least one employee who speaks some English. At smaller establishments, communication can require a bit more creativity on the part of the non-Greek speaker.

Prices for clothing, appliances, electronics, toys, cosmetics, toiletries, and most other items are generally higher than in the U.S. The selection of over-the counter medications is limited and available only at pharmacies. Shops are open three evenings a week but otherwise close in mid-afternoon. Virtually all are closed Sunday and holidays.

As in the rest of Greece, Thessaloniki's public hospitals provide nearly free healthcare; however, most foreigners choose to use private hospitals. Saint Lucas Clinic, a private hospital in Panorama, provides quality healthcare for slightly below U.S. prices. The Inter Balkan Medical Center, a state-of-the-art private hospital affiliated with the Medical Center Hospital in Athens, opened in 2000. Many physicians speak English and are US.-trained. Local dental and optical care providers are good.

Nearly two dozen television stations broadcast locally around the clock. Most programs are in Greek, but normally there are one or two English-language movies on each evening as well as National Geographic and other documentaries. Many more American movies are broadcast late in the evening, usually after midnight. U. S. network evening news broadcasts are shown live early each morning. Satellite service is available free with a dish but offers only two channels in English, with the remainder broadcasting in French, Italian, German, and Polish. Pay cable TV includes movie and cartoon channels. Many shops rent videos (SECAM system) inexpensively. There are many radio stations, some featuring a mix of Greek and American music.

Domestic Help

Full-time domestic help is difficult to obtain, and wages are high. Part-time help is reasonably available for about $30 for a 6-8 hour day. English-speaking childcare for evenings can be located with a little persistence but is difficult to find it for days.

Religious Activities

A synagogue serves the long-established Jewish community. The Greek Evangelical Church, located downtown, serves the small Greek Protestant community. The Church of the Immaculate Conception downtown holds Catholic Mass; services and sermons are in Greek and are in French on Sunday evenings. Confessions are heard in Greek, French, and Italian. An Anglican Episcopal vicar conducts services in English on Sunday in the Armenian Church on Dialetti Street.

Education

The Pinewood Schools Association. Inc. is a private, nonprofit corporation providing pre-kindergarten (ages 3 and 4) through grade 12 education for English speaking, mostly non-Greek children. The school year consists of two semesters running from early September to early January and from mid-January to mid-June. Curricula, teaching plans, and materials conform to US. standards, and the school has been accredited in the U.S. An elected 11-member board, including the Consul General as an ex officio member, governs the school.

Pinewood has 20 full-time and 7 part-time teachers, about half of whom are American. Total enrollment averages 240 children. Roughly a quarter of the students are American and the rest are a diverse group from 32 different countries. With a student-to-teacher ratio of around 10:1, classes are normally small with frequent individual attention.

Pinewood has decently equipped and maintained facilities, including a chemistry/biology laboratory, small gym/auditorium, library/audio-visual center, music and art rooms, and computer room. The school offers instruction in music and Greek and provides a limited after-school activities program. There is an on-campus snack bar, and school bus service is available to most areas.

Pinewood can be contacted at: Director Pinewood Schools Association, PO. Box 21001, 555 10 Pilea, Thessaloniki, Greece. Te1.:30-31-301-221 Fax: 30-31-323-196 E-mail: pinewood@sparknet.gr

The American College of Thessaloniki provides a U.S.-accredited, liberal arts undergraduate education in English. Additional information is available at the: American College of Thessaloniki, c/o Anatolia College, PO. Box 21021, 555 10 Pilea, Thessaloniki, Greece. Tel.: 30-31-316-740 Fax: 30-31-301-076

The Aristotle University in Thessaloniki offers (in Greek) a foreign students program, including an excellent intensive Greek course, that does not require applicants to take an entrance examination. City University offers part-time (day and evening) undergraduate and graduate classes in English through the University of Sheffield (England).

Sports

Several small but good tennis clubs are available through club membership. In addition to public and YMCA courts, Anatolia College rents two tennis courts during summer. The American Farm School also has a court available. The YMCA in the center of the city has a swimming pool, handball, and basketball courts, and offers aerobics, yoga, art classes, and other activities (in Greek). Several small private gyms offer members access to facilities of varying quality around the city.

Northern Greece's one golf course, on the Halkidiki peninsula, is currently closed. For horse lovers, several excellent riding schools (English saddle only) with inexpensive instruction in English operate in Thermi and Panorama.

Private tennis, swimming, pottery, and other lessons are available at a reasonable price. Cycling can be difficult due to traffic and dogs, but short, pleasant and safe rides are possible along the waterfront. Mountain biking possibilities exist in the forests and hills near the city. Athletic equipment is, however, both difficult to find and expensive.

Soccer is the most popular spectator sport in Thessaloniki, though basketball is also well attended. The city has three athletic associations that field both soccer and basketball teams in Greece's premier leagues.

Touring and Outdoor Activities

The nearest beaches, including one with bathhouses, snack bars, chairs, and umbrellas, are 15-20 miles from the city. Some 45-75 miles from the city, crystal-clear water and isolated beaches provide excellent bathing and snorkeling. The more isolated beaches have no cabins or bath-houses to provide protection from the hot sun. Beach and snorkel equipment is available locally in season. Modest apartments near the beach are available for summer or year round rental at reasonable prices. VOA/Kavala (3 hours by car) boasts a modest nine-hole golf course, club house, and private beach. Ferry service from Thessaloniki to many Greek islands is available throughout the summer. A local hotel offers free pool use for families during the summer with the understanding that parents will purchase beverages and snacks during their visit.

Three yacht clubs provide anchorage but only limited service for small craft. Small motorboats are available but expensive. Most week-day mornings see a few sculls rowing across the main harbor. Good hiking is possible in nearby mountains, and ambitious hikers can climb 10,000-foot Mt. Olympus (40 miles distant), overnighting at one of the two hikers lodges near the summit. There are ski resorts within 2 hours at Selli in the Vermion Range, Tria-Pente Pigadia in Naoussa, Lialias in Serres, and 3 hours distant in Bulgaria. Locally purchased equipment is expensive.

Partridge, quail, dove, hare, and wild boar can be hunted in fall, but hunting is poor in the immediate vicinity of Thessaloniki. Waterfowl hunting can be arranged but is expensive. Salt water fishing and spear fishing is good in nearby Halkidiki, but nearby lakes are too polluted for fresh water fish to thrive. More isolated rivers and lakes are better choices.

Like all of Greece, the area around Thessaloniki boasts numerous archaeological sites and museums. Pella, ancient capital of Macedonia and birthplace of Alexander the Great, is 45 minutes from Thessaloniki. Several beautifully preserved mosaics and numerous artifacts are on display. At nearby Vergina, several royal tombs were discovered in 1977. One is believed to be that of Philip II, father of Alexander. The principal finds are on exhibit in new underground museum onsite. Naoussa, noted for its fruit trees, wine, and fresh trout; Edessa, with its dam and picturesque waterfalls; Kastoria, a picturesque, provincial town, noted for its Byzantine churches, scenic beauty, and fur industry; and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace are all within easy driving or ferry distance. The unique Mount Athos peninsula is also nearby. The monasteries of the Mount Athos (known as the "Holy Mountain" in Greek) form an independent ecclesiastical government dating from medieval times. Visitors travel to Ouranoupolis by road (2 hours) and then by small boat out onto the peninsula. Entry to the peninsula requires a visa (issued locally), and no women or minors are allowed.

Entertainment

Local and international artists present a variety of Greek-language plays, concerts, lectures, and exhibits throughout the year. The Opera Company, the National Theater, and other Athens companies come to Thessaloniki annually for l-to 2-week runs. The National Symphony Orchestra of Northern Greece performs weekly fall through spring, and in the summer an outdoor theater brings high-quality cultural events to a hillside venue above the city. The Thessaloniki Concert Hall, a new facility for classical music, and the fully remodeled Royal Theater opened their doors in 2000. Both host performances by international and Greek groups, including well known ensembles such as Britain's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki is held annually during September with industrial exhibits, consumer goods, and entertainment activities. The city holds a wine festival during the fair, as well as a Greek song festival and a week-long cinema festival. An outdoor flower exhibit and international jazz festival open each May, and the city hosts a major cultural festival each October and an international film festival each November. Various colorful and interesting religious festivities occur throughout the year.

The city has a good-size waterslide park with tube rides and wave pool, and a year-round, carnival-style amusement park. There are a number of both indoor and outdoor movie theaters, including three state-of-the-art multiplexes. Theaters show mostly big-budget American films (which tend to appear 3 to 6 months after they debut in the States); movies are always shown in their original language with Greek subtitles, except for cartoons, which are usually dubbed.

Thessaloniki has an active nightlife centering on the three club districts and a strip of cafes along the water-front. Clubs are loud, trendy, and packed. The more popular places often charge significant covers even for nights with recorded music. Hyatt Regency operates an upscale casino just outside the city that features slots and gaming tables. A large nightclub and open-air theater complex just beyond the western edge of the city offers a variety of jazz, rock, and (Greek) comedy performances.

Thessaloniki is reputed to have over 3,000 restaurants, including hundreds of charming Greek restaurants and tavernas, many of them featuring al fresco dining. Non-Greek cuisine is confined to a few Italian, French, European, American, and Chinese restaurants of varying quality. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Applebee's, and Haagen Dazs have outlets in the city.

Anatolia College (a local US.-affiliated high school) and the British Council Library have English-language books and periodicals for loan. Local bookstores have a fair selection of English-language books at high prices. Pinewood School keeps its library open 1 day a week during the summer for children who wish to borrow books when classes are out.

Social Activities

Northern Greeks adhere to a daily schedule that does not always fit well with an American workday. Offices open between 8 and 9 a.m., but many close permanently for the day in mid-afternoon. Lunch rarely occurs before 1:30 in the afternoon-later on the weekends-and tends to last several hours. Dinner in private homes and at restaurants seldom begins before 9 p.m. and can start as late as 10:30 or 11 p.m. on weekend evenings. Nightclubs and similar centers generally do not begin to fill with people before midnight and often remain active until dawn, even during the week. The city's large university population (about 60,000) ensures that such establishments are always busy.

Social life among Americans is informal and casual. The principal social activity is entertaining at home: luncheons, buffet dinners, cards, cocktails, etc. Greek hosts take their guests to restaurants, although home entertaining is becoming more common.

Several pleasant outdoor restaurants offer dancing in summer, and charity balls are held during the 3-4 weeks in the pre-Lenten carnival season. Some Americans study Greek folk dancing at the American Farm School. Four Rotary Clubs welcome Americans, but Greek is the primary language used. Other clubs include the Lions Club; Propeller Club; International Women of Greece, which provides lectures and sightseeing trips for its members and engages in local charity work; and the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

Rhodes

Rhodes is a modern city of 41,400 residents, and is the largest, most cosmopolitan resort in Greece. It is located on the Island of Rhodes, which lies on the southeastern coast of the Aegean Sea, 225 miles southeast of Athens and only 12 miles south of Turkey. Rhodes, the most important of the 12 Greek islands known as the Dodecanese, is about 65 miles long and 25 miles wide.

The city is the capital of both the island and of the Dodecanese. Each year, three-quarters of a million tourists swell its population and bring business to its large shopping area, its restaurants and casino, its travel agencies, and its many hotels.

The city is, as well as a famous resort, a manufacturing center and port. There is an international airport with daily flights to Athens by Olympic Airways (45 minutes) and chartered flights to Europe and the Middle East. During summer, Olympic Airways also has flights to London and Cairo, and to Mykonos, Santorini, Kos, Karpathos, Kasos, and Iráklion (Candia). There also are regular ship connections to all the Dodecanese islands, Piraeus (Athens' port), Crete, Cyprus, and Israel. The trip to Piraeus on large ferries takes approximately 20 hours.

The private American community is small, including a few families engaged in philanthropic work or the arts, and a number of retired persons, mostly Greek-Americans.

Rhodes enjoys a temperate Mediterranean climate, with cool summers and relatively mild winters, creating an excellent condition to produce crops such as figs, olives, grapes, vegetables, etc. During summer, a breeze called meltemi keeps temperatures below 90°F near the sea, although inland the temperature and humidity are higher. Freezing temperatures in winter are unusual. January and February are months of heavy rainfall.

Rhodes as an island was colonized in 1,000 B.C., but the city itself dates to 408 B.C. The present city is on the site of ancient Rhodes, and in its harbor is the famous Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Some of the powerful fortifications built by the Knights Hospitalers, who dramatically resisted Turkish siege in the Middle Ages, are part of the present harbor.

Recreation

Interesting sites to explore in Rhodes include the Citadel; Kameiros Temple; and the medieval group of buildings in the old section of the city—the Palace of the Grand Master (of the Order of St. John), the hospital, and the various inns, or billets, of the nationalities of knights forming the order. The Inn of Auvergne is a handsome 15th-century building set in the Square of the Amory. Interesting collections are on display in the Archaeological and the Byzantine museums, and the Museum of Decorative Arts.

Rhodes has an 18-hole golf course located at Afandou, near the transmitter plant, and playable year round. The course is part of a resort complex which includes clubhouse, tennis courts, Olympic-size swimming pool, and shallow pool for youngsters.

The Rhodes Tennis Club is open for membership for a very reasonable fee. The club has two clay courts in downtown Rhodes. Several of the tourist hotels have hard-surfaced courts, and these can be rented at an hourly rate.

The Rhodes Palace Hotel is the only place on the island with bowling facilities. The four-lane alley has AMF automatic pinsetters.

The main summer activities are swimming and sunbathing, with many available beaches. Swimming hazards are few, and shark attacks are unknown. The water is clear and clean.

Because of the narrow roadways in most villages, bicycling is an excellent, although tiring, way to see the island. Bicycles can be rented in the city of Rhodes at an hourly rate.

Arrangements can be made to rent or charter boats. Membership in the Rhodes Yacht Club is available; dues are quite reasonable, but facilities are minimal. Club members moor their boats free. Small boats are usually dry-docked during winter. Marine supplies are not available in Rhodes.

Special Information

Rhodes is considered one of the most beautiful places in Greece, but it is an island, isolated for most practical purposes from involvement and interests of mainland living. The main highway and almost all city streets are paved; however, many villages, popular beaches, and points of interest can be reached only by rocky roads. Streets in town are often quite narrow, and parking space is scarce.

Some services are limited, such as medical care, but in general the

training and competence of physicians and dentists is good. There is a hospital, where minor surgery can be performed, and which has X-ray and laboratory facilities.

Basic services and supplies are readily available. However, items such as spare parts for cars are in short supply, and local mechanics have limited capabilities for automotive repair.

Rhodes does not have English-language libraries. The International Herald Tribune and many other papers and magazines can be found at various newsstands, but papers often are delayed on weekends and holidays.

Most hotels will not accept pets, so boarding arrangements must be checked in advance. Several veterinarians practice in Rhodes, but no kennels are available.

Patras

Patras, with a population of more than 142,000, is located in the northern Peloponnesus, and connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Ionian Sea. It is a major industrial center and the country's main western port. Its chief exports are currants, wine, olive oil, and sheepskins.

A city of lovely, arcaded streets, Patras is the center of Greece's elaborate pre-Lenten Carnival celebrations. Its old fortifications, dating from the Middle Ages, and its famous Claus winery are among the principal points of interest. A university was founded in the city in 1966.

Patras (in Greek Pátri) was occupied by the Turks during the 18th and 19th centuries (until 1828), and it was here that the Greek War of Independence began in 1821. For three-and-a-half years during World War II, from April 1941 until October 1944, the city was again occupied, this time by Axis powers.

History tells that it was in Patras that St. Andrew, one of the Twelve Disciples, was martyred on an x-shaped cross, which came to be

known as a St. Andrew's cross. He had been a missionary in Asia Minor and in Macedonia.

Kavala

Kavala, with about 70,000, is a mixture of old and new. Its seaport accommodates light shipping, and fishing boats operate from there. It is a popular tourist city, with a picturesque old quarter, Turkish fortress, and Roman aqueduct. Kavala has an international airport near Chryssoupolis, 20 miles east of Kavala, from which Olympic Airways operates daily flights to and from Athens.

A few miles from Kavala are the ruins of the ancient city of Philippi, named by Alexander the Great in honor of his father, and the site of St. Paul's first sermon in Europe. There, the theater of Philippi is still in use during summer, and portions of St. Paul's first churches in Europe still remain.

The climate is comparable to that of the U.S. southern states. In winter, temperatures are in the 30s and low 40s, with a few days of below-freezing weather. Northern Greece gets its rain in winter and early spring. In the summer months of July and August, temperatures range around 90°E.

The Kavala Relay Station is one of VOA's largest overseas radio relay stations. The Relay Station site occupies a 2,000-acre plot of flat land bordered on one side by the Aegean Sea. Near the western border of the plot is the mouth of the Nestos River. The site contains the transmitter plant building (housing the station's administrative offices and the transmitting plant operation), the power plant building (with nearby storage tanks that have a capacity of 1 million gallons of diesel fuel), the warehouse/garage facilities building, an antenna field, 15 houses for American families, and private beach facilities.

The transmitter plant receives RFE/RL VOA radio programs from the U.S. via satellite. Programs are rebroadcast to target areas, including east and central Europe, central and south Asia, the Middle East, and Africa by medium-and short-wave radio broadcast transmitters using directional antennas. The telephone number for Kavala Relay Station is (0541) 61120 and 61130.

Religious Activities

Mass is celebrated at the small Catholic church in Kavala on Sundays. No nearby religious services in English are available.

Recreation and Social Life

An extensive sandy beach winds along the south boundary of the station and can be enjoyed during summer. A 9-hole golf course and two tennis courts are available.

OTHER CITIES

CANEA , or Khaniá, the capital of Crete since 1841, lies on the north coast of the island known to the Greeks as Kríti. The arsenal and medieval fortifications testify to the history of the Venetian colony which flourished here in the 13th century. The town and the island itself have been, through the ages, under Roman, Arab, Byzantine, Venetian, Turkish and, finally, Greek rule. In May 1941, the area was heavily damaged and captured by German airborne forces. Canea is a seaport city with a population of 47,500. Greek Orthodox and Catholic bishoprics are located here.

The city of CORFU , on the beautiful island whose name it bears, is called Kérkyra in Greek. Churches, villas, museums, libraries, hotels, and parks are surrounded by the Ionian Sea in a setting that draws thousands of tourists throughout the year. The narrow, medieval streets of this island port belie the modern accommodations and resort facilities found here. The Greek royal family, now in exile, once maintained a summer villa outside the city. Corfu was a major port during its four centuries (1386-1797) as a Venetian possession.

CORINTH , as a new city, was founded in 1858 after a devastating earthquake leveled the ancient town which had stood near the present site for 10 centuries. Another earthquake in 1928 caused considerable damage, and extensive rebuilding was done again. Corinth lies on the Gulf of the same name in the northeastern Peloponnesus, and is home to about 22,500 people. The ruins of the ancient and once powerful city, about three miles from the modern community, include vestiges of the Agora (forum), theater, fountains, and some of the columns of the archaic temple of Apollo. Modern Corinth is a transportation center for wines and raisins. Like so many other strategic Greek cities, it was occupied by German troops during World War II.

IRÁKLION (also known as Candia or Heraklion) is a seaport city of 102,500 residents on the north shore of Crete. The largest city on the island, it is an episcopal see (Greek Orthodox), and also the site of a famous museum of Minoan antiquities. Founded in 832 by the Saracens, it was occupied by the Venetians between the 13th and 17th centuries. Still remaining around the town are some of the Venetian walls and fortifications. Iráklion is another of the many Greek cities devastated during World War II (spring of 1941) by German troops. The city is located on some of Crete's best farmland; exports include grapes, wine, olives, and leather.

LARISSA , with a population of about 113,000, is a rail and agricultural trading city on the Piniós River in eastern Thessaly. It was the ancient capital of the Pelasgians, a fifth-century Christian heretical sect who defied the accepted doctrines of theology. It was at Larissa that the Turkish military governor, Ali Pasha, maintained his headquarters in the Greek War of Independence in 1821. The city did not become part of Greece until 1881. In more recent times, it was the scene of bitter fighting between the German and the British-Greek armies in April 1941. Today, Larissa is linked with the port of Vólos by rail.

PIRAEUS , a part of Greater Athens, is linked to the capital by electric railway and highway. Situated six miles south of Athens on the northern coast of Greece, this major port and commercial city's population exceeds 196,000. Industries here include the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, and machinery.

Piraeus' harbor has been significant since the fifth century B.C., when it was Athens' naval base. The city's port was destroyed during World War II, and was restored after the war.

The ancient city of SPARTA , situated in the Eurotas valley of southern Greece, was renowned in history as the leading power of the country. Today, modern Sparta, with an estimated population of 12,900, lies near the remains of the old city, less than 75 miles south of Corinth. The few reminders of ancient Sparta are in poor condition. However, the Byzantine town of Mistra, founded in about 1250, is four miles west and is well preserved. Helen, wife of the Spartan king, Menelaus, was supposedly taken from Sparta. Her abduction is said to have instigated the Trojan War. During the eighth century Sparta was prosperous, and became a cultural center. It was a meeting hub for artists and poets. Currently, the city is the capital of Laconia Department; its economic mainstays are olives and grapes.

The capital city of Arcadia Department, TRIPOLIS (also called Tripolitsa or Tripolitza) is situated about 40 miles southwest of Corinth. Located in southern Greece, Tripolis is an important center for tanning, woodworking, agricultural trade, and textiles. The city was the regional capital of Morea under Turkish rule. It was severely damaged in 1821 and 1825 during the war for independence. Tripolis has a population of about 120,000.

VÓLOS is a seaport city in southeastern Thessaly on the Gulf of Vólos, an inlet of the Aegean Sea. It is a transportation, communications, and industrial center which has developed considerably in recent years; its population is around 71,000. Grain, wine, tobacco, and olives are the principal goods shipped from here. Close to Vólos are the ancient ruins of Iolcus and Demetrias.

COUNTRY PROFILE

Geography and Climate

Greece, a rugged country of mountains and islands, is bordered on the north by Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav Federal Republic of Macedonia, and Albania; on the east by Turkey and the Aegean Sea; and on the south and west by the Mediterranean and Ionian Seas. The land area, including the islands, is 50,270 square miles (about the size of Alabama). Only 25% of the land is arable, and much of that is dry and rocky. Greece is 2 hours east (ahead) of Greenwich mean time and at about the same latitude as New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.

Greece has mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Athens daytime summer temperature averages 90°F and often exceeds 100 °F for periods in July-August. Humidity is low and the heat is tempered by sea breezes. Summer evenings are comfortable outdoors. Spring and fall temperatures are pleasant, and winter temperatures are 30 °F-55 °F. Snow flurries occur, particularly in the northern suburbs, but seldom accumulate. Air pollution is a major problem in Athens throughout the year, but the climate is otherwise healthy.

Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, experiences high temperatures and humidity from the end of May until the end of September. Summer heat is sometimes tempered by late morning and early evening breezes. July and August nights can be uncomfortably warm. In winter, periods of mild, sunny, and spring-like weather are interspersed with uncomfortable cold periods. Thessaloniki has periods of chilly and damp weather, with considerable rainfall and occasional snow. Temperatures often fall below freezing in winter. Although snow does not linger, the city has been struck by blizzards. One feature of Thessaloniki's climate is the vardari, a strong northwesterly wind that appears suddenly and irregularly from the area of the Axios (Vardar) River Valley.

Population

Greece's population is about 10.1 million. Metropolitan Athens, including Piraeus, has about 4,250,000 people, and greater Thessaloniki 1 million. Other population centers are the cities of Patras, Volos, Iraklion, Kavala, Larisa, Kalamata, and Tripolis. Most of the remainder of Greece is sparsely populated. About 28% of the population is agricultural, a percentage that is declining with greater economic development and increasing urbanization.

Greeks claim continuity with ancient Greeks, whose language achieved its first written form in Mycenaean times 14 centuries before Christ. The modern Greek language, "Dimotiki," maintains most of the vocabulary and some of the grammar of ancient Greek. "Katharevousa," a 19th century attempt to eliminate foreign influences and return the language to its classical roots, has been almost completely phased out since 1974 as a language of culture and administration.

During Byzantine and Ottoman times, Greece received Slavic, Albanian, Turkish, Gypsy, and other population inflows. Since the 1821 War of Independence, however, Greece has been the subject of a nation building process that has resulted in one of the most ethnically homogeneous societies in Europe. The only officially recognized minority is a Muslim population (130,000 persons) concentrated in Western Thrace, though most Gypsies and many Vlach, Slav, and Albanian speakers continue to use their traditional languages at home. Urban Greeks strongly encourage their children to learn foreign languages. Most leading shops, hotels, and restaurants in Athens and Thessaloniki employ clerks who speak English. This is not the case outside major tourist centers, however, where some knowledge of Greek makes life easier and more rewarding. The Greek Orthodox Church is the predominant religion in Greece, professed by 98% of the population. The Church is self governing under the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece and has historic ties to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul. American citizens residing in the Athens area are estimated to be approximately 30,000. Many Greek Americans are retired in Greece, and several multinational corporations who have local or Middle Eastern operations based in Athens employ US. citizens. Athens and the rest of Greece have a steady flow of US. tourists each year.

Public Institutions

Greece's current constitution dates to the restoration of democracy following the 1967-74 military dictatorship (junta). The 1975 constitution establishes Greece as a parliamentary democracy, the Hellenic Republic, with the President as its largely ceremonial head of state. The Prime Minister, as head of government, is responsible to a 300-seat Parliament of the Hellenes elected every 4 years by a system of reinforced proportional representation. Greece has an independent judiciary along European models. The constitution guarantees a wide range of civil liberties.

The largest political party in Greece's parliament is the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), which won 41.5% of the popular vote in the September 1996 general election and achieved 162 seats in Parliament. PASOK president Constantine Simitis is Prime Minister. Since winning its first election in 1981, PASOK has governed the country for about 13 years. The largest opposition party, the center right New Democracy Party (ND), holds 108 parliamentary seats after winning 38.1% of the vote in September 1996.

Three smaller parties, each of which received at least 3 percent of the popular vote in the last election, together hold the remaining 30 seats. The current President of the Republic, Constantine Stephanopoulos, an independent conservative politician widely respected across the political spectrum, was elected by Parliament to a 5-year term in 1995.

The current government places its highest priority on entry into the European Union's Economic and Monetary Union (common currency union). To do this, Greece must satisfy the economic criteria in the Maastricht Treaty for acceptable performance on inflation, budget deficit, and government debt. If Greece meets expectations on the Maastricht criteria, it can look forward to EMU entry on January 1, 2001. Greece has been a member of the European Union since 1981, and Greek policy on most international issues follows the EU consensus. Greece is also a member of NATO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, and the United Nations.

Arts, Science, and Education

Greece has rich cultural roots, and a continuing literary, artistic, and musical life. Modern writers carry on the heritage and tradition of the giants of ancient and recent Greek letters. The writings of Nikos Kazantzakis and the Nobel Prize laureates, George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis, are available in English, as are many others.

Although Greek art suffered neglect during the centuries when Greece was under foreign domination, art is again flourishing with works from the primitive through realism to extreme avant-garde. Athens has scores of active and interesting commercial galleries, as well as other urban art centers.

Greek museums are also numerous, from the world class Cycladic Art Museum to the assortment of masterpieces in the National Archaeo-logical Museum. Other important museums in Athens include the Benaki Museum, the Folk Art Museum, the Byzantine Museum, and the Goulandris Natural History Museum.

Folk art and handicrafts survive in Greece, but, as a result of commercialization and tourism, it is difficult to distinguish between "souvenirs" and the genuine article. Greek popular music, with its delightful melodies and rhythms, can be heard on numerous radio stations around the clock, as well as at frequent public concerts and in nightclubs. Many Americans fall under the spell of more exotic music featuring the "bouzouki," a stringed instrument, heard not only on the radio, but also in "bouzouki clubs," where performances usually start at midnight. Rebetika (turn-of-the-century popular folk music) is experiencing a strong revival throughout the country. Folk dancing can sometimes be seen in the Greek countryside, especially on holidays, and city dwellers may spontaneously break into traditional dances at parties and other social functions. In the Plaka district of Athens, several taverns have live dance shows, as well as some other more authentic (but far from the center) folk music nightclubs. Athens has many theaters. Most performances are in modern Greek. Occasionally, foreign touring companies perform in English. The Karagiozi shadow puppet theater, with oriental and Turkish antecedents, is also worth seeing.

The Athens Festival, held every year from June to July, features performing arts ranging from Greek tragedy to modern dance and rock groups, often with internationally famous groups or stars from the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. Cultural centers of interest to the English-speaking community are the Hellenic American Union (HAU), the British Council, and the Athens Center. Their programs, which normally extend from October through May, include concerts, films, exhibits, lectures, and panel discussions. Education is revered in Greece, and the hunger for education in both the humanities and sciences remains high. Greeks attach great value to higher education, and many study abroad. The HAU in Athens is a private, nonprofit, binational educational and cultural institution with close ties to the Public Affairs Office. Its main function is English teaching, but the HAU also offers a variety of courses, including all levels of modern spoken Greek, Greek studies, Greek dance, creative arts, and writing skills. The library, which is currently closed for renovations, includes remnants of the former USIS library, including about 5,000 volumes on all subjects related to the U.S., as well as periodicals and on-line services. The library can be reached through the HAU switchboard. Athens has several libraries, most of which are non-circulating, e.g., the National Library of Greece, the Parliament Library, and the Athens Municipal Library. Some of the lending libraries open to the public are the following:

HAU, American Library, 22 Massalias Street, Athens

British Council Library Kolonaki Square, Athens, 363-3215

French Institute Library, 31 Sina Street, Athens, 362-4301

Goethe Institute Library, 14-16 Omirou Street, Athens 522-9294

National Research Foundation Library (periodicals only), 48 Vas. Konstantinou Ave., Athens, 722-9811

Evgenides Foundation Library, 387 Syngrou Ave., Athens, 941-1118

Commerce and Industry

During the past three decades, Greece has changed from an agrarian to a semi industrial economy. This shift has resulted in rapid urbanization, so that most of the country's 10.5 million inhabitants live in towns of more than 10,000 people.

In 1996, agriculture output accounted for 11% of the total GDP, industry 18%, while services (primarily tourism and shipping) totaled 63%.

Shipping is a major economic activity. The Greek commercial fleet is the largest in the world. The Greek flag flies on 946 ships with a total gross registered tonnage of 27.8 million tons (February 1998 data). Another 2,412 ships of 1.1 million tons are controlled by Greek interests under foreign flags (February 1998 data).

Greece's most important industries, it terms of production and employment, arc food processing, tobacco, textiles chemicals, including refineries nonmetallic minerals, metallurgy shipbuilding, aerospace and military equipment, cement, and pharmaceutical; Greece is a leading world producer of bentonite, magnesite, and perlite, as well as an important European producer of bauxite, cement, ferrochromium, emery, and marble. A plant processing bauxite into alumina, then into aluminum, is operated by the French firm Pechiney on the Gulf of Corinth. A Greek-Russian agreement to complete a new plant to process bauxite into alumina in Domvraina (Biotic) near the bauxite of Mount Parnassus is still undecided. Greece is also endowed with lignite reserves, which are exploited for domestic energy uses.

U.S. investment in Greece is estimated at $2.2 billion, representing almost a third of all foreign investment. Major U.S. investments include: Mobil Oil ($170.2 million); Pepsico foods and beverages ($101.6 million); Hyatt Hotels ($106.2 million), Philip Morris Group ($97.8 million), and Procter & Gamble ($97.2 million).

Development projects by the Greek state include: a natural gas network for industrial and household use in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissia, and Volos; hydroelectric power plants in northern and central Greece; a new international airport at Spata near Athens; metro systems for the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki; a 1.5mile bridge linking Rion and Antirrion at the western end of the Gulf of Corinth; a tunnel linking Aktion-Preveza in Western Greece; an irrigation and hydroelectricity project in Thessaly (Acheloos river diversion); computerization of the Greek Postal Service; wastewater treatment plants for the cities of Athens, Iraklion, Volos, and Larissa; upgrading of the highway network; completion of ports infrastructure; and modernization of the main north-south railway system.

Greece's low levels of investment during the last decade have not expanded its industrial base sufficiently to meet domestic demand. As a result, imports are twice as large as exports. The merchandise trade deficit, however, has been largely counterbalanced in most years by strong inflows from tourism, emigrant remittances, shipping earnings, and net transfers from the EU.

In 1997, imports totaled $25.5 billion and exports $10.9 billion. The EU accounts for about 64% of the Greek import market due to increased infra-EU trade. U.S. exports in 1997 reached $978.3 million, while imports from Greece were $487 million, producing a record $491 million trade surplus. Major Greek exports to the U.S. are textiles and apparel, foodstuffs, iron and steel, construction materials, tobacco, shoes, and petroleum products. The EU remains Greece's major market, absorbing 46.7% of Greek exports. The other European countries and Asia are the second and third largest markets. In 1997, the U.S. absorbed 4.5% of Greek exports.

Greek labor unions play an important role in determining wages, fringe benefits, and working conditions. Unemployment has dropped from 10.3% in 1997 to 10.1 in 1998 and is projected to decrease in 1999 to 9.8%. Although emigration has dramatically decreased over the last three decades, more than 5 million Greeks are estimated to live abroad, mainly in the U.S., Australia, Germany, and Belgium. Per capita income is estimated at $11,305 for 1998, a steady increase from previous years.

Greece became an associate member of the EU in 1962 and was elected the tenth full EU member on January 1, 1981. New inflows from the EU reached $4 billion in 1998. These funds from the EU (about $20 billion for the period 1994-1999, and another $30 billion for the period 20002006) will go to projects such as building highway and rail networks, ports, bridges, the Athens and Thessaloniki metros, and the new international airport at Sparta.

Transportation

Automobiles

Automobiles are necessary for trips outside the cities and for commuting from the suburbs. Small cars are most suitable for driving on the narrow Greek roads and city streets. Air conditioning is desirable during hot, dusty, summer months. Traffic moves on the right. To obtain license plates, you must present a valid international drivers license or a valid Greek license. (Without a valid U.S. license, you may apply for a driving test but this will create considerable delay, and the test is in Greek). A license plate will not be issued to persons presenting only a U.S. drivers license. It is therefore imperative to obtain valid international drivers licenses prior to arrival. AAA offices in the U.S. are a good source for information/application. The Greek Government requires third-party liability insurance for all motor vehicles. Vehicles cannot be driven prior to purchase of insurance.

Local

Main streets and highways are paved; secondary roads are rough and ungraded. Most roads are two-lane, except for parts of the National Road. The road network is good and constantly being expanded. In response to tourism, road surfaces are improving; however, in some remote areas, be prepared to find unimproved conditions. The roads to Belgrade and Sofia are good. The borders between Greece and Turkey, FYROM, Bulgaria, and Albania are open to private automobiles. Before driving to Greece through FYROM, Bulgaria, or Albania, however, you might want to check with the U.S. Embassy to find out which border crossings you may use.

The Athens area now is home for more than 40% of Greece's 10.1 million people. The number of passenger cars in the Greater Athens area has increased dramatically from 111,000 in 1968 to 791,000 in 1989. The total number of vehicles circulating in Athens, including buses, trucks, motorcycles, etc., is more than 1 million. Many Athens streets are narrow and lined with parked cars. Heavy traffic flows in and out of the city from early morning until after midnight are typical. This causes noisy and irritating driving. In an effort to control the pollution problems in Athens, driving is restricted in the central area every day, except Sundays, holidays, and the month of August. Vehicles with license plates ending in an odd number may drive in the restricted area only on odd-numbered days, and those with even numbers may drive only on even-numbered days. Only public transportation, motorcycles, and vehicles with diplomatic license plates are exempt from these restrictions.

Because of congestion in the city, shopping trips and commuting can be extremely time-consuming. Commutes of about an hour each way are not uncommon. Athens has a good and inexpensive but very crowded public transportation system consisting of buses, trolleys, and a metro running from Kifissia to Piraeus. Additional metro lines are expected to open between 1999 and 2006. Taxis are inexpensive, but getting one can be frustrating. Cab drivers take more than one passenger or group of passengers and sometimes decline to pick up passengers at all. Radio taxis can be obtained by telephone but often require waits of 30-45 minutes to arrive. Parking is a perennial problem throughout most of the city and environs, even at supermarkets. Private vehicles are not allowed in the "historical center" of Athens. In the inner city, however, many historical sites, museums, and shops are within walking distance for avid walkers.

Regional

Olympic Airways, British Airways, Delta, Air France, Ethiopian Airways, Scandinavian Airlines System, Swiss Air, Royal Dutch Airlines, Sabena, and Lufthansa connect Athens with the Near and Far East, North Africa, and Europe, often with daily flights. Daily service within Greece is available from Athens to Thessaloniki, Alexandroupolis, Kalamata, Kavala, Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, and the other larger islands. Railroad service within Greece is good but not extensive. As a maritime nation, Greece has extensive interisland ferry and hydrofoil service. The main ports serving Athens are Piraeus and Rafina. Except for an occasional cruise ship, no direct ship service is available between Greece and the U.S.

Communications

Telephone and Telegraph

Greek OTE telephone billing is different from that in the U.S. OTE bills cover two-month periods, arrive at least 6 weeks after the end of the billing period, and must be paid within 5 days after the payment expiration date to avoid disconnection. Calls are metered and charged per unit. Long-distance calls are metered and charges vary according to distance. A call to the U.S. costs about 75¢ plus 18% tax per minute. Residents of most Athens suburbs can request both touch-tone service and itemized billing. However, certain residential pockets still rely on rotary dialing and metered long-distance service. Direct-dial calls to the US. can be made by dialing the prefix 001 followed by the area code and the local U.S. number. Direct-dial calls may also be made to European countries and some nearby Middle Eastern countries. Long-distance calls, collect calls, person-to-person calls, or credit-card calls may be made through the OTE operator by dialing 161. Public telephones are located at many newspaper kiosks. Local calls may be made for 7¢. Also, card phones are available throughout Greece.

Cellular phone use has proliferated throughout Greece. While somewhat expensive, there are a number of reliable networks to choose from. U.S. cellular phones are not compatible with the Greek telephone system.

Internet providers are plentiful in Greece. Typical subscription fees average $25 per month plus separate telephone charges from OTE for the local connection.

Radio and TV

Reception in Athens is good, with most programs broadcast in Greek. However, major networks run recent U.S. movies and sitcoms in English, with Greek subtitles. AFRTS television service is available in private residences for a minimal fee. EWSA manages the distribution of the AFRTS decoders. Television reception can be augmented by erecting a satellite dish and subscribing to various pay for view satellite services. Unfortunately, Greece is located beyond the southern edge of SKY and other popular European satellite broadcasts, though CNN and EURONEWS are available. Greece has many English language programs on radio standard broadcast, and local stations offer a variety of good musical programs, both classical and modern. VOA broadcasts by shortwave in Greek and in English, and London BBC can be received on short-wave radios. Daily news is broadcast in English on several Greek radio stations. Greek TV has about 10 channels.

All channels broadcast in color using the European PAL/SECAM system. U.S. standard televisions will not receive this signal. Purchase of a multi-format, adjustable voltage television set and VCR, available from AAFES or locally, which includes NTSC, PAL, and SECAM, is highly recommended. Video movies are popular in Greece. The EWSA rents videos in VHS NTSC. Numerous local clubs rent videos in VHS PAL/SECAM format at modest prices. U.S. standard TVs brought to Greece can be used with VCRs and computer games only from the U.S., without modification.

Newspapers, Magazines, and Technical Journals

Newspapers, including the daily English language Athens News, on newsstands every morning but Monday, cover international and local news and contain information on current cultural events in Greece, as well as cinema and TV schedules. The Athens News Agency publishes a daily bulletin in English. The International Herald Tribune publishes an English-language insert, a condensed version of Kathemerini, which is available everyday except Sunday. Store the next working day after publication. The International Herald Tribune is now available six mornings a week, while airmail editions of other English-and foreign-language newspapers arrive a day late. Also available are a multitude of foreign magazines such as Paris Match and Oggi, (Italian). Locally published English language magazines, such as The Athenian (monthly), Business and Finance (weekly), Greece's Weekly, and 30 Days (monthly) are available by subscription or at newsstands. The Athenian covers what is happening in Athens and contains informative articles on all aspects of historic and contemporary Greece. Kiosks all over Athens offer a wide assortment of current events listings, technical and women's magazines, children's comic books, and paperbacks. International editions of Time and Newsweek arrive promptly; other American magazines arrive 3-4 weeks late.

In the streets near Syntagma Square, several bookstores carry a good selection of English-language books on all subjects, including the latest bestsellers. Prices, however, are almost double what you would pay in the U.S.

Athens has a number of first-rate movie theaters which show recent U.S. and foreign films. Open-air theaters are a popular summer venue for movie lovers.

Health and Medicine

Medical Facilities

Medical Facilities are good. For specialized care, Athens has several general hospitals and clinics, including separate pediatric and maternity hospitals. The level of care at these facilities is good, with the only weakness being the level of nursing/support-type care. Most hospitals are equipped with modern diagnostic equipment and trained technicians. Therefore, emergency and most routine surgery, as well as general hospitalizations, can be handled at local facilities. If an individual requires medical evacuation for further treatment, the evacuation points for all posts within Greece are London and Germany. Routine dental care is available throughout Greece. In Athens, pediodontic and orthodontic care is available from American or Greek dentists or orthodontists, with a few who have received their training in the U.S. Athens has oral surgeons, if needed. If possible, individuals with corrective lenses should have extras made in the U.S. before arrival in Greece. Local opticians can fill optical prescriptions, however, and some local ophthalmologists have extensive experience with contact lenses. Additionally, bring sunglasses for sun-drenched Greece. In Greece, few facilities are available for handicapped individuals, and those that do exist are not up to Western standards. Some hospitals and other medical institutions are equipped for wheelchairs.

Community Health

The level of community health is considered high in Athens. Although the enforcement of regulations concerning the storage and sale of foods and drugs is less strict than that in the U.S., most local restaurants and taverns are safe and good places to eat. The local fruits and vegetables are excellent and do not require any special preparation beyond cooking and cleaning. Most meats can be procured locally and are safe. Pasteurized milk in Athens is safe for consumption.

The sanitation practices in the cities are good, unless a public works strike occurs; trash can sometimes accumulate up to a week at a time. In Athens and its suburbs, the garbage is collected 3-7 days a week, depending on the area. Local sewage drainage and treatment are adequate. The water in most cities throughout Greece is potable, but use a fluoride supplement for children up to age 13. When visiting small villages and the islands, however, consume bottled water, as the water source may be limited and not well treated. Insects and vermin pose no particular problems, but mosquitoes, garden pests, and ants can be annoying.

The major endemic, communicable diseases of concern to Americans are respiratory infections, which are caused by high levels of pollution present in Athens at periods of time throughout the year. Therefore, individuals with chronic respiratory disorders such as severe allergies, asthma, and emphysema may experience difficulty breathing during heavy pollution periods. Otherwise, no unusual health risks are involved in living in Greece. Traffic accidents can be a cause of injury, both in Athens and outside of major cities. Defensive driving and wearing seat belts are crucial.

NOTES FOR TRAVELERS

Passage, Customs and Duties

A passport is required but no visa is needed for tourist or business stays of up to three months. An AIDS test is required for performing artists and students on Greek government scholarships; U.S. test results are not accepted. For other entry questions, travelers should contact the Embassy of Greece at 2221 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008, telephone (202) 939-5800, or Greek consulates in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and Greek embassies and consulates around the world. Additional information is available at http://www.greekembassy.org.

Travelers may be required to declare U.S. dollars and travelers checks to customs officials on arrival. Importing dollars and dollar instruments is not restricted. Sporting and camping equipment and furs are registered in the owner's passport and must be reexported. Drugs and narcotics may not be imported under any circumstances.

Americans living in or visiting Greece are encouraged to register at the consular section of the U.S. Embassy/Consulate General and to obtain updated information on travel and security in Greece. The U.S. Embassy in Athens is located at 91 Vasilissis Sophias Boulevard, tel: (30)(1) 721-2951. The U.S. Consulate General in Thessaloniki is located at Plateia Commercial Center, 43 Tsimiski Street, 7th floor, tel: (30)(31) 242-905. The Embassy's website is http://www.usisathens.gr. The e-mail address for the consular section is consul@global.net. The e-mail address for the U.S. Consulate General Thessaloniki is cons@compulink.gr.

Pets

In compliance with World Health Organization (WHO) requirements, pets (dogs and cats) entering or departing Greece must have a health certificate stating that the pet is in good health, free from infectious disease, and has had a rabies inoculation not more than 12 months (for cats 6 months) and not less than 6 days before arrival or departure. The certificate must be validated by the appropriate medical authority in the country, where travel begins. In the U.S., validation is performed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (DOA). In Washington, D.C., take the papers to the Greek Consulate for validation. Parrots may not be imported, unless they are coming from a country free from psittacosis, in which case no more than two may be imported and must have the same health certification as for dogs and cats. Greece has few boarding kennels available. Those available are not of Western standards, and bookings must be made in advance.

Firearms and Ammunition

Greek law prohibits importation of rifles and handguns of any kind. Shotguns of any gauge and air rifles may be imported. Shotguns may be imported by the owner only. The shotgun is written on his/her passport, then, the owner must go to the Greek Forestry Department to submit the proper papers for the issuance of the gun's ID.

Currency, Banking, and Weights and Measures

As a member of the European Community, the Greek monetary unit is the Euro, which is divided into 100 cent. Coins in circulation are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cent and 1 & 2 Euro. Bank notes are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros. The exchange rate approximates 1.15 euro to $1 US.

The value-added tax (VAT) was first implemented in Greece on January 1,1987, in accordance with the European Economic Community requirements, and replaced previous indirect taxes. Today, income from VAT totals 50% of indirect taxes and 35% of total state revenues. VAT ranges from 8% percent on mass consumption goods, e.g., food, to 18% imposed on most goods and services, and 36% for all luxury goods, such as tobacco products, alcohol, cosmetics (some foodstuffs fall under this percentage)

Greece uses the metric system of weights and measures. Gasoline is sold by the litre.

LOCAL HOLIDAYS

Jan.1…New Year's Day

Jan.6…Epiphany

Feb/Mar.…Clean Monday (beginning of Lent)^*

Mar. 7…Dodecanese Accession Day (observed in Rhodes only)

Apr/May…Good Friday^*

Apr/May…Holy Saturday^*

Apr/May…Easter^*

Apr/May…Easter Monday^*

May 1…May Day

May/June…Pentecost^*

May/June…Holy Ghost Day/Penetecost Monday

Aug 15… Assumption Day

Sept. 13… Finding of the True Cross

Oct. 4… Liberation of Xanthi (observed in Xanthi only)

Oct. 25… Independence Day

Oct. 26… St. Dimitrios Day (observed in Thessaloniki only)

Oct. 28… Ohi Day

Dec. 25…Christmas Day

Dec. 26…Boxing Day

^*variable

RECOMMENDED READING

The following titles are provided as a general indication of the material published on this country:

Antiquities
Biers, William R. The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction. Cornell University, 1980.

Grinnel, Isabel H. Hellas; A Portrait of Greece. Efstathiadis, 1987. (out of print)

Kitto, Humphrey. The Greeks. Penguin, 1951.

MacKendrick, Paul. The Greek Stones Speak: The Stones of Archaeology in Greek Lands. Norton, 1983.

Ruck, Carl. Ancient Greece: A New Approach. M.I.T. Press, 1972.

Art
Andronikos, Manolis. Greek Museums. Caratzas Bros., 1975.

Avery, Catherine B. The New Century Handbook of Greek Art and Architecture. Appleton, 1972. (out of print)

Broadman, John. Greek Art. Oxford, 1985.

Matthew, Gervase. Byzantine Aesthetics. (Icon Edition Series), Harper and Row, 1971. (out of print)

Pollitt, Jerry J. Art and Experience in Classical Greece. Cambridge University Press, 1972.

Pollitt, Jerry J. Art in the Hellenistic Age. Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Woodford, Susan. An Introduction to Greek Art. Cornell University Press, 1986.

Description and Travel
Antony, Anne. Greece: Hut and Highrise. Constantinidis and Michalo, 1971. (out of print)

Durrell, Lawrence. The Greek Islands. Penguin, 1980.

Ellingham, Mark. A Rough Guide to Greece. Routledge, 1982.

Fodor, Eugene, ed. Fodor's Greece 1991. McKay, 1990.

Miller, Henry. Colossus of Maroussi. New Directions. History, Politics, and Government.

Alexander, G.M. The Prelude to the Truman Doctrine: British Policy in Greece, 1944-47. Oxford University Press, 1983.

Couloumbis, T.A. et.al. Foreign Interference in Greek Politics: An Historical Perspective. Pella, 1976.

Couloumbis Theodore and John O. Iatrides, editors. Greek American Relations: A Critical Review. (out of print).

Clogg, Richard A. A Short History of Modern Greece. Cambridge University Press, 1979.

Gage, Nicholas. Eleni: A True Story of Love, War and Survival. Random, 1983.

Hamilton, Edith. The Greek Way. Avon, 1973.

Iatrides, John, ed. Ambassador MacVeagh Reports: Greece, 1933 to 1947. Princeton, 1980.

Koumoulidis, Johm. Greece in Transition. State Mutual Books, 1977.

Legg, Keith R. Politics in Modern Greece. Stanford, 1969.

McNeil, William. The Metamorphosis of Greece Since World War II. University of Chicago, 1978.

Raizis, Byron M. and Papas, A. Greek Revolution and the American Muse: A Collection of Philhellenic Poetry 1821-1828. Coronet Books, 1972.

Toynbee, Arnold. The Greeks and Their Heritages. Oxford, 1981.

Woodhouse, C.M. Modern Greece: A Short History. Faber and Faber, 1977.

Woodhouse, C.M. The Rise and Fall of the Greek Colonels. Watts, 1985.

Literature and Poetry
Avery, Catherine B. Handbook of Greek Literature. Appleton, 1972. (out of print).

Hadas, Moses. A History of Greek Literature. Columbia University, 1950.

Keeley, Edmund and P.A. Bien. Modern Greek Writers. Princeton University Press, 1972.

Sherrard, Phillip. The Wound of Greece: Studies in New-Hellenism. St. Martin, 1979. (out of print).

Trypanis, Constantine. Greek Poetry from Homer to Seferis. University of Chicago, 1982.

Trypanis, Constantine. PenguinBook of Greek Verse. Penguin, 1971. (out of print)

Miscellaneous
Buckert, Walter. Greek Religion. Harvard University Press, 1987.

Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church. Penguin, 1963.

Greece

History & Background

The Hellenic Republic (Elliniki Dhimocratia), the southernmost country in Europe, lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa. A land of mountains and sea, it is simultaneously European, Balkan, and Mediterranean. Mountains occupy about 80 percent of the country and have, at times, restricted internal communications. But the sea opened wider horizons, and Greece has had a naval tradition throughout history.

Greece occupies 131,957 square miles (50,949 square kilometers), approximately the size of Alabama. The Greek Islands make up one-fifth of this territory. Although there are about 2,000 islands, only 170 are inhabited; the largest is Crete. To the east is the Aegean Sea, to the south the Mediterranean, to the west the Ionian. To the north, Greece's continental frontier borders Albania, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey.

Geography has had a big influence on the country's economic, historical, and political development. The landscape has been a strong factor for Greek migration, both internally—from rural to urban areas—and to other countries for employment and a better life. The result over centuries was depopulation of certain areas. In the 1980s, some repatriation occurred.

As of the 1991 census, the population was 10,2590,000, excluding Greeks living in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Of these, 5,055,408 were males and 5,204,492 were females; 58.8 percent lived in urban areas, 12.8 percent in semi-urban, and 28.4 percent in rural. Nineteen percent of the population was 14 years or younger, 67 percent were between 15 and 64, and 14 percent were older than 65.

Between 1991 and 1996, births decreased from 10 per thousand to 9.6, while deaths for the same period increased from 9.3 per thousand to 9.6 (NSSG 1998).

As of the March 18, 2001, census, the population was 10,939,777, an increase of 6.6 percent over 10 years. Women made up 50.4 percent, men 49.6 percent (Hellas Letter April 2001). Approximately 6.8 percent of the population is illiterate; of this figure, 9.8 percent are female, 3.7 percent male (NSSG 2000).

Modern Greece is the heir of classical Greece and the Byzantine Empire (300-1453). From ancient Greece it has inherited a sophisticated culture and language that has been documented for almost three millennia. The language of Periclean Athens in the fifth century B.C. and the present language are almost the same. Few languages can demonstrate such continuity. From Sparta (600 B.C.) and Athens (450-350 B.C.) came group teaching, the humanistic curriculum, and the three levels of education. Primary education was for children 7 through 12 years old; secondary was for those 13 through 17; and tertiary, for those 18 and older. Tertiary education was paid by the State. When a boy reached the age of 18, he spent two years training to be a soldier and a citizen. Until the industrial revolution, preprimary education took place within the family.

The Romans adopted this three-level educational system when they conquered Greece in 146 B.C. It was modified and became bilingual—Greek and Latin. In A.D. 364, the Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and Western Roman Empire. The Eastern became the Byzantine Empire, and the educational system was continued. Eventually it became Greek-Christian from the reconciliation and harmonizing of classical Greek humanism with Christian beliefs.

From the Byzantine Empire, Greece inherited Eastern Orthodox Christianity. There was "one holy catholic and apostolic church" until the Great Schism in 1054, when the church was separated into Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic.

For nearly 400 years (1453-1821), Greece was under Ottoman rule (Tourkokratia ). The Ottomans had no provisions to educate their non-Muslim subjects. The Orthodox Church was the only institution where the Greeks could look as a focus. Through the use of Greek in the liturgy and through its modest educational efforts, the church helped to a degree to keep alive a sense of Greek identity. Many times, members of the clergy were executed in reprisal when the Greeks disobeyed orders or tried to revolt.

The most serious disability for the Christian population was the janissary levy (paidomazoma ). At irregular intervals, Christian families in the Balkans were required to deliver to the Ottoman authorities a given proportion of their most intelligent and handsome male children to serve as elite troops, after they were forced to convert to Islam.

Ottoman rule prevented Greece from experiencing the important historical movements of the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution, which shaped the destinies of the western European countries. The intellectuals who had fled to the West, especially to Italy, established intellectual centers wherever they settled. They began to publish Greek books in the sixteenth century and send them to the enslaved Greeks to educate and enlighten them.

The eighteenth century saw the emergence of a Greek mercantile middle class in the Ottoman Empire. They were also active in southern Russia, in several central European cities, and in the Mediterranean, where they established communities (paroikies ), each with its own church. Greeks came in contact with the ordered societies of Western Europe. Their wealth provided for the intellectual revival of the Greeks. Moved by a sense of patriotism they endowed schools and libraries in the occupied mainland and in Asia Minor. They also financed the education of Greek schoolteachers in the universities of Italy and the German states. Influenced by the ideas of the European Enlightenment and the nationalistic beliefs of the French Revolution, these teachers became aware of the reverence in which the language and the culture of ancient Greece were held throughout Europe. This realization sparked an awareness that they were heirs to this same civilization and language.

Greece became a state in 1830, following the War for Independence (1821-1829). The treaty of 1832 between Bavaria and the Great Powers—Britain, Russia, and France—formally recognized Greece's existence as an independent state, although Greece did not participate in the treaty. The Greeks were the first of the subjugated peoples of the Ottoman Empire to gain full independence. Even so, the new state contained only a part of the Greek population, the remaining population in Asia Minor being still under Ottoman rule. The first century of state-hood was dominated by the struggle to expand the nation's boarders. It was in 1947 that Greece's present borders were established, after the incorporation of the Dodecanese Islands.

The Great Powers also decided that Greece should be a monarchy. They chose a 17-year-old Bavarian prince, Otto, as king. Because he was a minor, the Great Powers further decided that three Bavarian regents should rule the country. They imported European models of administration without regard to local conditions, consequently, Greece's educational system is heavily influenced by the German and French models.

The past is somewhat a burden to Greeks, who identify themselves as "modern" to differentiate themselves from the ancients. References to Greece are usually to ancient Greece. Greeks, however, are proud of their cultural heritage and have made every effort throughout the centuries to maintain it. The continuity between past and present is an essential element of the Greek self-image and national identity.

Greece became a member of the European Council in 1949, NATO in 1952, and the European Community in 1961. This last relationship helped modernize and democratize Greece's educational system and stabilize its government.

There was a military dictatorship from 1967 to 1974. Since 1974, Greece has been a parliamentary democracy with a president whose powers are restricted. (A plebiscite in 1975 abolished the monarchy.) The president is elected by the parliament (Vouli ) and may hold office for two five-year terms. The Prime Minister, leader of the majority party, has extensive powers. The parliament consists of 300 deputies elected for four-year terms by direct, universal, and secret ballot.

The parliament has the power to revise the constitution. Incumbent governments, regardless of political affiliation, have amended the electoral law to benefit their own party. The judicial system is essentially the Roman law system prevalent in continental Europe.

The 1980s brought about changes: civil marriage was introduced parallel to religious marriage, divorce was made easier, legal equality between the sexes was recognized. The right to vote also was extended to 18-year-olds.

Greece's unification with the European Community in 1981 (renamed European Union in 1994) reaffirmed its orientation toward Europe. It was the first eastern European country to join EU. Its heritage of Orthodox Christianity and Ottoman rule set it apart from the other European member states.

The 1990s brought economic refugees from Albania and other former Communist countries, from Asia, and from Africa. Repatriated Greeks also came from the former Soviet Union.

Religion is an important aspect of Greek life. In spite of the long Ottoman occupation, most Greeks belong to the Orthodox Church of Greece. A Muslim Turkish minority (3 percent) live mostly in the northeastern part of the country, in Thrace. Roman and Greek Catholics are found primarily in Athens and in the Ionian Islands.

Constitutional & Legal Foundations

The legal basis of education in Greece is the revised Constitution of 1975. Education is the constitutional responsibility of the State. It is provided free in public institutions at all levels, is controlled by the State, and is compulsory until the age of 15.

Article 16 contains the following provisions:

• Research and teaching in arts and sciences are free, while their development and promotion are obligations of the state.
• Education is the basic mission of the state. Its aims are the moral, intellectual, professional, and physical development of the Greeks, the development in them of a national and religious conscience, and their formation into free and responsible citizens.
• The number of years of compulsory education cannot be less than nine.
• All Greeks have the right to free education in state institutions of all levels. The State supports outstanding students and those in need.
• The state is responsible for providing technical/vocational education in institutes of higher education. It cannot be less than three years duration.

The philosophy underlying the Greek educational system reflects the basic values of the Greek nation, which also constitutes the foundation of Western civilization. The Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs (MoE), created as the Secretariat for Religious and Public Education by the Constitution of 1832, is in charge of all activities pertaining to education. There is a national curriculum, uniform school timetables, and approved textbooks for each subject in each grade. All these are compulsory for the private schools, also.

The development of education in Greece cannot be seen separate from its turbulent sociopolitical context. In the 170 years since the country emerged as an independent state, it has been involved in more than four wars, a three-year foreign occupation, two long-lasting dictatorships, one bitter and devastating civil war, and numerous coups d'état. It also had intermittent civil wars and large influxes of refugees and immigrants, both Greek repatriates and non-Greeks. Such history for a small country weighs heavily on national development and has numerous repercussions on Greek education.

Educational Reforms: Educational reforms have always been a political issue in Greece. Since independence, the educational reforms have been initiated by different political regimes ranging from conservative to center to left. Appropriate laws authorize all educational reforms.

Succeeding governments do not necessarily continue the educational reforms legislated by the government they replaced. They reverse, withdraw, or abolish earlier decisions. This prevents education from moving forward and creates frustration for the pupils and their parents.

The educational system of Greece in the 1950s had three levels: a six-year compulsory primary school; a six-year secondary school (gymnasium ) with a humanistic curriculum; and the tertiary level consisting of universities and the few tertiary schools of general education, such as the Teacher Training and the Physical Education academies.

There was some preprimary education. Generally the kindergartens were attended by a small number of children. Sixty percent of the kindergartens were in Northern Greece.

In the late 1950s the emphasis on modernization and planned economic development intensified reforms, especially for the expansion of technical/vocational education. In 1958-1959, there were 39,824 pupils attending vocational schools, and 239,648 enrolled in secondary schools (OECD 1980).

The educational reforms that followed were tied to the recognition that education and training are important elements in the economic growth of the country. Without education, the national income could not be increased, nor the social welfare and stability ensured.

Reforms of 1957-1963: The secondary school was divided into two three-year cycles. The first three grades were the lower cycle and emphasized a general and humanistic education. A multi-partisan committee of politicians and educational experts had reaffirmed in 1957 the priority of the humanistic curriculum while adding vocational education.

The upper cycle was divided into separate types of gymnasia : classical/literary, commercial, technical, scientific, agricultural, naval, foreign languages, and home economics, with a common core of classes for all.

The demotic language (the popular form of the Greek language spoken by the people) was introduced in the first three grades of the primary school, and the katharevousa (formal or purist) in the three upper grades. Teacher training of preprimary schoolteachers was increased to two years after secondary education, and made equal to that of primary school teachers (Law 3997 1959).

The occupations of the children included the religious, ethical, and social development, the proper use of the Greek language, introduction of arithmetic (reasoning), exercise of the senses, harmonious and unhindered development of the body, cultivation of dexterity, and development of the sense of good.

The Centre of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) was established in 1961 to develop scientific programming of resource allocation for economic development, and technical economic training of personnel for key positions in government and industry.

Reforms of 1964: The educational reforms of 1964 promoted educational equality and economic growth after Greece joined the European community in 1961. In 1964, free education was extended to all levels.

The previous two stages of general secondary school were transformed into two successive and autonomous types of schools, three years each: the non-selective lower secondary, or gymnasium, and the upper secondary, or lyceum. A single lyceum was established, its purposes to provide contemporary education to Greek youth and to develop the future leadership of the country. Entrance exams were established to enter the lyceum, but entrance examinations from the primary to the gymnasium were abolished. The purpose of the gymnasium was to provide a comprehensive education for all Greek youth.

The demotic Greek language officially replaced the katharevousa as a medium of instruction. Also, technical/vocational guidance and the courses of anthropology, "practical knowledge about professions," and "elements of democracy" were introduced to the gymnasium curriculum.

Compulsory education was extended to nine years (ages 6 to 15), and co-education became mandatory from age 6 to 15. School lunches were introduced as well.

Reforms of 1967-1974: During the military dictatorship, most of the reforms were reversed or withdrawn. The use of the demotic language was limited to the first three grades of the primary school. Compulsory education was returned to six years (Law 129, 1967).

New legislation set up a new tertiary level of technical/vocational educational institutions, the Centres for Higher Technical/Vocational Education (KATEE). They would supply vitally needed upper-level technicians, and meet some of the rising demands for university entrance. By 1974, there were five such centers. Law 1404 (1983) transformed them into Technological/Scientific Educational Institutions (TEI). In 1997, there were 14 TEIs throughout Greece.

Reforms of 1975-1981: The country returned to democratic government in 1974. The revision of the Constitu- tion in 1975 reformed and expanded education, and gave it a new direction. Law 309 (1976) restored all the reforms of 1964 and dealt with the organization and function of general education from preprimary to lyceum. It also articulated the purpose of each level:

• Preprimary education complements and supports family education by teaching appropriate behavior and correct expression, and provides for the physical and mental development. Attending preprimary is voluntary for children three and a half to five and a half years of age.
• Primary education sets the foundation for learning, enriches pupils' experiences, and stimulates and develops their intellectual and physical abilities.
• The gymnasium completes and consolidates the encyclopedic education of youth.
• The lyceum offers a richer and wider curriculum than that of the gymnasium, for youth who plan either to attend institutions of tertiary education or to enter the job market.

For more effective teaching, the number of students per teacher was reduced from 40 to 30, and the number of teaching hours per week was reduced from 36 to a range of 28 to 34. Additionally, new textbooks were written and published, and seminars were organized for in-service training of teachers.

The new curriculum introduced the course of "technology" and the use of educational television. Adding to this, evening gymnasia were started for those students who needed to work during the day to earn their living. Lyceums also were established as both three-year day schools and four-year evening schools. A new type of lyceum, the three-year Classical Lyceum, was introduced as well. It offered additional hours in ancient Greek, Latin, and history, and introduced German as a second foreign language.

Reforms of 1981-1985: Automatic promotion was established throughout the grades in the primary school, and physical education and school athletics were emphasized in primary school. Entrance exams from the lower secondary to the upper secondary school were abolished. Uniforms for gymnasium and lyceum pupils were abolished as well. The Integrated Lyceum, or comprehensive school was introduced in secondary education in 1984. It bridged the gap between general and technical education.

The curricula were revised for all grades. They were based on the international bibliography and were adjusted to include Greek traditions. Teachers contributed to the development of the curricula. New textbooks were developed and printed. The new textbooks were no longer merely stores of knowledge, but workbooks to help pupils look for and build knowledge.

Reforms of the 1990s: A new system of postsecondary vocational training was established. The system incorporates the private Centres of Free Studies. The Hellenic Open University was established in 1996-1997 as well.

Educational System—Overview

The first schools in Greece (1834) were patterned on foreign models. The newly independent state had no infrastructure (curricula, books, or organization model). The schools reflected the contemporary ideas prevailing in Western Europe at that time.

The four-year compulsory school was based on the German (Bavarian) tradition that had been influenced by the French educational tradition. It was called demotico (primary). The German and French influences resulted in a strong centralized administration, which exists to date.

A three-year Greek school followed the four-year primary. A four-year gymnasium (secondary school) followed that. After that came the university for four years. King Otto established the first Greek University in Athens in 1837. Instruction was in Greek in all levels. Attendance in primary and Greek schools was compulsory—a total of seven years.

The curriculum included the humanistic heritage of the classics and the orthodox religion but it was progressive: catechism, elements of Greek reading, writing, arithmetic, measures and weights, drawing, singing and, when possible, elements of geography, Greek history, and physical sciences. It also taught gymnastics, gardening, and silkworm and bee culture. The girls were taught "female arts." At the end of each semester there were examinations.

The number of courses was large and practical, but there were not enough teachers to teach them. To compensate, "mutual instruction" (Lancasterian) was employed: The teacher teaches the students of the upper grades, and they in turn teach the younger students the same subject).

At the same time (1834) a teacher training institution was organized in Naupleion, the provisional capital of Greece. The following year the capital and the institution were moved to Athens.

Modern Structure: The structure of the educational system in Greece in 2001 is organized into three levels: primary, which includes a two-year preprimary since 1985 that is not compulsory; secondary;, and tertiary. Children aged three and a half can enroll in the preprimary.

Compulsory education starts with the primary school at five and a half or six years. Since the 1976 reforms, it includes the three-year lower secondary school (gymnasium ) lasting 9 years, from age 6 to age 15. By law a pupil who does not complete compulsory education by the age of 15 is obliged to stay on until age 16.

All schools are coeducational. The language of instruction at all levels has been demotic Greek since the reforms of 1964.

Ecclesiastical gymnasiums and lyceums prepare male students for priesthood. In addition to the regular curriculum, they offer extracurricular activities that contribute to the development of appropriate habits and attitudes. Music gymnasiums offer, besides the regular curriculum, an additional 15 hours per week of musical education for talented pupils.

Upper secondary education is provided in general lyceums, integrated (or comprehensive) lyceums, and technical/vocational lyceums, as well as technical/vocational schools. Students graduating from the gymnasium enroll without exams in the next level, the lyceum.

Graduates of the general lyceum may attend university and postgraduate studies. Graduates of the integrated and technical/vocational lyceums attend technological education institutes. After graduation they can continue to the university or join the job market. Graduates of technical/vocational schools attend institutes of vocational training. After graduation they join the job market.

Tertiary education is provided in universities and technological educational institutes. Entrance is based on exams.

The length of the school year for 1995-1996 was September 11 to June 15 for primary schools, and September 1 to June 30 for secondary. There are five school days a week for both primary and secondary schools for a total of 175 days in a year. There are 12 weeks of summer holidays, two weeks for Christmas and two weeks for Spring/Easter. There are also seven days of national or religious holidays.

Primary school pupils attend 23 to 30 lessons a week. The duration of each lesson is 45 minutes. Pupils in lower secondary attend 33 to 35 lessons per week, each 45 minutes. The number of lessons a week in upper secondary schools varies from 30 in the general lyceums to 34 for both the comprehensive and the technical/vocational lyceums to 41 for the musical lyceums. The duration of one lesson in all secondary schools is 45 minutes.

Primary pupils spend about five hours per day in school, secondary pupils six or seven. The primary school day runs from either 8:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., or from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. In big cities, a large number of school buildings accommodate more than one school. Therefore pupils attend lessons either in the morning or in the afternoon, or one week in the morning followed by one week in the afternoon. As a result, educational and functional problems are created in these schools ("Organization of School" 1995).

Enrollment by educational level and sex in public and private schools in 1993-1994 was as follows:

• 5,520 preschools with 133,979 pupils (65,511 female); 5,387 were public with 128,627 pupils (62,933 female), and 133 were private schools with 5,352 pupils (2,578 female)
• 7,254 primary schools with 731,500 pupils (354,773 female); 6,851 were public with 678,145 pupils (328,951 female), and 403 private schools with 53,355 pupils (25,822 female)
• 3,069 secondary schools with a total of 719,746 pupils (364,012 female); 2,813 were public with 671,913 pupils (342,778 female), and 159 private schools with 32,214 pupils (16,877 female) (NSSG 2000).

Enrollment in tertiary education for 1993-1994 was 212,525 students. Of these, 110,295 were "active" (enrolled students who have not completed the compulsory period), and 102,226 were "inactive" (students who have continued their studies beyond the normal required time). Among active students, 59,730—or 51.9 percent—were female. Among the inactive students, 45,909—or 48.1 percent—were female (Protopapas 1999).

In 1989-1990, some 57.8 percent of four- and five-year-olds attended public kindergartens, or those supervised by the MoE. Primary school participation was 97 percent, and secondary, 93 percent. Participation rates for boys and girls are equal at preschool and primary levels. At the secondary level the participation rate is 95 percent for boys, 91 percent for girls. Rates may actually be somewhat lower since repeaters are included in the enrollment figures (OECD 1997).

Textbooks for primary and secondary education are published by the Organization of School Textbooks (OEDB).

There are no examinations from the primary to the secondary school. There are nationwide (Pan-Hellenic ) examinations for entrance to the university and the technological education institutes.

Because education is prized as an end in itself and as a means of upward mobility, there is a great demand to enter universities. Many children attend private "cramming" classes (frontisteria ), after school to prepare for the university entrance exams. Competition for university places is extremely high in spite the creation of new universities between 1960 and 1980.

Law 682 (1977) provides for the operation of private primary and secondary schools. They are under the supervision of the MoE and are required to follow the national curriculum and to use the same textbooks as the public schools. About 6 percent of the students attend private schools. The Constitution forbids the establishment of private universities.

There is educational television in the State television stations. Computers and instructional television were introduced in the classrooms.

Technical/vocational education broadened the base of education and gave pupils more choices. It met the demand for technical personnel and opened venues to the job market, contributing thus to economic development.

Law 309 (1977) abolished the lower vocational schools and replaced them with technical/vocational schools (TES). Intermediate vocational schools were replaced by technical/vocational lyceums. General education from this point on was provided by the general lyceums.

Graduates of three-year lower secondary schools could enroll in the TES without examinations or, after examinations, enter either the technical/vocational lyceum or the general lyceum.

Opportunities for technical/vocational training in tertiary education have increased. In 1989-1990, of about 42,000 places available in tertiary education, the TEIs made up approximately 19,000, or 45 percent. In 1991 and 1992 the distribution tended to be 50-50 (Stavrou 1996).

Minority Groups: Greece has a small percentage of linguistic and cultural minorities. By legislation, the Greek government provides a budget and ample facilities to educate minority children. As of 1983, primary schools enrolled 12,000 Muslim students. Four hundred twenty-one Muslim teachers (Greek nationals) taught the classes in these schools, plus 27 temporary instructors who came from Turkey. The Turkish language, as well as religion, is taught in these schools. At the secondary level, three schools offer bilingual instruction, one in Komotini (the Celal-Bayar Lyceum) and two Muslim seminaries in Xanthi. Both cities are in Thrace. The Greek government intends to establish technical/vocational schools for the Muslim minority, provided there is agreement among the Muslim communities. Teachers for the Muslim children are trained in a special program at the Pedagogical Department of the University of Thessaloniki.

There are two primary schools for Armenian children in Athens. Also,in the mid-1980s, a pilot program for itinerant Gypsy children was organized by the University of Thessaloniki.

In 1980-1981, the government developed education programs specifically for the children of repatriated Greeks from Germany, the United States, Canada, and Australia. These children have limited proficiency in the Greek language. The objective of the programs was to "aid the repatriation of youth by integrating them in school and social milieus and in the Greek way of thinking and behaving" (OECD 1982). On average, 5,000 children per year were repatriated from Germany, and 4,000 per year from English-speaking countries. Two types of programs were designed for them: special bilingual classes in the regular schools, and out-of-school or "extra class" bilingual programs.

In the 1990s, with the influx of economic refugees, the number of foreign pupils attending Greek primary and secondary schools increased to 6 percent of the total. In 1991-1992 in elementary schools, 51.73 percent of these pupils were from the countries of the former USSR, 24.48 percent were from Albania, and 23.78 percent came from all other countries. In the secondary schools, 39.12 percent were from the countries of the former USSR, 22.14 percent were from Albania, and 38.74 percent were from all other countries (Katsikas and Kavadias 1996).

Special Education: Law 1566 (1985) incorporated the education of children with special education needs (SEN) into the central framework of the educational system, based on the philosophy of equal opportunities in education at all levels. Greece, as a member of the international organizations for child protection, has planned the special education program in order to respond to two basic principles: integration and participation.

Pupils with SEN from 3-1/2 to 18 years of age are in the mainstream school. Compulsory education is from six to 15. Special schools share buildings with mainstream schools; they partially integrate the curriculum and totally integrate the social activities. Special education councilors promote the integration of SEN pupils by providing instruction and support programs for teachers in the mainstream schools. The curriculum, "Activities for Learning Preparedness," helps teachers support pupils to develop to the extent of their capacities and to possibly integrate into the mainstream.

There are about 200 special needs school in Greece. In 1995-1996 there were 39 preschools, 138 primary schools, 10 schools for general secondary education, and four for technical/vocational education. Registered SEN students make up less than 1 percent of all pupils (Meijer 1998).

Preprimary & Primary Education

Preprimary—Kindergarten ( nepiagogeion ): The first interest of the Greek State in preprimary education was in 1895 with a law that allowed Greek citizens to organize private kindergartens after receiving a permit from the MoE. It was for children from three or four years old through age six. The first kindergarten was established in Athens in 1897 by a woman who studied in Germany (like many Greeks did during the nineteenth century). It was private, modeled after the German kindergarten of Froebel (1782-1852). A teacher training institution was part of it.

Until their expansion in the 1970s and 1980s, most kindergartens were private, operating on a fee basis. The teacher and the school's owner determined the curriculum. Teacher training was carried out in separate private institutions.

Children who are three and a half years old by October 1 are accepted and may attend for two years. Attendance is voluntary and participation is continuously increasing.

In 1976 kindergartens became part of primary education. Attendance was still voluntary but can become mandatory in a region if the Minister of Education, the Minister of Health and Welfare, and the Minister of Finance issue a joint resolution according to the needs of the region.

The purpose of kindergarten is to help develop children physically, emotionally, mentally, and socially, and to prepare preschoolers for learning in the elementary schools.

Early childhood education is provided by kindergartens that operate as independent units supervised by the MoE, and within children's centers supervised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Kindergarten enrollments vary from region to region. Most rural areas have higher preschool enrollment ratios than Athens, which has one of the lowest.

A kindergarten class can have from 7 to 30 children. In 1993-1994 there were 5,520 kindergartens with 8,706 teachers (8,682 female), and 133,959 pupils (65,511 female). The pupil/teacher ratio was 15:4. The majority of kindergartens (5,387) were public with 8,457 teachers (8,433 female) and 128,627 pupils (62,933 female). The pupil/teacher ratio was 15:2. There were 133 private kindergartens, with 249 teachers, all female, and 5,352 pupils (2,578 female). The pupil/teacher ratio was 21:5. (NSSG 2000) There are almost no male teachers in kindergarten.

In 1989, the MoE issued a national curriculum for kindergarten and a teacher's handbook with guidelines, examples of lesson plans, and activities for implementing the curriculum. Kindergarten teachers, under the guidance of the Pedagogical Institute, developed the curriculum and the handbook. The curriculum is used throughout the country.

Primary education: Elementary school lasts six years. Children who turn six by December 31 can enroll in the first grade. Attendance is obligatory. Pupils graduating from primary school receive a school-leaving certificate that mentions the attainment levels in the various subjects. They enroll in the first grade of the gymnasium without examinations. It is part of the compulsory education years.

The new primary education curriculum came into effect by Presidential Decree 583 (1982). It was implemented during the 1982-1983 school year and contains the following features: the aims of the primary school, the goals of each subject taught, the objectives of the major teaching units, prerequisites for achieving the goals, activities through which to attain the objectives of the teaching units, and recommendations as to how much time to assign to the teaching and learning of the units.

Environmental studies, health education, and civic education were added to the existing courses of religion, Greek language, mathematics, history, geography, natural sciences, music, arts and crafts (for aesthetic development), physical education, and a modern language (English or French). The goals and objectives of the new curricula were: a) to gradually familiarize pupils with moral, religious, national, socioeconomic, political, aesthetic, and other values; b) to gradually to introduce pupils to the cognitive sphere; and c) to progressively socialize pupils in an atmosphere of freedom and inquiry.

Specialists teach physical education, music, foreign languages, and arts. Laboratories for physics and chemistry, and school libraries, were introduced in primary schools.

The implementation of the new curricula followed the design and publication of new textbooks by the Organization for Publication of School Textbooks for all subjects taught in the primary school. A teacher's guide was introduced to accompany each textbook. It contains basic methodological principles and suggestions on procedures to follow in organizing the teaching and learning of each unit.

The upper limit of pupils per class is 25 children for a single-room school (one teacher for all children in all grades). Since 1990 there has been an effort to decrease the number of single-room schools. They exist primarily in the islands, in the rural areas, and in isolated mountainous villages. Local authorities, in cooperation with the State, are trying to develop re-allocation solutions so that students may be transported to bigger, better-staffed, and better-equipped schools in a region.

In 1993-1994 there were 7,254 elementary schools with 44,981 teachers (24,418 female) and 731,500 pupils (354,773 female). The pupil/teacher ratio was 16:3. Of these, 6,851 were public elementary schools with 42,207 teachers (22,750 female) and 678,145 pupils (328,951 female). The pupil/teacher ratio was 16:1. There were 403 private elementary schools with 2,774 teachers (1,668 female) and 53,355 pupils (25,822 female). The pupil/teacher ratio was 19:2 (NSSG 2000).

Participation rates for boys and girls are almost equal at the primary level. Primary school participation for 1989-1990 was 97 percent for six- to 11-year-olds. Repeaters at the primary school are extremely few (OECD 1997).

Secondary Education

Secondary education lasts six years, from age 11 and a half to 17 and a half. It is divided into two three-year successive cycles. The lower three grades are the gymnasium. The upper three grades are the lyceum.

The purpose of the gymnasium is to promote pupils' learning potential according to their abilities and the needs of society. The state pursues this goal by offering to all pupils the same curriculum. There are no elective subjects in the gymnasium curriculum. The concern for full formal equality of educational opportunities is thus given precedence over that of offering an education that is adapted to particular needs and interests. Attendance is compulsory.

In 1993-1994 there were 1,713 public gymnasiums with 32,328 teachers (20,203 female) and 417,752 pupils (201,375 female). The ratio of pupils to teachers was 12:9 (NSSG 2000).

Pupils graduating from the gymnasium receive a school-leaving certificate (apolyterion ), without examination. It mentions the acquired attainment levels in the various subjects and enables the holder to enroll in any of the upper secondary schools without any examination. About 60 percent of the gymnasium graduates enroll in the general lyceum, 25 percent in the technical/vocational lyceum, 5 percent to the integrated lyceum, and about 10 percent to the technical vocational schools (Kallen 1996).

The dropout rate in 1994 was 8.9 percent for all students of the gymnasium. It varied from region to region, from 1 to 29 percent. The highest rates were in the Aegean and the Ionian Islands, Crete, and Trace. The dropout rate was higher among boys than among girls, 10.4 and 7.4 percent respectively. This is probably because boys, especially in these regions, are frequently called to work at a young age in their parents' businesses of farming, fishing, or tourism (OECD 1997; Kallen 1996).

The lyceum aims to build pupils' character and personality so that they may contribute to the social, economic, and cultural development of the country. It provides students with guidance for further studies or career choice. There are: general, integrated, and technical/vocational lyceums, and technical/vocational schools.

The general lyceum offers courses preparing students for higher education. There are both day and evening lyceums. The latter—for students who must work during the day—last four years. The first- and second-year curriculum covers religion, ancient and modern Greek language and literature, history, psychology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, physical education and foreign languages—a total of 30 hours a week. Third-year subjects are divided into general education and college-preparatory subjects. The latter are divided into four branches(desmes ), each leading to a certain type of higher education institution. Students are examined in the preparatory subjects on a national level. Branches A and B focus on mathematics and natural sciences. Branch C focuses on ancient Greek, Latin, and history. Branch D focuses on history, sociology, and economics.

In 1993-1994 there were 1,075 day general lyceums and 35 evening general lyceums with 18,034 teachers (8,937 female). The same teachers teach in both. There were 232,168 day students (129,524 female), and 4,726 evening students (1,991 female) (NSSG 2000).

Graduates of the general lyceum receive a leaving-certificate without final examinations. It indicates achievement in the various subjects. They are eligible to compete in the university entrance examinations.

The integrated lyceum aims to interconnect and deepen the objectives and curricula of the general and technical/vocational lyceums. In 1993-1994 there were 25 public integrated lyceums with 2,116 teachers (1,079 female) and 21,993 students (11,859 female). The pupil/teacher ratio was 10.4. (NSSG 2000). Half the curriculum is similar to that of general lyceum in all three years. In the second year, half the subjects are electives associated with broad groups of professions. In the third year, more specialized subjects are added.

The technical-vocational lyceum aims to teach pupils the necessary technical and vocational knowledge and skills that will enable them to successfully work in the respective technical or vocational fields upon leaving school. In the first year, pupils are introduced to subjects in a technical/vocational field. In the second year, workshops are added. In the third year, students choose any of the four branches, as in the general lyceum.

Graduates of the integrated and the technical/vocational lyceums either attend non-university higher education (TEIs) or enter the job market in the field of their specialization.

Technical/vocational schools (TES) have a two-year course of study for day students, and three-year study for evening students. Six hours cover general subjects such as modern Greek, mathematics, physics, foreign languages, and civil education. The remaining 24 hours cover specialization subjects and workshop training. Graduates of TES have access to corresponding employment, to the first grade of the general lyceum, or to the second grade of the technical/vocational lyceum.

Students can move freely from primary school to the gymnasium and then to the lyceum. Every pupil has a chance to compete for entrance to the institutions of higher learning, both academic and technical. They can also move horizontally between technical/vocational schools and the lyceum and, after the first grade of the lyceum, between the general lyceum and the technical/vocational lyceum.

Higher Education

Greece has adopted the international model for higher education suggested by UNESCO, which calls for two main types of institutions for tertiary education—Universities and non-university institutions. In 2001, there were 18 universities in Greece; eight are in the Athens-Piraeus metropolitan area. There are 12 Technological Educational Institutions, two in the Athens-Piraeus area. And there are 61 Higher Professional Schools (the non-university type), 36 in the Athens-Piraeus area (OECD 1997).

Greece's first universities were the National Capodistrian University of Athens (1837), The National Technical University of Athens (Polytechneion ) (1836), and The Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (1925). Between 1960 and 1980 new regional universities were established throughout Greece to meet the increased demand for higher education and contemporary fields, such as computer technology and environmental studies. The new universities are in Ioannina, Patra, Thrace, Crete, Corfu, and the Aegean. Even with the new universities, there are not sufficient places for every student who wishes to attend. As a consequence many Greek students go to other European countries or to the United States for study. There are no private universities in Greece.

Under the 1992 law, undergraduate studies leading to a first degree last four years (eight semesters) for the majority of disciplines: five years (ten semesters) for agriculture, engineering, and dentistry, and six years (12 semesters) for medical schools. The various departments grant the degrees (ptychia ).

Non-university studies (TEIs) last three years in general. Some majors call for additional six-month on-thejob training for a degree. All institutions of higher learning are open five days a week.

Greek universities award doctoral degrees. Earning a doctorate requires submitting an original thesis to a committee of academic experts. The post-graduate programs are in the process of being organized.

A rector and two vice-rectors who are elected for three years by the university general assembly administer each university. The dean, who is elected for three years by the faculty, administers each faculty consisting of relevant departments. The head, who is elected for two years, administers each department. Undergraduates have equal representation in electoral bodies for selecting administrative heads of the universities.

The teaching staff has four levels: lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. Possession of a doctorate is a prerequisite for all levels.

Women are equally represented in higher education as a whole, though the enrollment of women varies markedly by school or field. In 1993-1994 women exceeded 71 percent in pedagogical sciences, philosophical studies, and social sciences. The fewest women were in engineering, at 23.7 percent (Protopapas 1999).

The demand for tertiary education outstrips supply in the Greek educational system. Admissions are limited by lack of classrooms, staff, and laboratories, and by "inactive" students. Secondary school graduates wishing to enter institutions of higher education must compete in the Panhellenic General Examinations administered yearly by the Central Service of the MoE.

Admissions vary from year to year and from school to school. The are determined by the MoE in consultation with the advisory boards of the National Council of Higher Education and the Council for Technological Education.

Final selection and acceptance to AEIs and TEIs is determined by: the candidate's score on the entrance exam, the AEI/TEI preference stated in the candidate's application, and the number of places available in each institution. Only one in four of the candidates is admitted.

There is a widespread practice among students preparing for tertiary education national exams to take extra courses in frontisteria (nonformal, private cramming schools). The students spend the last two years of their lyceum studies preparing for the four subjects for the exams at the expense of the rest of the subjects, as well as their school activities and the broader educational purposes of the lyceum. The MoE is thinking of modifying the exams system.

Among foreign students studying in Greek universities in 1993-94 were 2,290 from Cyprus, 3,204 compatriots (students whose parents are Greek and live abroad), and 1,263 other foreign students, for a total of 6,757 students (OECD 1997). A large number of students who fail to enter Greek higher institutions go abroad to study. In 1993-1994 there were 21,230. The majority of them prefer Italy (5,494) and Britain (5,272) (NSSG 2000). The expense for study abroad is a drain in the national budget.

Since 1988, the European Union has created programs for inter-university co-operation among member countries. The number of Greek students participating in these programs has increased steadily, from 195 students in 48 programs during the academic year 1988-1989 to 1,765 students in 540 programs during 1993-1994 (OECD 1997).

Centres of Liberal Studies (EES): About 30 private organizations called Centres of Liberal Studies (EES) provide postsecondary education; some are affiliated with foreign universities. Under a 1935 law, these organizations operate as commercial enterprises. As such, they fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce rather than the Ministry of Education, an organizational position that causes some skepticism about the quality of the education they provide.

Applying the organizational structure of foreign universities, some EES have set up courses of two, three, and sometimes four years. In these cases the students of EES are also students of the foreign universities. This means that after two or three years of study in Greece, these students may go to the town or city where the university is located, to complete their studies and obtain a degree. Most of the co-operations are with universities in Britain and the United States, but some are with universities of France, Germany, and Switzerland. Since the MoE is not involved in this kind of education, there is no formal recognition of their degrees (OECD 1997).

Administration, Finance, & Educational Research

The Greek educational system is governed by national laws (passed by the parliament), and by executive acts (decrees, ministerial decisions). Overall responsibility for education rests with the MoE. Its basic functions and responsibilities are:

• Assessment of educational needs.

• Determination of educational goals and objectives.
• Provision of legal framework underlying the educational program.
• Personnel, methods and processes, and schools.
• Coordination and evaluation of the regional education services.
• Financial support and control of educational activities.

The MoE formulates educational policies according to the political orientation of the country's administration. The administration and management of primary and secondary schools is the responsibility of the Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education in the 54 Prefectures, which report directly to the MoE.

Higher education institutions (AEIs, or universities, and TEIs, or technological education institutions) are autonomous according to the Constitution, but are funded and supervised by the MoE. The MoE and the Ministry of Labor share responsibilities for vocational education and training.

The Minister of Education heads the MoE and is appointed by the party in power. He is assisted by a Deputy Minister, a Junior Minister, and a Secretary General. There are also five General Directors and two Special Secretariats. In January 1995, the MoE headquarters comprised 34 directorates.

There are four national councils, one for each section of education: the Council for University Education, the Council for Technological Education, the Central Council for Secondary Education, and the Central Council for Primary Education.

There are two institutes controlled by the MoE, but independent of the Ministry's Central Service—the Pedagogical Institute (PI) and the Institute for Technological Education (ITE).

The PI is responsible for research relating to primary and secondary education, for planning and programming educational policy for primary and secondary education, for developing and implementing educational technology, and for planning and supervising teacher in-service training.

Other central agencies are:

• State Scholarship Foundation (IKY), which administers scholarships to students of higher education.
• Centre for the Recognition of Foreign Academic Degrees (DIKATSA).
• Service for General State Records.
• Organization for School Buildings (OSK).
• Organization for Publication of School Textbooks (OEDB), which publishes textbooks for primary and secondary education.
• Organization of Vocational Education and Training (OEEK), which is responsible for recognizing qualifications awarded by either Greek or foreign vocational education and training, and for allocating all funds from the EU.

There are also two Secretariats: the General Secretariat for Adult Education (GGLE) and the Secretariat for Youth.

The State finances all capital and staff costs of the public education system. Municipalities bear the cost of school maintenance and some operating costs. Recently the school construction has been delegated to the Prefectures.

The primary source of public education is taxation. The state spends 4.2 percent of the GDP for education; the share of public expenditure is 7 percent. Greek families spent large amounts of money—about 2.3 percent of GDP—on private education, cramming schools, and study abroad (OECD 1997).

Nonformal Education

Nonformal education for children takes place outside of school hours, its purpose to supplement and enrich their education. They take instruction in music, foreign languages, arts, dance, and other areas. Their parents pay the fees for this part of their education.

Adult Education: Adult nonformal education is both for enrichment, such as art appreciation, and for vocational training, such as computer literacy. Since 1980 adult education programs were aimed at the unemployed under the age of 25, and the long-term unemployment of those older than 25. They have been financed by the European Social Fund and attended yearly by an estimated 200,000 trainees.

The General Secretariat for Adult Education (GGLE) and its regional agencies—the Regional Committees for Adult Education (NELE) throughout Greece—are the only government services responsible for projects regarding Adult Education. The projects include continuing education, literacy, illiteracy prevention, vocational training, vocational training and rehabilitation of disabled persons, social support activities, health counseling and prevention, and cultural and leisure activities, as well as seminars on intercultural communication, workshops for the preservation of traditional arts and skills, and social integration of unprivileged groups.

GGLE plans and develops projects for such underprivileged groups as Gypsies (education for adults and children, community awareness); offenders/ex-offenders (vocational training and social rehabilitation); the disabled (vocational training and social rehabilitation); repatriated Greeks from Western and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Republics (Pontian Greeks), and Albania (Greek language, vocational training); and the elderly (new educational opportunities, social support).

EU funding through corresponding programs supports the GGLE activities. The Manpower Employment Organization (OAED) of the Ministry of Labor also runs nonformal training courses and formal apprenticeship programs for young people and adults.

Teaching Profession

Law 1268 (1982) created pedagogic departments and kindergarten departments in all the Greek universities for the training of teachers in primary and preprimary education respectively. Teacher training lasts four years in both departments and leads to a university degree. The degree is the only qualification to enter the teaching profession. The first pedagogic departments started functioning in 1984-1985. By 1987-1988 pedagogic and kindergarten departments were functioning in all Greek universities. Before 1964 the State had a variety of teacher preparation institutions of diverse lengths of study and curricula that had been in existence since at least the establishment of the new State. In 1964, a third year of studies was added to the pedagogic academies, and the curriculum was enriched with new courses.

There was a movement to make the academies four-year institutions like the other university departments, thus making the status of the primary teachers equal to those of secondary education. Secondary school teachers were always university graduates in the disciplines they taught. An attempt has been made in recent years to provide the secondary school teachers with some pedagogical training before they are appointed to a school. Between 1967 and 1982, students, teaching staff of the academies, the Primary Teachers' Union (DOE), the Federation of Secondary School Teachers (OLME), and the various political parties were all asking for better education for the primary school teachers in particular, but also for all teachers of preprimary and secondary.

The pedagogic academies and the pedagogic departments of the universities co-existed until 1988-1989. Graduates of pedagogic departments are placed on lists (Epetirida ) each year that are compiled and maintained by the MoE. The lists refer to each category of education. There may be a lapse of about 10 years between graduating from the university and the first appointment. Teachers are taken in serial order out of the lists as needed. The delay in appointment is due to an oversupply of teachers and the appointment system itself. Retraining becomes a necessity. Beginning teachers have to spend a few years in isolated regions before they become eligible to be transferred into a school near home.

Preprimary, primary, and secondary schoolteachers are employed by the MoE. Teacher promotion and increase in salary are entirely related to years of employment. In-service training is mandatory for all teachers. It is done at the universities.

Summary

Greece's educational system has been modernized and democratized steadily during the last 50 years. Many of the reforms resulted from Greece's joining the European Union. One wonders whether the changes were developed from within on imposed from the outside. Greece has to work very hard to maintain its identity within the European identity. There is a need to be balanced. The Greeks also need to keep their religion. It is part of their identity.

The educational reforms seem to lean towards abolishing humanistic education and increasing technical/vocational education. This will be a great detriment to the Greek people. It is humanistic education that provides the values for a person or nation. Even good technocrats need a value system to make sound decisions that will benefit all.

The Greek educational system needs to address the issue of the cramming schools (frontisteria ). They drain family resources without increasing the quantity of university entrants. It also needs to eliminate the inactive students who prevent more new entrants to higher education.

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—V. Celia Lascarides

GREECE

Hellenic Republic

Elliniki Dhimokratia

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

LOCATION AND SIZE.

Greece is located on the southernmost point of the Balkan Peninsula and is flanked by 3 large bodies of water: the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is bordered to the north by Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.), and Bulgaria. To the northeast and east is Turkey. The Hellenic Republic of Greece is rich with history, tradition, and archeological sites dating back thousands of years to classical ancient Greece.

With an area of 131,940 square kilometers (50,942 square miles) and a coastline of 13,676 kilometers (8,498 miles), Greece is a land of mountains and sea. Greece's mainland, the Peloponnesus Peninsula, is connected to the Isthmus of Corinth. The country also has more than 2,000 islands, of which 170 are inhabited. Greece is approximately the same size as the state of Alabama. Its cosmopolitan capital, Athens, is located on the Peloponnesus Peninsula.

Greece's position in the Aegean Sea and its access to the Turkish Straits has made it a country with a rich nautical tradition and a valued member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO: a military alliance of certain European states, Canada, and the United States).

POPULATION.

The July 2000 population of Greece was estimated at 10,601,527. The birth rate was 9.82 births per 1,000 people while the death rate was 9.64 deaths per 1,000 people. The annual population growth rate was estimated at 0.21 percent.

Nearly all of the population is of Greek descent (98 percent) with the remainder belonging to other ethnicities. However, the Greek government has claimed there are no ethnic divisions in Greece. The majority of Greek citizens are between the ages of 15 to 64 years (67 percent) with 15 percent of the population under 15 years of age and 18 percent 65 years and over.

About 98 percent of Greeks are Orthodox Christians, a religion that figures prominently in Greece's culture. Small religious minorities do exist in Greece. Muslims comprise 1.3 percent of the population and the remaining 0.7 percent includes Catholics, Jews, Old Calendar Orthodox, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Protestants, and other faiths. Most Muslims live in Thrace, and they are Greece's only officially recognized minority after receiving legal status through provisions in the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923.

The official language of Greece is Greek, which is spoken by 99 percent of the population. The Greek language has its basis in classical Greek and the language of the 21st century is quite similar to that which was spoken during the 5th century B.C.

Athens has a population of 3,096,775 and is a bustling urban center. Athens' suburban population stands at 748,110. Urbanization has been an important trend in the 20th and 21st centuries, yet more than one-third of Greek society is classified as rural. Many people moved into the cities following World War II, lured by a thriving economy that offered a better standard of living than existed in the countryside. Athens is known for its cosmopolitan lifestyle and for retaining many characteristics of village life such as the importance of family, family businesses, and the popular Greek coffeehouses.

OVERVIEW OF ECONOMY

The Greek economy grew significantly after World War II, but declined in the 1970s due to poor economic policies implemented by the government. As a result, Greece has spent much of the latter part of the 20th century and the early 21st century trying to rebuild and strengthen the economy. Thus, Greece is one of the least economically developed member countries in the European Union (EU).

While the Greek government encourages free enterprise and a capitalistic system, in some areas it still operates as a socialist country. For instance, in 2001 the government still controlled many sectors of the economy through state-owned banks and industries, and its public sector accounted for approximately half of Greece's gross domestic product (GDP). Limited natural resources, high debt payments, and a low level of industrialization have proved problematic for the Greek economy and have prevented high economic growth in the 1990s. Certain economic sectors are stronger and more established than others, such as shipping and tourism, which are growing and have shown promise since the 1990s.

The Greek government took measures in the late 1980s and 1990s to reduce the number of state-owned businesses and to revitalize the economy through a plan of privatization . This policy has received support from the Greek people and political parties of both the left and right. Despite the government's efforts, a drop in investment and the use of economic stabilization policies caused a slump in the Greek economy during the 1990s. In 2001, the Greek government fully encouraged foreign investment, particularly in its infrastructure projects such as highways and the Athens Metro subway system.

Soon after joining the European Union (EU), Greece became the recipient of many subsidies from the EU to bolster its struggling agricultural sector and to build public works projects. However, even with the European Union's financial assistance, Greece's agricultural and industrial sectors are still struggling with low productivity levels, and Greece remains behind many of its fellow EU members.

In the late 1990s, the government reformed its economic policy to be eligible to join the EU's single currency (the euro), which it became part of in January 2001. Measures included cutting Greece's budget deficit to below 2 percent of GDP and strengthening its monetary policy . As a result, inflation fell below 4 percent by the end of 1998—the lowest rate in 26 years—and averaged only 2.6 percent in 1999. Major challenges, including further economic restructuring and the unemployment reduction, still lie ahead.

The modern Greek economy began in the late 19th century with the adoption of social and industrial legislation, protective tariffs , and the creation of industrial enterprises. At the turn of the 20th century, industry was concentrated on food processing, shipbuilding, and the manufacturing of textile and simple consumer products. It is worth noting that, having been under direct control of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years, Greece remained economically isolated from many of the major European intellectual movements, such as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, as well as the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. Therefore Greece has had to work hard to catch up to its European neighbors in industry and development.

By the late 1960s, Greece achieved high rates of economic growth due to large foreign investments. However, by the mid-1970s, Greece experienced declines in its GDP growth rate and the ratio of investment to GDP, which caused labor costs and oil prices to rise. When Greece joined the European community in 1981, protective economic barriers were removed. Hoping to get back on track financially, the Greek government pursued aggressive economic policies, which resulted in high inflation and caused debt payment problems. To stop rising public sector deficits, the government borrowed money heavily. In 1985, supported by a US$1.7 billion European Currency Unit (ECU) loan from the EU, the government began a 2-year "stabilization" program with moderate success. Inefficiency in the public sector and excessive government spending caused the government to borrow even more money. By 1992 government debt exceeded 100 percent of Greece's GDP. Greece became dependent on foreign borrowing to pay for its deficits, and by the end of 1998, public sector external debt was at US$32 billion, with overall government debt at US$119 billion (105.5 percent of its GDP).

By January 2001 Greece had successfully reduced its budget deficit, controlled inflation and interest rates, and stabilized exchange rates to gain entrance into the European Monetary Union. Greece met the economic requirements to be eligible to join the program of a single currency unit (the euro) in the EU and to have the economy governed by the European Central Bank's focused monetary policy. The Greek government now faces the challenge of structural reform and to ensure that its economic policies continue to enhance economic growth and increase Greece's standard of living.

One of the recent successes of Greece's economic policies has been the reduction of inflation rates . For more than 20 years, inflation remained in double digits, but a successful plan of fiscal consolidation, wage restraint, and strong drachma policies has lowered inflation, which fell to 2.0 percent by mid-1999. However, high interest rates remain troublesome despite cuts in treasury bills and bank rates for savings and loans institutions. Pursuing a strong fiscal policy , combined with public-sector borrowing and the lowering of interest rates, has been challenging for Greece. Headway was made in 1997-99 and rates are progressively declining in line with inflation.

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND TAXATION

Greece is a presidential parliamentary republic. The Greek government is similar to the model found in many Western democracies, such as Germany. The prime minister and cabinet are responsible for making national and international policy. The president, whose powers are mostly ceremonial, is elected by parliament for a 5-year term and is eligible for reelection for only one additional term. His powers include declaring war and concluding agreements of peace, alliance, and representing Greece in international organizations. However, the cabinet must countersign any emergency powers exercised by the president. The constitution does not allow the president to dissolve parliament, dismiss the government, or suspend articles of the constitution.

Members of the Greek parliament are elected by secret ballot to 4-year terms; however, elections can be called before their term is up. To prevent political parties from dividing and to ensure there is always a parliamentary majority, Greece uses a complex proportional representation electoral system. A party must obtain at least 3 percent of the total national vote to qualify for parliamentary seats. As of 2001, there are 5 main political parties operating in Greece: the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), New Democracy (ND), Political Spring, Communist Party of Greece (KKE), and the Coalition of the Left (SYNASPISMOS).

Greece is divided into 51 prefectures, each led by a "prefect" who is elected by direct popular vote. There are also 13 regional administrative districts (peripheries), which include a number of prefectures led by a regional governor, the periferiarch, who is appointed by the Minister of Interior. Although municipalities (a city with self-government and corporate status) and villages have elected officials, they do not have an adequate independent tax base and depend on the government for a large part of their financial needs. Accordingly, they are subject to numerous government controls.

Greece has had a rocky political experience since its independence, and has been jolted by a series of deposed (removed from power) leaders and a military coup d'etat. Soon after the civil war of 1944-49, Greece decided to align itself with the Western democracies and became a member of NATO in 1952. During the 1950s and early 1960s, Greece was ruled by a series of politically conservative parties. The Center Union Party of George Papandreou came to power in 1963 and remained in office until 1965.

Several weak coalition (multiple parties ruling together) governments ruled Greece after the Center Union-ists left office. Then in 1967 a coup occurred under the leadership of Colonel George Papadopoulos. The coup introduced a dark period in Greek politics. Many civil liberties were taken away, thousands of political protesters were jailed or exiled to remote islands, and military courts replaced civil courts. University students were politically active during the coup and staged an impressive protest at the Athens Polytechnic University in 1973. The international community did not support the military-led government and called for immediate free elections.

The military junta (a small group that rules a country after a coup d'etat) lost power in 1974 when its new leader, General Dimitrios Ioannides, tried to depose the president of Cyprus, nearly causing the outbreak of war between Greece and its long-time rival Turkey. The junta fell after Ioannides lost support from his senior military officials. Order was restored that same year when former prime minister Constantine Karamanlis returned to Greece from exile in France to lead a new constitutional government. His new political party, New Democracy (ND), won the 1974 elections and he became prime minister again.

A new constitution was adopted in 1975, which restored a number of civil liberties and created the Greek presidency. The New Democracy party stayed in power until 1981. Under their leadership Greece became the tenth member of the EU in January 1981. That same year Greece elected its first socialist government headed by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), which was led by Andreas Papandreou.

PASOK has dominated Greek political life since the 1980s. However, in 1990 the New Democracy party gained control of the parliament but collapsed in 1993 when several party members broke off and formed their own political party, Political Spring, and new elections were held after the collapse of the government. PASOK won elections in 1996 and 2000, and under Prime Minister Constantine Simitis's leadership, the economy has been revived and relations between Greece and Turkey have improved. Perhaps one of Simitis's greatest achievements is securing Greece's entry into the European Monetary Union in January 2001.

Since the 2000 elections, the PASOK government has improved social services by creating affordable pensions, improving health services and education, and creating better jobs while moving ahead with its privatization and economic policies. However, the PASOK government has become the target of growing criticism because of its recent strict reforms to ensure economic stability. PASOK emphasized meeting the criteria for low inflation and low public debt which are necessary for participation in the "euro zone"—those countries in Europe that will use the euro as a currency. The New Democracy (ND) party has accused the government of awarding large state contracts to friends of the party and favoritism in the sale of state assets, and the government is more cautious now when awarding contracts.

The Greek government employs a taxation system for revenue in which all persons permanently or temporarily residing in Greece, regardless of nationality, are required by law to pay taxes on their income. Sources of taxable income include real estate, securities, commercial and agricultural enterprises, and salaries. Additionally, corporations, companies, foreign construction companies operating in Greece, and ship owners are taxed.

INFRASTRUCTURE, POWER, AND COMMUNICATIONS

Greece has a modern infrastructure complete with airports, railways, and paved roads and highways. There are a total of 80 airports (1999 est.), 64 of which have paved runways. There are 2,548 kilometers (1,583 miles) of railways and 117,000 kilometers (72,703 miles) of highways, 107,406 kilometers (66,742 miles) of which are paved. As expected from a historically seafaring country, Greece has 12 ports and harbors and a large merchant fleet of more than 700 ships.

Communications are also modern. The country's telephone system is adequate, with networks reaching all areas for main telephone lines and mobile cellular phones. Most telephone calls are carried by microwave radio relay. Underwater cables transmit calls to the Greek islands. In 1997 there were 5.431 million main lines in use and 328,000 mobile phone users. As of 1998 there were 26 AM radio stations, 88 FM stations, and 4 shortwave stations. In 1999, 64 television stations were operating in Greece. Computers and communications are increasing in popularity and availability. By 1999 there were 23 Internet service providers (ISPs) operating in Greece.

During the 1980s, the government dissolved its monopoly on radio and televisions stations. Many private television and radio stations emerged, as well as European satellite channels. By early 2001, however, the Greek government moved to shut down dozens of the popular privately-owned radio stations, saying that their proximity to the new Athens airport could cause radio interference. The announcement was widely condemned by opposition parties and media unions, as well as large numbers of loyal listeners.

The press in Greece operates much differently than it does in the United States. Journalistic objectivity, where a reporter writes the facts of a news event without his or her own political or ethical viewpoint, is often not followed. Businesspeople with extensive commercial interests in the economy own many of the media outlets and use their newspapers, magazines, and radio and television outlets to promote their commercial enterprises as well as to seek political influence.

Electrical power in Greece is supplied by lignite-fueled power stations. Lignite is a type of coal. Hydro-electric power is also used. Solar energy and wind power are being considered as alternative energy sources. Total power production in 1998 amounted to 43.677 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), while consumption in that year was 42.18 billion kWh.

Natural gas is becoming a popular alternative to coal for electricity production. The gas comes from a pipeline shared by Greece and Russia and is considered more environmentally friendly and efficient than coal. In February 2000, the Ministries of the Environment, Natural Planning, and Public Works signed an agreement to replace coal with natural gas. Natural gas is a new energy source in Athens, and many homes and businesses are beginning to use it. Another benefit is that natural gas would reduce the high smog levels in Athens.

ECONOMIC SECTORS

Greece is not a fully capitalist state as there are still many state-owned industries, but the government plans to sell many of them. Greece receives a great amount of financial assistance from the European Union, which accounts for about 4 percent of its GDP. Greece's main

imports are industrial and capital goods , foodstuffs, and petroleum, and it exports manufactured goods, food and beverages, petroleum products, cement, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

Greece's chief sector of the economy—services—is comprised of transportation, tourism, communications, trade, banking, public administration, and defense. The service sector is the fastest-growing and largest part of the Greek economy, accounting for 64.4 percent of GDP in 1998. Tourism is the foundation of this sector. However, a poorly developed infrastructure has slowed its expansion. In 1996, more than 10 million tourists visited Greece, yet the tourist industry still faced declining revenues due in part to the drachma's weak performance. Tourism revenues exceeded US$5.2 billion in 1998, an upsurge due in part to political problems in neighboring Balkan countries and an economic recovery in the European Union.

The industrial sector accounts for 27.3 percent of Greece's GDP. One of the fastest growing and most profitable industries in this sector is the food industry, which has excellent export potential. High technology equipment production, especially for telecommunications, is also a fast-growing sector. Textiles, building materials, machinery, transport equipment, and electrical appliances are also a significant part of the manufacturing sector. Shipping is another industry that has shown economic promise. A nation with a great nautical tradition, Greece has built an impressive shipping industry based on its prime geographic location and the entrepreneurial skills of its owners.

AGRICULTURE

Greece's agricultural sector suffers from a lack of many natural resources. Approximately 70 percent of the land cannot be cultivated because of poor soil or because it is covered by forests. Agriculture is centered in the plains of Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace, where corn, wheat, barley, sugar beets, cotton, and tobacco are harvested. Greece's low rainfall, its rural land ownership system, and the emigration of the rural community into urban areas or abroad are factors that hold back the growth of the agricultural sector. In 1998 agriculture accounted for only 8.3 percent of GDP.

While agriculture is not a thriving economic sector, Greece is still a major EU producer of cotton and tobacco. Greece's olives—many of which are turned into olive oil—are the country's most renowned export crop. Grapes, melons, tomatoes, peaches, and oranges are also popular EU exports. Wine is an export with promise, and the government has urged vineyard owners to produce higher quality wines to increase its popularity as an international export.

Given Greece's vast coastline and its numerous islands, it is natural that a fishing industry exists. However, it is not as vital to the economy as would be expected from a country with a rich maritime history. Over-fishing has lessened the impact of fishing revenues on the economy. Pollution in the Mediterranean has also damaged the industry.

Animals and animal production constitute a significant part of Greece's agricultural output. Goat and sheep meat and milk are popular and provide about 6 percent of agricultural production, especially sheep milk, which is used for making Greece's renowned feta cheese. Hogs, cattle, chickens, rabbits, beehives, and pigeons are other important livestock.

Employment in the agricultural sector has slipped throughout the latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st. In 1981 the agricultural workforce was measured at 972,000 and had fallen to 873,000 by 1991. Women have dominated employment in the agricultural sector.

Greece adopted a system of farming cooperatives as early as 1915 to streamline farming efforts. These cooperatives are now unionized and have been supported by every government that comes to power. Under the socialist governments of the 1980s, the cooperatives were greatly enhanced, and they received a large percentage of agricultural loans.

The European Union has granted Greece a number of subsidies to bolster its agricultural sector, but it continues to perform poorly in the 21st century. To expand the market for Greek food exports, the Ministry of Agriculture established a private company, Hellagro SA, to assist Greek companies in selling their products over the Internet. Private stockholders will hold the majority share in Hellagro, and financing will come from e-commerce , commission (money paid for performing a given act or transaction), investment opportunities, and joint ventures . The government is hoping this effort will help revitalize the struggling industry.

INDUSTRY

Greece's industrial sector is weak. While it expanded during the 1960s, growth slowed from the 1970s to the 1990s. Industry has progressed to a higher level in 2000 due to large increases in mining and energy production, as well as construction, but it remains an under-performing economic sector. The shipping industry, however, is an important exception, and has performed exceptionally well. Textile production, food processing, construction, cement, and shipping are important segments of this sector. High-technology equipment production, particularly in telecommunications, is another growing and important industry.

MANUFACTURING.

Manufacturing accounts for about 14 percent of the GDP. In 2000 the manufacturing sector increased modestly. During the 1990s, the most important and profitable sectors have been (in order) foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals, and nonmetallic minerals.

The economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, in which the Greek economy experienced declines in its GDP growth rate, rising labor and oil costs, and high inflation, hurt many manufacturing companies. The government bought many of these companies to prevent them from going out of business and help them earn a profit. Eventually, the PASOK government in the 1990s decided to embark on a continuing privatization policy in an effort to encourage foreign investment.

Prior to Greece's admittance into the EU, the government tried to bolster new manufacturing companies with tax breaks, tariff protection, and cheap loans. However, this policy was eliminated to comply with EU regulations. Today, most government assistance to manufacturing firms takes place in the form of grants and subsidies for new investment.

Foreign investment in manufacturing has not been strong, despite incentives from the Greek government as early as 1953, but it has grown since 2000. Investment by foreign companies is important, as it helps a struggling economy grow. It expands an economic sector, brings new technology into a country, increases tourism, creates new job opportunities, and accelerates growth in other sectors of the economy. Greece's EU membership helped lure some investors with the promise of working in a unified European market. In 1992, a large Italian company, Calcestruzzi, bought a substantial share of Greece's major cement company, AGET. By 1988, an estimated 18 percent of total manufacturing employment was under foreign control.

MINING.

The mining industry is small but significant because of Greece's vast mineral resources. Lignite, which is used for making energy in Greece, and bauxite, the raw material needed for aluminum production, are 2 minerals that are found abundantly in Greece. Other mineral deposits include ferronickel ores, magnesite, mixed sulfurous ores, ferrochrome ores, kaolin, asbestos, and marble. Mining accounts for only 1% of the GDP. Mining of metallic ores is concentrated in the hands of a few private companies. Quarry production is divided among many small companies. In 2000 mining output rose significantly, in contrast to its negative performance of the previous 2 years.

CONSTRUCTION.

Housing and building construction have always played a key role in Greece's industrial sector and have long been a major source of income. Today, construction activity accounts for approximately 7.5 percent of the GDP and is expected to rise due to new infrastructure projects financed by EU funds.

The government traditionally has seen the construction sector as a way to boost employment, income, and domestic demand. Accordingly, the housing construction industry has historically enjoyed tax advantages. However, with the fiscally conservative policies of the 1990s, increased taxation was considered.

The construction of large public works has also played a significant role in this subsector of the economy. The new international airport in Athens was a major construction project planned by the government. The first passenger flights took off in March 2001 and the government hopes the airport will become a regional hub for routes to Europe, Africa, and Asia. With its state-ofthe-art facilities, the new airport is expected to boost the tourism sector and handle the tourist traffic demands of the 2004 Olympic Games, which will be held in Athens. The $1 billion construction project involved both Greek and foreign private companies and the Greek public sector. Attiki Odos, a conglomerate of Greek construction companies, constructed a high-speed toll roadway, and plans are underway to build new hotels near the airport.

The Athens Metro subway system is another construction project that is being renovated and expanded in 2000-01, as well as new roadways, railroads, and bridges. Under the terms of the EU, Greece must be open to international bidding for major projects, which provides tough competition for the Greek construction industry.

In 2000, private building activity increased. Permits for new projects, particularly in the housing industry, rose by 6.3 percent and many predict a real-estate boom in coming years. Although the residential housing market has matured, expansion seems likely in the area of home renovations and in the purchase of second homes.

SERVICES

The service industry is the most important sector of the Greek economy. In 1998, the service sector provided 64.4 percent of Greece's GDP, and accounted for nearly 60 percent of Greece's labor force . A variety of businesses are included in this sector: street vendors, the hotel and lodging industry, telecommunications, and public administration.

TOURISM.

Greece has long been known for its warm climate, scenic Mediterranean coastlines, and classical archeological and historical sites. These attractions, together with its beautiful and quiet islands, delicious culinary offerings, and renowned hospitality have made Greece a popular tourist destination. The most popular attractions are the Acropolis of Athens, the palace of Knossos on the island of Crete, the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the Epidaurus Theater and the palace and treasure of Mycenae in the Peleponnesus, and the Acropolis of Lindos on the island of Rhodes.

The tourism industry has grown significantly since the 1960s, and is a major source of foreign exchange, but this sector has suffered from poor infrastructure and a strong drachma. European tourists visiting Greece tripled from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, and reached 11.5 million visitors in 2000. Most tourists visiting Greece hail from Great Britain and Germany; however, droves of visitors come from Italy, the former Yugoslavia, France, and the Netherlands. The number of American tourists declined during the 1990s. Lodging options have increased significantly between the 1970s and 1990s due to an expansion of hotels. In 1998, tourist revenues were high as Greece benefited from problems in neighboring countries and an economic recovery in the EU. Today Greece faces tough competition from Turkey, which has become a popular vacation destination, but improvement in the tourism sector does hold promise.

Fully understanding its importance, the government is working to improve this vital sector of the Greek economy. First, it is attempting to upgrade facilities in the country to levels found in competitors Spain and Italy. It is also looking to expand the tourist season from 6 months to year-round through sports, hosting international conferences, and cultural tourism. Developing marine tourism with activities such as cruises and sailing excursions is another priority. To accommodate more tourists, the state-controlled Hellenic Tourist Organization is planning to expand the number of marinas (docks for pleasure boats) operating in Greece.

In 2001 the PASOK government of Prime Minister Simitis launched a campaign to attract private investment in Greece's tourist industry as part of its ongoing privatization program. The Hellenic Tourist Properties (ETA), which is the asset management arm of the Hellenic Tourist Organization, is trying to attract private investors to develop its properties through long-term leases, joint operations, or equity operations. Some of the projects in need of investment are a theme park for Anavissos, an aquarium, and camping grounds at Voula. The city of Rhodes will build more hotels, a golf course, and athletic facilities. The government hopes these new attractions increase Greece's popularity as a tourist destination, especially with the approach of the 2004 Olympic Games, which will bring thousands of new visitors to Greece. The government is trying to ensure they will return as tourists.

TRANSPORTATION.

Greece's rugged interior, its lengthy coastline, and multitude of islands have made shipping an important industry. Greece's 5 major cities—Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, and Volos—are all major ports, and there are a total of 123 ports throughout the country, which are essential to transporting and importing goods to and from Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East.

Shipping has been one of Greece's most important and profitable industries due to the business know-how of its shipowners. Its merchant fleet is one of the largest in the world totaling 3,358 ships in 1998, although many of its ships are older. However, Greek ship owners are trying to upgrade their fleets with new ships, and there were a record number of new ship-building orders placed in 2000, due to low prices offered by South Korean shipyards. Many of Greece's ships are cargo carriers to third-world countries, so the industry is sensitive to downturns in the world economy.

Road transportation saw increases in the second half of the 20th century, gaining in importance compared to rail and shipping transport. However, the closing of roads in the former Yugoslavia, traditionally Greece's route into Europe, caused sea transport to increase in importance once again.

Olympic Airways, which is partially state-owned, is Greece's exclusive airline. Olympic offers domestic flights throughout Greece's major cities and islands, as well as overseas flights to Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and South Africa. While passenger loads have increased, the airline has faced financial difficulty as a result of high costs. Greece has negotiated plans with the EU to restructure the airline.

Railway construction began in Greece in the 1880s and, given the rugged terrain of the country, was an extraordinary feat of engineering. Tracks cover slightly less than 2,548 kilometers (1,583 miles) of the country. The EU is providing assistance in renovating the railroad system. Since 1990, diesel locomotives have gone into service and shortened travel time.

In 2000, new registrations for automobiles increased, although many buyers have apparently postponed new purchases until Greece joins the economic and monetary union and interest rates fall to euro zone levels. Truck roads are inadequate in comparison to European standards. Greece has one of the worst automobile accident levels in Europe.

Public transportation in Athens is made up of an overcrowded and unreliable bus network and Metro subway system. Renovation and service extension of the Athens Metro finally began in 1993 after many delays. Work on the 130 year-old Athens Metro was finished in January 2000. The project faced many obstacles because of poor soil conditions, the presence of archeological remains, and contractor disputes. The Metro is expected to have a huge impact on daily life in Athens and ease passenger traffic congestion, making commuting much easier. Attiko Metro, a state-controlled company, oversaw the design, construction, and operation of the new Metro lines and U.S.-based Bechtel International acted as project manager. Further expansions are planned, particularly into lower-income neighborhoods in Athens as required in the funding package from the EU's Community Structural Fund, which provided much of the financing.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Member countries of the European Union have dominated international trade in Greece. Germany and Italy

are Greece's main EU trading partners, with 25 and 11 percent of exports and 16 percent of imports each, respectively. Outside of the EU countries, the United States is Greece's largest trading partner, with 16 percent of exports and 11 percent of imports. Other significant partners include the United Kingdom, Central and Eastern European countries, and the former Soviet Union. In the 1990s, the biggest trade increases occurred with South Korea, Bulgaria, Egypt, Japan, and China. The former republic of Yugoslavia's internal political problems resulted in a sharp decline in its trade with Greece.

Greece's imports are machinery, transportation equipment, food, chemical products, and petroleum products. Greece's main exports are fruit, vegetables, olive oil, textiles, steel, aluminum, cement, and various manufactured items such as clothing, foodstuffs, refined petroleum and petroleum-based products. Once it joined the EU, Greece was also required to break down all trade barriers in accordance to the organization's by-laws.

Greece must keep its economy in order as a member of the EU. To do this, the government embarked on an ambitious privatization plan during the 1990s, and continues to encourage foreign investment. Greek businesspeople are getting used to competition from international firms, and the government keeps state industries, such as tourism, open to private investment. A good example of foreign investment in a state-owned industry is the operating company Athens International Airport SA, which constructed the airport and will handle its operations. The Greek government owns 55 percent of Athens International Airport SA and the remaining 45 percent belongs to the German Hochtief Group.

Membership in the European Union has been extremely beneficial for Greece. Net payments from the EU budget have significantly decreased Greece's account balance and the state budget deficit. Support packages for public works projects such as the Athens Metro, and economic and human development projects, have been especially useful in attempting to upgrade Greece's infrastructure.

Greece's balance of trade has traditionally been negative (see chart). In 1991-93 exports of goods fell short of imports by more than US$13 billion. By 1998 that trade imbalance had grown to US$15.3 billion on exports of US$12.4 billion and imports of US$27.7 billion. Greece's trade deficit has usually been covered by loans from the EU, remittances from Greeks living abroad, tourism, and shipping.

MONEY

After many years of high inflation, the Greek economy appears to have settled since 2000. Inflation is above the EU average but is under control and expected to remain that way in the near future. Reducing inflation rates has been a success of Greece's recent reformist economic measures.

Inflation, consistently above 10 percent in the past, has fallen due to government fiscal policies, wage restraints, strong monetary policies, and debt consolidation. By mid-1999 inflation fell to 2.0 percent but later rose again because of a sharp easing of Greece's monetary policy when it joined the EU's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Fortunately, this did not cause a huge inflation increase as had been feared.

In January 2001, Greece became a member of the EMU after 4 years of careful fiscal planning by the government of Prime Minister Costas Simitis. Greece is expected to relax its monetary policy as its short-term interest rates converge with euro zone rates. The government views the economic forecast favorably, but progress could be slowed if it remains committed to tax cuts.

Greece's banks consist of 3 kinds of institutions. The first is the Central Bank of Greece, which controls and manages the country's money supply and currency exchange rates. It does this by regulating the cash flow of other banks and by direct intervention in money markets. It also operates as a regulatory agency for commercial banks and protects the monetary system against banking catastrophes. In conformity with EU rules, the bank should be a separate entity from the state to keep the government from borrowing bank funds. A large number of Greece's banks remain under state control and in the early 1990s state-controlled banks held some 70 percent of deposits.

Commercial banks also operate in Greece and are the second type of banking institution. Both foreign and domestic commercial banks operate in Greece, and New York-based Citibank is one of the largest banks in Greece. Traditionally banks have been depositories for the people but have recently expanded their operations to include wholesale and retail banking services. Commercial, industrial, consumer, and mortgage loans are issued through these institutions. They can also issue credit cards

and letters of credit as well as exchange foreign currency. Some banks also offer brokerage services.

A third part of the Greek banking system is made up of specialized credit institutions such as investment and mortgage banks. Examples are the Agricultural Bank of Greece and the Postage Savings bank. Many of the credit institutions are directly or indirectly controlled by the state; however, legislation in the 1990s sought to limit its influence. While these banks already offer credit services, EU standards have forced them to offer a wider range of banking services so that they do not have a monopoly on one specific area. Likewise, other banks are now permitted to offer these banks' specialized services, such as entering the agricultural credit market.

Since the late 1980s, the Greek banking system has undergone a process of liberalization , and Greece's EU membership has pushed modernization of the banking system. Interest rates are now set by market conditions, foreign exchange and capital movements have been deregulated , and credit quality controls were abolished. As a result, banking in Greece has become a modern and competitive industry. Proving its capability in this new environment, the Bank of Greece successfully managed a monetary crisis, protecting the drachma by tightening its monetary policy and raising interest rates to high levels. In less than 2 months, interest rates returned back to normal.

The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) has been modernized and revitalized since 1987. Recent changes include the formation of brokerage firms participating as members of the exchange, the introduction of an automated trading system, and the establishment of a Central Securities Depository. The early 1990s saw 118 public companies on the ASE. Traditionally, many Greeks are reluctant to invest in stocks and shares, preferring to invest their money in real estate, foreign currency, gold, and jewelry.

POVERTY AND WEALTH

Since the 19th century, upward mobility has been more common for Greeks with each generation. How-ever, unlike most European countries, which tend to have rigid class systems, Greece's class system has been more flexible as income has been more widely distributed.

For rich and poor alike, Greek society remains somewhat traditional. The Greek people have strongly held beliefs on the importance of the family and maintaining its societal role, which extends into the economic sector. For example, most Greeks, rich and poor alike, own their own home, and real estate usually stays within families. Non-home owners are considered impoverished, and questions arise about the family's inability to take care of its children and future generations.

The family remains the basic social unit for all classes. The extended family and the obligation of family members to help each other in times of trouble are essential parts of Greek society, which remains unaltered by the expansion of the middle and upper-middle classes following World War II. It is odd for a Greek man or woman to remain single or to break ties with his or her family. Sons and daughters will often live with their parents until they marry. Parents still have influence over the choice of a child's spouse. In rural areas, a groom and his family still consider a potential bride's reputation, family, health, age, and appearance important factors before agreeing to marriage.

Paternal authority is a key part of Greek family life and in Greek society as a whole. Men can often be found smoking, drinking coffees, and discussing politics in the cafés, which are not open to women. During the 1980s, however, significant changes were made in Greek family law, which restricted the dominant role of the father in the family. Dowries for brides were outlawed and although marriage is still viewed as an economic union, civil marriages were permitted and divorce was made easier.

Greeks are noted for their strong sense of community. Despite urbanization, village life remains a strong societal influence. Village square-style meetings on topics relevant to the community are common, even in cities. Many businesses are small, family-owned and operated enterprises. This is evident in some large and more dynamic sectors of the Greek economy such as the shipping industry, which is led by a tight-knit group of Greek

families. Business operations are often run on family connections and favors.

Major strides in health care have occurred since World War II. Many diseases have been eradicated, and Greece has more doctors per person than any other EU member. However, most doctors are located in Athens, meaning many rural dwellers must travel to the city for medical care. In 1976, a government study found that the poor did not have adequate health coverage or access to services, and there was a lack of coordination between government agencies. Reform efforts took several years, but in the 1980s the PASOK government of Andreas Papandreou created a national health-care system which sought to put all medical practices under control of the state. One major goal of the plan was to provide free access to health care regardless of economic means. However, wealthier Greeks often choose to travel abroad for major operations, as they believe health-care services and doctors are more sophisticated elsewhere in Europe.

Greece's health system does provide benefits for workers. Greece has a generous maternity-leave policy for women, and when new mothers return to work they are allowed to leave work 2 hours early so that they can go home to their child. Vacation leave is generous, as it is in many European countries. Greeks take advantage of this, especially during April, the traditional month for vacationing because of the Easter holiday.

Pensions are a complex issue in Greece. Most of the working population, about 80 percent, is covered under the Social Insurance Institute and the Agricultural Insurance Organization. Workers and employers must both contribute to the pension plans for the Social Insurance Institute, which covers professionals, laborers, and craftsmen. The Agricultural Insurance Organization provides pensions for rural workers and is funded entirely by taxes.

Education has always played an important role in Greek society, dating back to its classical roots. The

literacy rate is 93 percent. In the post-World War II period, education has been viewed as the key to upgrading one's position in society and to economic prosperity. However, Greece's education system is rigid and heavily centralized. Teaching is not a highly respected profession and as a result there are not many qualified teachers. State educational institutions are considered inadequate by the populace and, as a result, many children go for tutoring after school at private institutions called phrontistiria. Greek education is free and compulsory for all children to 9 years of age.

The university admissions process for students is very intense and extremely competitive, as graduating from a top university often ensures professional success. About 1 in 4 applicants are admitted. The educational system is plagued by the low social status of educators, lack of supplies and books, frequent strikes, and inadequate labs and technology. Most state universities do not have graduate-level programs, decreasing the incentive for faculty research. Currently about 100,000 students are registered at Greek universities and about 15 percent of the population hold a university degree.

Private universities are not permitted in Greece, which means that the government, and ultimately the taxpayers, must absorb the operating costs of universities and technical schools. A number of new colleges and universities were created throughout the country from the 1960s to the 1980s to meet the growing demand for higher education. However, many of these institutions are not well-equipped with books and laboratory equipment and do not offer enough openings to meet the desire for a university-level education, forcing many Greeks to study abroad. Those students who travel abroad for university tend to enroll in American universities, especially for graduate school. The Greek government evaluates all degrees from international universities to see whether graduates can work in the public sector. One concern with the increased number who study abroad, particularly with EU educational exchanges, is that a "brain drain" will occur, where Greek students will remain abroad rather than return to their home country with their new skills and education.

Following the collapse of military rule in the 1970s, the Greek government issued a number of reforms touching all levels of education such as the expansion of compulsory education and increasing technical education programs. The first PASOK government, which came to office in 1981, continued making education a priority and doubled the education budget during its first 4 years in power. Teaching methods and planning were standardized, routine educational inspections took place, and state education was placed under the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs.

With Greece's entry into the European Union and increased urbanization, there has been an emphasis on raising educational standards to those of its fellow EU countries. In June 1999, Greece was one of 29 states to sign the Bologna Declaration. The declaration sought to standardize EU member universities and shape degree requirements around European Union needs. Once accomplished, all university degrees in the EU would be comparable with one another. The plan called for the creation of a 2-cycle educational system with a 3-year undergraduate program and a 2-year master's degree program. The goal is to reduce unemployment by allowing trained and qualified students to enter the labor market more quickly. The Greek Ministry of Education was skeptical of the program and staged a conference in January of 2000 to debate the Bologna Declaration. University officials voiced strong reservations about the plan, particularly the emphasis on professional rather than liberal arts education. The Ministry of Education opted not to adopt the 3-year undergraduate system, but will make university credit hours more similar to those of EU educational institutions.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The occupational structure of Greece has changed in the 20th century because of increased industrialization and urbanization. Since the 1960s, the number of rural workers has dropped considerably. Overall, the employment numbers reflect various sectors' contribution to the GDP, with most Greeks employed in the service sector (59.2 percent) and lesser numbers in industry (21 percent) and agriculture (19.8 percent), according to 1998 estimates in the 2000 CIA World Factbook. Greece's total labor force numbered 4.32 million in 1999, when unemployment was estimated at 9.9 percent.

Generally, more men work in the industry sector while women dominate the service and agriculture industries. Greek women tend to have higher unemployment rates than men and are on average paid less. For additional income many Greeks work in seasonal or nonpermanent agricultural or service industry positions. For example, a craftsman may also work at a tourist site during the summer. Public-sector employees may often take a second job in the evening. Second jobs often complicate the way employment and unemployment figures are measured within the various sectors of the Greek economy.

In the Greek workforce, labor unions have been active throughout the 20th century. But unions have been subject to legal restrictions by successive Greek governments who considered unions a threat to domestic economic stability. Organization is centered on a particular trade or craft within a community. Local chapters are generally affiliated with national federations, which in turn are organized under the umbrella of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE).

The GSEE was founded in 1918 and is one of the oldest trade unions. However, the Greek public does not hold the GSEE and the Supreme Civil Servants' Administrative Committee (ADEDI) in high regard. Public hostility is also aimed toward the white-collar Association of Greek Industrialists, although they improved their public image considerably in the 1990s.

While not popular with the Greek people or government, trade unions can yield considerable political power. For example, when the New Democracy administration was in office in 1992, labor unions staged strikes following the privatization of the Urban Transportation Company, putting the government on the defensive. However, the GSEE has been instrumental in establishing pay increases and other labor benefits, which have benefited the country as a whole.

One of the by-products of industrialization in Greece was the development of an underground economy , which includes unreported economic activities that are not subject to taxation. Given Greece's large service sector, there are a number of retail and small family businesses that are unregulated and untaxed by the government, and it is difficult to track the number of unpaid family members working in these businesses. Estimates of the Greek underground economy are at 50 to 60 percent of the officially reported economy, meaning that income and employment figures in Greece are actually significantly higher than the official estimates. While this unofficial sector provides employment and income to many that would otherwise be jobless, it undermines the modernization of the country's fiscal system and the development of an internationally competitive Greek economy.

COUNTRY HISTORY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

2600 B.C. Period of early Minoean civilization in Crete, beginning more than 1,400 years of cultural development.

9TH CENTURY B.C. The poet Homer writes The Odyssey and The Iliad, the Greek classical epic poems.

8TH CENTURY B.C. Trade relations begin between Athens, Sparta, and other city-states.

450s B.C. Under the rule of Pericles, the Golden Age of Athens begins. This period is marked by achievements in architecture, sculpture, and philosophy.

336 B.C. Alexander the Great assumes power and creates the largest empire in history.

86 B.C. Rome conquers Athens. Pax Romana period begins in 31 B.C.

1453. Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople and Greece falls to Ottomans and remains under Ottoman control for close to 400 years.

1821-32. Inspired by the Enlightenment movement in Europe, the Greek War of Independence begins which liberates modern-day Greece. Britain and France assist Greece's efforts.

1863. New constitution establishes parliament. Prince William of Denmark named King George I of Greece.

1881. Ottomans relinquish control of Thessaly and part of Epirus to Greece following pressure from Great Powers at 1878 Congress of Berlin.

1909. Greek government is overthrown by a military coup. Eleutherios Venizelos named head of new government.

1930. World depression causes political and economic unrest in Greece.

1936-41. General Ioannis Metaxas heads dictatorship after Venizelos resigns in 1932.

1941. Nazis invade Greece. Start of 4-year occupation. National resistance movement founded.

1944. Athens is freed from German control and Greece falls under post-WWII British sphere of influence.

1946-49. Civil war erupts between government and Democratic Army of Greece.

1949. Greece receives aid for post-war rebuilding from the U.S. Marshall Plan.

1967. Military seizes the government in a coup d'etat, starting a 7-year period of international isolation. King Constantine goes into exile.

1974. Turkey invades Cyprus in response to coup attempt by Greece against Cypriot president. Greek military junta loses power and civilian government returns. Democratic institutions are restored and the monarchy is abolished by popular vote.

1975. A new constitution based on republican form of government is created. Turkish Federated State of Cyprus declared, heightening tensions between Greece and Turkey.

1981. Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) ends post-war conservative control and starts 8-year rule marked by reform program under Andreas Papandreou; Greece becomes member of European Community (EC).

1990. New government formed by Konstantinos Mitsotakis's New Democracy (ND) party, which wins control of half of assembly.

1992. The New Democracy party privatizes the mass transit system. Strikes erupt against Mitsotakis' government and its economic policies.

1993. European Union (EU) 5-year economic reform program adopted by Greece; Papandreou again elected prime minister.

1994. Greece imposes trade embargo against Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and EU declares embargo violates international law. UN, U.S., and EU attempt to work out a solution with Greece.

1995. Government ratifies UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, causing Turkey to threaten war if treaty is applied in Aegean Sea. Greece lifts trade embargo against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

1996. Papandreou resigns as prime minister because of poor health and is replaced by Constantine Simitis.

2001. Greece joins European Monetary Union (EMU). New Athens International Airport opens.

FUTURE TRENDS

In the 20th century, the Greek economy has fared poorly and has been plagued with high inflation, debts, account deficits, and shaky economic policies. However, its admittance into the EU has ensured economic reform and the commitment of the government to keep Greece's economic house in order. The road ahead looks brighter and more promising for Greece's long-troubled economy. Its entrance into the European Monetary Union (EMU) demonstrates that Prime Minister Simitis's PASOK government has successfully managed the economy without causing high inflation through tough fiscal measures. All signs show that the Greek economy is likely to expand, perhaps more so than that of other EU members. Recent wage increases, tax cuts, and employment growth are likely to keep consumer spending growing.

If the Balkan region becomes more stable, Greece may have stiff competition attracting foreign investors. Likewise, receiving funds from the Community Support Framework (CSF) of the EU may prove difficult as higher implementation standards are instituted. That said, the Greek economy is far better off than it was during the second half of the 20th century. And in fact, in 2001 the government expected to achieve a small surplus in the budget.

Politically, Greece is expected to remain stable under Prime Minister Constantine Simitis, ensuring the continuation of his economic platform, although there is some resistance to his privatization policies. Improving ties with its EU neighbors will be at the forefront of his political agenda, as well as fostering better relations with Turkey, Greece's longtime adversary. Throughout 1999 and 2000, the 2 countries made significant progress toward enhancing peaceful relations in the wake of Turkey's candidacy for admission to the EU.

Greece will host the 2004 Olympics, and the country is gearing up for this historic event. The new Athens International Airport is better equipped to handle the many tourists coming in for the Games, and improvements are being made in transportation and the country's infrastructure, such as new highways and expansion of the Athens Metro. Tourism revenues should increase significantly from the influx of Olympic participants and spectators.

As Greece continues its plan to modernize its economy while retaining some socialist aspects of its government, societal changes could occur. Businesses, especially family-owned businesses, are feeling the effects of closer integration with Greece's EU partners as the country's entrepreneurs now face growing competition from their European competitors. Small family-owned businesses could crumble due to competition from large international corporations. How this all plays out in Greek society, which is marked by strong family traditions, is unknown. It is hoped that increased free enterprise and capitalism will not damage Greece's strong family structure, which has been a pillar of its culture and society, much like those which still hold up the Acropolis after so many centuries.

DEPENDENCIES

Greece has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Economist Intelligence Unit. Country Report: Greece. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, January 2001.

Embassy of Greece. <http://www.greekembassy.org/busin-econ/tax.html>. Accessed April 2001.

Greece Now Project 2001. Greece Now. <http://www.greece.gr>. Accessed July 2001.

"Greece Silences Radio Stations Near Airport." Amarillo Globe-News. <http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/032801/usn_ greece.shtml>. Accessed June 2001.

Hellenic Ministry of Agriculture. <http://www.minagric.gr/en/index.shtml>. Accessed July 2001.

Kourvetaris, Yorgos A., and Betty A. Dobratz. A Profile of Modern Greece: In Search of Identity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Kurtis, Glenn E., ed. Greece: A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1995.

Nevradakis, Michael. "In Memory of the Athenian Free Radio." <http://www.media.net.gr>. Accessed June 2001.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook 2000. <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html>. Accessed July 2001.

U.S. Department of State. Background Notes: Greece. <http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/greece_9910_bgn.html>. Accessed January 2001.

—Lynn Mahoney

CAPITAL:

Athens.

MONETARY UNIT:

Drachma (Dr). 1 drachma equals 100 lepta. Coins in circulation are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 drachmae. Paper currency includes denominations of 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 drachmae. As a member of the European Union, Greece adopted the new currency, the euro, for non-cash transactions beginning in 2001, and will adopt the euro for cash transactions beginning in January 2002. The drachma will be replaced by the euro on February 28, 2002.

CHIEF EXPORTS:

Manufactured goods, foodstuffs and beverages, fuels.

CHIEF IMPORTS:

Manufactured goods, foodstuffs, fuels, chemicals.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT:

$149.2 billion (1999 est.).

BALANCE OF TRADE:

Exports: US$12.4 billion (1998 est.). Imports: US$27.7 billion (1998 est.).

GREECE

GREECE (Heb. יָוָן, Yavan), country in S.E. Europe.

second temple period (to 330 c.e.)

Although the earliest known Jews on the Greek mainland are to be found only from the third century b.c.e., it is highly probable that Jews traveled or were forcibly transported to Greece by way of Cyprus, Ionia, and the Greek isles by various enemies of Judah during the biblical period (cf. Joel 4:6; Isa. 66:19; see *Javan). The first Greek Jew known by name is "Moschos, son of Moschion the Jew," a slave mentioned in an inscription, dated approximately 300–250 b.c.e., at Oropus, a small state between Athens and Boeotia. This date coincides with the reign of the Spartan king *Areios i (309–265), who, according to later sources, corresponded with the Judean high priest Onias (i Macc. 12:20–1; Jos., Ant., 12:225). If this fact is to be accepted (cf. S. Schueller, in: jss, 1 (1956), 268), one can assume that such a correspondence entailed a certain amount of Jewish travel to Greece and is thereby possibly connected with the establishment of a local Jewish community. Further growth of the Jewish community probably took place as a result of the Hasmonean uprising, when numbers of Jews were sold into slavery. At least two inscriptions from Delphi (Frey, Corpus, 1 (1936), nos. 709, 710) from the middle of the second century b.c.e. refer to Jewish slaves. Among those Jewish fugitives to reach Sparta during the reign of Antiochus iv Epiphanes was the high priest Jason (ii Macc. 5:9).

During the Hasmonean period the Jewish community in Greece spread to the important centers of the country, and from the list of cities in i Maccabees 15:23 – probably dating to the year 142 b.c.e. – it appears that Jews already resided at *Sparta, Delos, Sicyon, Samos, *Rhodes, *Kos, Gortyna (on *Crete), Cnidus, and *Cyprus (cf. F.M. Abel, Les Livres des Maccabées (1949), 269). A similar list of Jewish communities in Greece is transmitted by Philo (Legatio ad Gaium, 281–2), and thus reflects the situation during the first century c.e.

Among those places containing Jews Philo lists "Thessaly, Boeotia, Macedonia, Aetolia, Attica, Argos, Corinth, and most of the best parts of the Peloponnesus. Not only are the mainlands full of Jewish colonies but also the most highly esteemed of the islands of Euboea, Cyprus, and Crete." That a sizable Jewish colony existed at Delos is further attested by the Jewish inscriptions in the area, including a number from the local synagogue (Frey, Corpus, 1 (1936), nos. 725–731; cf. Jos., Ant., 14:231–2, regarding Jews of Delos who are also Roman citizens). It may be assumed that the community at Rhodes was in close contact with the Judean king Herod, who is known to have generally supported the needs of the island (Jos., Wars, 1:424; 7:21; Ant., 16:147). The Jews of Crete are also mentioned by Josephus in reference to the imposter claiming to be the prince Alexander, who had been put to death by Herod (Jos., Wars, 2:103). The second wife of Josephus was also a resident of Crete (Jos., Life, 427). The Jewish population of Greece probably grew considerably during and after the Jewish War (66–70), and in one case Josephus relates that Vespasian sent 6,000 youths from Palestine to work for Nero at the Isthmus of Corinth (Wars, 3:540). An extremely large and powerful Jewish community also existed by the second century on Cyprus, for during the Jewish wars under *Trajan (115–7) the capital of Cyprus, Salamis, was laid waste by Jewish inhabitants and thousands of non-Jews were murdered. The consequence of this uprising, however, was a total ban on Jewish residence on the island, under pain of death (Dio Cassius 68:32; Eusebius, Chronicon 2:164). After Trajan, Hadrian (117–138) retorted with severe penal laws against the Jews, prohibiting circumcision, but these laws were allowed to lapse by Antoninus Pius (138–161), and henceforth the Jews were accorded a larger degree of tolerance. From the second century they were subject to the spiritual jurisdiction of a hereditary patriarch resident in Palestine. The Jews of the Diaspora early forgot Hebrew and adopted Greek (except for liturgical purposes), using a translation of the Bible – the Septuagint – which was begun at Alexandria under Ptolemy ii. Apart from Cyprus, Greek Jews did not suffer any particular upheaval during the Roman period, and the ancient Jewish settlement served as a foundation for the Jewish settlement during the Byzantine period (from 330 c.e., see below) – when the capital of the Roman Empire was removed to Constantinople – and a basis for Jewish settlement in other Balkan countries (see individual countries).

[Isaiah Gafni]

early and middle byzantine periods (330–1204)

Byzantium's secular institutions, with the emperor at their head, gave her long periods of stability, while in the West the Church added to the feudal disorder. These characteristics had their bases in the seventh-century Heraclian dynasty, which brought agrarian reform and a reorganization of the provinces, producing an army from small landowners and controlling the capital of the empire. The Heraclians were not only able to preserve their domains after Syria, Palestine, and Egypt had fallen and Constantinople had been besieged, but were also able to maintain their own authority against incursions from the outside. The struggle against Islam and the internal and external threats to imperial sovereignty were the dangers, which faced Byzantium up to the First Crusade. Her successes in these realms shaped her external and internal policy. The emperor received and held the secular and ecclesiastical support of the people, enough so that this did not become a problem to the underlying unity of the empire. Religious conflicts which existed were largely resolved by the emperor, a believing Christian, who decided for the Church who was a heretic and who was not.

A far greater threat arose in the tenth century, when the Macedonian emperors had to fight against the attempts to destroy the foundations of Byzantine economic and military security through the acquisition of great estates, i.e., the liquidation of the smallholdings and the control of the soldiers settled upon them. Although the emperors were successful for a time, the end of the old order came in about the middle of the 11^th century. Great landowners, partially independent from the emperor's influence, caused radical changes in the structure of Byzantine society. Additionally, the Normans in the western parts of the empire, the *Seljuks in Anatolia, and finally the Normans again – this time as Crusaders – succeeded in shattering the empire.

Byzantine Jewry in the seventh century is assumed to have continued in the status it held during the Roman period, as urban life was preserved and with it the main centers of Jewish population. Greece suffered greatly from Slavic incursions but the towns were hardly affected. *Salonika's Jewish history was unbroken and there were Jews in Rhodes and Cyprus.

The Middle Ages, for the Jew at least, begin with the advent to power of Constantine the Great (306–337). He was the first Roman emperor to issue laws which dramatically limited the rights of Jews as citizens of the Roman Empire, which were conferred upon them by Caracalla in 212. With the growth of Christianity the Roman emperors were influenced to further restrict the rights of the Jews. Constantine denied the Jews the right of proselytizing and prohibited intermarriage and Jewish possession of slaves. The legal status of the Jews was established by Christian Rome in the fifth century, when Theodosius ii (408–450) introduced specific regulations into his codification of the laws, in his Codex Theodosianus (438). The Jewish community was recognized legally, even though not in a friendly manner, and religious worship was protected. In the sixth century, although more hostile and interfering, Justinian i (527–565) left the basic situation unaltered. It remained so in the seventh century also. Leo iii (717–741), in the next imperial compilation of laws, the Ecloga ("Selections," 740), made no reference to the Jews. This preservation of legal status was very important to the Jewish community, as the Christian heretic had no legal status at all. Formal protection of the law minimally meant that the Jew had a place in the social structure.

Forced Conversion

In 632 Heraclius ordered the conversion of all Byzantine Jewry. This was a major point in his program of strengthening imperial unity, as he looked on the Jews as a political threat. Feeling that the Jews had shared in Persian military successes, he wanted to minimize their independence and influence within the empire. This policy of forced conversion was extended to Christian heretics but never took root for the Jews, who continued to be active in the civic life of the empire.

In 721 Leo iii issued a decree, which later proved to be ineffectual, ordering all Jews to be baptized. In leading a new dynasty to power he, like Heraclius, wished to insure imperial unity and also may have suspected a lack of Jewish loyalty. The messianic movements to the East, having aroused fears in Leo's mind, had attracted Jewish support and may have caused the order to forcibly convert the Jews of the empire. In spite of these state actions Jewish prosperity still had

room for existence in the empire and the results of the decree were as limited as they were in 632, even though some Jews left the empire and some converted outwardly. The termination of this decree seems to have been by 740.

The second Council of Nicaea in 787 reversed Leo's policy and criticized his handling of the Jews, proclaiming that Jews had to live openly according to their religion. According to Gregorios Asbestas, then metropolitan of Nicaea, the Jews who actually accepted Leo's inducements to convert were numerous enough to arouse this religious statement. Generally, these actions by Heraclius and Leo had little, if any, effect on the Jews of the empire.

Basil i (867–886), like his predecessors, also made an effort to convert the Jews forcibly, possibly to increase imperial unity but more probably to show his hand as a knowledgeable ruler in religious matters. Failing, where earlier Christians had, to persuade the Jews to convert, he issued a decree of forced conversion about 874. Like the Byzantine rulers before him, he failed in his efforts. The legal code of the period, the Basilica, made no basic changes in what Justinian had to say about the Jews, i.e., their legal status in religious and communal affairs continued to be recognized, and in some sense protected. Leo vi (886–912) apparently tried to follow in his father's policies but quickly gave it up.

Under Romanus i Lecapenus (920–944), who ruled in Constantine vii's (913–959) stead, further forced conversions, as well as persecutions, of the Jews were effected. This possibly happened by 932 and definitely by 943. His policy is known to have caused considerable migration to Khazaria. These acts may have been caused by Romanus' insecurity on the throne, as Constantine was the legitimate ruler and the former looked for ways to insure his position. In any event the persecutions were particularly severe, surpassing those of his predecessors. They were stopped quite suddenly when *Ḥisdai ibn Shaprut wrote to either Constantine or Helena, Romanus' daughter and the former's wife.

The last 250 years before the Fourth Crusade seem to have been a relatively quiet period for the Jews of the empire and it can be inferred that the situation actually improved and that no attempts were made by the authorities at coercing the Jews to convert. Further emphasis of this situation is provided by the fact that when the monk Nikon (tenth century) incited the inhabitants of Sparta to banish the Jews from their midst, his words were to no effect. In Chios an expulsion decree in 1062 was issued against those Jews who had recently settled there. There is no reason to believe that during the First Crusade in 1096, which took place during the reign of Emperor Alexius i Comnenus, the Jews were attacked when the Crusaders passed through the Balkans. The Jewish quarters, however, were looted. In the general panic which struck the Jewish world, a messianic effervescence also came to the surface in Salonika, Adrianople, and other cities. It is related that certain communities left their homes for Salonika in order to sail to Palestine from there. A tremendous emotion seized the community of Salonika, where both the authorities and the archbishop showed a positive attitude to the messianic spirit.

Social and Economic Conditions

The legal disabilities of the Jews during the period, known from the Basilica, were minimal and included exclusion from service in the armed forces and the government, even though Jews had been employed as tax collectors on Cyprus during the first two decades of the 12^th century. Jews were forbidden to buy Christian slaves, but this had little effect on them. No other restrictions existed concerning economic matters which did not also affect Christians. The charging of interest in trade and the purchase of land, except Church land, were permitted, although the emperors tried to control these matters for themselves. The question as to whether there was a specific Jewish tax seems to be open to a great deal of debate, but J. Starr (see bibl. The Jews in the Byzantine Empire) felt that such taxes did exist but were little enforced after the seventh century. In short, the taxes provided for by Theodosius ii in 429, Justinian's Corpus, and again three centuries later in the Nomocanon had little more effect on the Jewish community in the later period than on the Christian one. Such legal restrictions which did exist included the absence of the right of Jews to testify in cases involving Christians; the overriding imperial authority over religious matters between Jews; the right of Jewish testimony before Jewish judges only in civil litigation between Jews; the prohibition of Judaizing; and the necessity for Jews to take an oath in legal cases, which was contemptuous of the Jewish faith. Nevertheless, circumcision was officially permitted, the Sabbath and the Festivals were protected, synagogues were allowed, and even though the building of new ones was formally proscribed, the prohibition was not rigidly enforced. Although the Jew was restricted, he was in a much better position than Christian heretics. Jews were active as early as the seventh century as physicians and skilled artisans, particularly as finishers of woven cloth (e.g., in Sparta), dyers (in Corinth), and makers of silk garments (in Salonika and Thebes). Jews were also involved in commerce and farming and as owners of land.

In religious matters Hebrew remained the language of the Jews, although it was paralleled by the limited usage of Greek. Karaism began to appear in the empire in the tenth century (see Ankori, in bibl.) but only began to take root after the First Crusade. R. Tobiah b. Eliezer of Kastoria was an important Rabbanite spokesman. Aside from R. Tobiah little if any writing was apparently done in the areas of Midrash, Talmud, and halakhah during this entire period in Byzantium. There was literary activity in southern Italy, but then this area can only be included in the widest definition as to what was territorially part of Byzantine Greece. Additionally, about this time both Rabbanites and Karaites began to come to Byzantium from Muslim territory.

*Benjamin of Tudela, the 12^th-century traveler, states that in his time there were Jews in Corfu, Arta, Aphilon (Achelous), Patras, Naupaktos, Corinth, Thebes, Chalcis, Salonika, Drama, and other localities. The Greek islands on which Jews lived were Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, and Cyprus. He found the largest community in Thebes, where there were 2,000 Jews, while in Salonika there were 500, and in other towns from 20 to 400. The Jews of Greece engaged in dyeing, weaving, and the making of silk garments. After Roger ii, the king of the Normans in Sicily, conquered some Greek towns in 1147, he transferred some Jewish weavers to his kingdom in order to develop the weaving of silk in his country. On Mount Parnassus Benjamin of Tudela found 200 farmers; there were also some serfs among the Jews. During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine ix Monomachus (1042–1055), there were 15 Jewish families in Chios who were perpetual serfs to the Nea Moné monastery. The Jews of Chios paid a poll tax – in reality a family tax – which the emperor transferred to the monastery. The Jews of Salonika also paid this tax. The majority of the Jews conducted their trade on a small scale and with distant countries. The Greek merchants envied their Jewish rivals and sought to restrict their progress. *Pethahiah of Regensburg describes the bitter exile in which the Jews of Greece lived (see also *Byzantine Empire).

fourth crusade and late byzantine period (1204–1453)

Greece from 1204 to 1821 was the subject of many conquests, divisions, reconquests, and redivisions at the hands of the Normans of Sicily, the Saracens, the Crusaders, the Venetians, the Genoese, the Seljuks, the Bulgars and the Slavs, the Byzantine emperors, the Cumans, the Ottoman Turks, and others.

Greek Rule

During this period Theodore Ducas Angelus, the Greek despot of *Epirus (?1215–30), who was defeated in 1230 by the czar of the Bulgars, John Asen ii (1218–41), was notorious for his cruelty. Theodore added the kingdom of Salonika to his domain in 1223 or 1224, holding it until 1230. He initiated an anti-Jewish policy which other Greek rulers followed after him. Theodore apparently enriched himself by confiscating the wealth of the Jews, and refused them redress against his abuses. He is also charged with proscribing Judaism. After Theodore was defeated by John Asen, he was condemned to death and two Jews were ordered to put out his eyes. When they took pity on him and did not fulfill the emperor's order, they were thrown from the summit of a rock.

The Greek rulers of the Empire of Nicaea were also harsh in their policy toward the Jews. John iii Ducas Vatatzes (1222–54) apparently continued Theodore's decree against the Jews. The motive for persecuting the Jews is conjectural, but it seems to reflect the upsurge of nationalism in the provinces which remained under Greek rule. Jewish presence in the Latin states and in the areas ruled by the ambitious John Asen apparently strengthened the distrust, which the Greek rulers had for their Jewish subjects in both Asia and Europe. Bulgaria's territorial expansion might have offered a degree of relief for the Jews, but the decline of the Latin Empire must have had a negative effect on them. By 1246 John iii had entered Salonika and controlled the area from Adrianople to Stobi and Skopje, including the town of Kastoria.

With the restoration of Byzantine rule (in the guise of the Nicaean Empire) over a large part of the Balkans, various Jewish communities felt the weight of the rulers' anti-Jewish policy. Little information is available on this but it can be assumed that the communities of Kastoria, Salonika, and several others suffered from the Greek advances. Once the Greek "rump state" of Nicaea had recovered Constantinople under the leadership of Michael viii Palaeologus (1258–82), the anti-Jewish policy became outdated. He then began to resettle and reconstruct the ravaged capital, evidently realizing that his program required the cooperation of all elements, other than those who were then hostile (notably the Venetians and the subjects of the kingdom of Naples). It is not known whether there were Jews in Constantinople when Michael captured it, but after his conquest he renounced the policy of John iii and made it possible for Jews to return and live there quietly.

From the end of the Latin Empire the Byzantine emperors began to recover part of the Peloponnesus, nevertheless being frustrated in part in their attempts by Murad i, who held Salonika from 1387 to 1405, and Murad ii, who secured Salonika for the Ottoman Empire (1430–1913). The disintegration of the Byzantine Empire and in a large part its seizure by the Ottoman Turks led to generally favorable conditions for the Jews living within the Turkish sphere (see *Ottoman Empire; Covenant of *Omar).

Jewish Immigrations into Greece

The important Jewish communities which existed after the Fourth Crusade were Crete, Corinth, Coron (*Korone), *Modon, *Patras, and *Chios. The *Romaniots (Gregos) – the acculturized Jewish inhabitants of Greece – were Greek-speaking. Until recently Greek was still spoken by the Jews of Epirus, Thessaly, Ioannina, Crete, and Chalcis (see also *Judeo-Greek). From the end of the 14^th century refugees immigrated from Spain to Greece, and from the end of the 15^th century from Portugal and Sicily. Jews who were also expelled from Navarre, Aragon, Naples, Provence, and elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula and other Mediterranean Papal States in the late 15^th and 16^th centuries migrated to the Greek Peninsula. In towns such as Trikkala, Larissa, Volos, and above all in Salonika the Sephardim introduced their own language and customs. With the flight of the Jews from Hungaria in 1376 (probably connected with the Black Death and the persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe at the time) many Jews settled in the towns of Kavalla and Siderokastron; they brought their special customs with them. As a result of Sultan Suleiman's journey to Hungaria in 1525, a number of Jews emigrated from there to Greece (the Greek Peninsula), which was actually part of the Ottoman Empire then. The descendants of the Hungarian Jews were completely absorbed by the Sephardim after a few generations. A third group in Greek Jewry was that of the Italian-speaking Jews of Corfu, whose ancestors were expelled from Apulia in southern Italy.

During the 16^th and 17^th centuries the Jewish population increased with the addition of the Spanish Marranos, who fled to the countries dominated by the Turks, and after the persecutions of 1648, Polish refugees. The congregations (kehalim) were organized according to the regions of origin, and by generation and migratory waves. The Salonikan kehalim from Italy, Lisbon, Catalan, and Sicily were each divided into Yashan (old) and Ḥadash (new) based on migratory waves. Thus, during the 16^th century in Patras there were the following kehalim: Kehillah Kedoshah Yevanim ("Greek Holy Community"), Kehillah Kedoshah Yashan ("Ancient Community," of Sicilian origin), Kehillah Kedoshah Ḥadash ("New Community," refugees from Naples and smaller Italian towns), and Kehillah Kedoshah Sephardim ("Sephardi Holy Community"). In Arta there were kehalim whose founders had come from Corfu, Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily.

ottoman (and late venetian) rule (1453–1821)

The important communities during the Turkish (and late Venetian) periods were, in the first place, Salonika, which was probably the largest Jewish community during the 16–18^th centuries and which until the beginning of the 20^th century was populated most of the time by a majority of Jews; Naupaktos; Patras, whose merchants were known as courageous travelers who went as far as Persia; Arta; Thebes, which was "renowned for its wisdom" (responsa of Elijah *Mizraḥi (Constantinople, 1559–61), No. 71); and *Ioannina (Janina), the largest Romaniot community. On Crete the Jews played an important part in the transit trade; the island was also known for its rabbis and scholars, notably the *Capsali family, *Delmedigo, and others. There were also some Jews on Cyprus. After the conquest of Rhodes by the Turks in 1552, Jews from Salonika arrived on the island, where their commercial role became an important one. The island also became a stopping place for pilgrims on their way to Palestine. It was widely known for its rabbis, especially the rabbinical dynasty of the *Israel family.

When Sigismondo Malatesta conquered Mistra (Sparta) in 1465, he burned down the Jewish quarter. In 1532 when the forces of Andrea Doria attacked the Greek towns which were in the hands of the Turks, the Jews of Coron, Modon, and Patras suffered greatly. Their property was confiscated and they were taken captive. During the reign of Selim ii (1566–74) Don Joseph *Nasi was appointed duke of Naxos and the surrounding isles of the Cyclades. In 1669 the Venetian armies attacked the island of Chios. To commemorate the miraculous stand against their siege, the local Jews annually celebrated "Purim of Chios" on Iyyar 8. With the Venetian invasion of the Peleponnese in 1685, the Jews abandoned Patras in fear and fled to Larissa. They were also compelled to flee for their lives from the islands of the Aegean Sea. The Greek-Orthodox of the Peleponnese, who often rebelled against the Turks, massacred the Jews whom they considered allies of the Turks. During this period of confusion in the 18^th century the communities of Patras, Thebes, Chalcis, and Naupaktos were greatly harmed and almost destroyed. In 1770, when Russia captured several sea towns of the Greek coast, the Ottoman Turks sent forces to the area. They did not differentiate between Greek-Orthodox and Jews and the Jewish communities of Patras, Thebes, Chalcis, and Lepanto (Naupaktos) were almost destroyed.

Religious Culture Under Ottoman Rule

The 16^th century was the Golden Age of Salonikan Jewry, with religious figures like the decisors Rabbi Samuel de *Medina (Rashdam) and Isaac *Adarbi; Rabbi Joseph *Caro, who prepared a good part of his halakhic work Beit Yosef while residing 17 years in the city; the eminent Joseph Taitazak, gadol ha-dor (the foremost rabbi of his generation); Judah Abravanel; Moses *Alshekh; *Levi ben Habib (the Ralbaḥ); Jacob ibn Verga; Eliezer ha-Shimoni; Joseph ben Lev; the paytan Solomon Alkabeẓ, author of the Sabbath hymn "Lekha Dodi"; and the poet Saadiah ben Abraham Longo. The talmud torah was a mammoth center that not only was a school for over 10,000 pupils and 200 teachers but had a printing press, produced fabrics, and served as the bank for the community where members kept their money. It relieved the individual kehalim from the financial burden of maintaining their own schools. Salonika as a world Sephardi center hosted the Beit Midrash Le-Shirah ve-le-Zimrah, which approved piyyutim before they were accepted into prayer. Israel *Najara, a descendant of a Salonikan family, came to Salonika to develop and receive approval for his famous hymn "Ẓur mi-Shello Akhalnu."

*Anusim left the Iberian Peninsula in the 16^th and 17^th centuries and returned to Judaism when they reached Salonika and other Ottoman communities. The physician Lusitanus arrived in Salonika with a profound knowledge of religious Judaism. He was an expert on the menstrual cycle, published numerous treatises on the subject, and established both a medical school and yeshivah when he settled in Salonika. The newly arriving anusim and veteran former anusim also brought religious fervor, fanaticism, and an acute and active messianism, which created great turbulence within the Jewish communities of the northern Greek Peninsula. Salonika hosted the false messiahs Solomon Molcho and *Shabbetai Ẓevi; the latter causing a great decline among Salonikan Jewry after he was proclaimed messiah in 1666. The Jewish masses were swept up in the messianic frenzy and abandoned traditional Jewish law and religious customs and beliefs. While the core supporters converted to Islam after Shabbetai Ẓevi was exiled by the Sultan, forced to convert to Islam, and finally died in Montenegro, most Jews did not convert. Strict religious takkanot were enforced within the Salonikan Jewish community. This did not prevent the community from falling into spiritual and economic decay, but in the 18^th century many more religious exegeses were published than previously, in the new spirit of religious conservatism.

Besides Salonika, which during the 16^th and 17^th centuries was a major Jewish center, there were also important rabbis and scholars in the smaller communities of Greece. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries these included Solomon Cohen (Mahar-SHa-KH) of Zante and the Peloponnesus; Samuel b. Moses *Kalai, the author of Mishpetei Shemu'el, of Arta; Moses *Alashkar of Patras, the author of responsa; during the 18^th century: Isaac Algazi, the author of Doresh Tov; Isaac Frances of Kastoria, the author of Penei Yiẓḥak; Ezra Malki of Rhodes, the author of Malki ba-Kodesh and other works; Jedidiah Tarikah of Rhodes, the author of Ben Yadid and other works; Isaac Obadiah of Patras, the author of Iggeret Dofi ha-Zeman; Eliezer b. Elijah ha-Rofeh ("the physician") Ashkenazi of Nicosia, Cyprus, the author of Yosif Lekaḥ on the Book of Esther.

Economic Situation of the Jews

During the Turkish period (1453–1821) the Jews of Greece were principally engaged in the crafts of spinning silk, weaving wool, and making cloth. They also controlled an important part of the commerce, money lending, and the lease of the taxes. In the Greek islands under Venetian rule the Jews only engaged in retail commerce, as the larger type of commerce was the monopoly of the Venetian nobility. Under Turkish rule, however, the wholesale trade was concentrated in Jewish hands. The Jews succeeded in developing connections in Italy, France, Amsterdam, Hamburg, London, and in the Orient with Constantinople, Izmir, and Alexandria. The merchants of Kastoria traded in hides, furs, cattle, metals, and broken silver vessels. The Jews of Naupaktos were engaged in the trade of palm branches. At a later stage the tobacco, grain, sesame, hashish, and raw hides trades became those of the Jews. However in Thessaly, the Peloponnesus, and the Balkans the Jews engaged in peddling and tinsmithing, living in extreme poverty. In Salonika all the port activities were in Jewish hands and the port was closed on Sabbaths and Jewish festivals.

greek independence (1821)–world war ii (1940)

With the outbreak of the Greek revolt in 1821 Greek Jewry suffered intensively because of its support of and loyalty to Ottoman rule. In those towns where the rebels gained the upper hand, the Jews were murdered after various accusations had been leveled against them. In the massacre of the Peloponnesus 5,000 Jews lost their lives; the remainder fled to Corfu. From that time the condition of the Jews who lived among the Greeks, even within the boundaries of Turkish rule, began to deteriorate. From time to time there were blood libels, such as in Rhodes (Turkish until 1912; Italian until 1947) in 1840. In 1891 disorders broke out on the Greek islands; the Jews left in panic. During the same year there was also a blood libel in Corfu (Greek, from 1864). The Jews on the island, as well as on the neighboring island of Zante, were attacked. About 1,500 Jews left the Greek islands and settled in Italy, Turkey, and Egypt. The Jews of Corfu suffered a large-scale blood libel in 1891; for three weeks the Jews were locked into their ghetto during continual rioting, some 22 Jews died, and in light of apathy on the part of the Greek army, the Great Powers sent ships-of-war off the coast in order to pressure the government to restore order. Even the active participation of the Jewish citizens of Greece in the war against Turkey in 1897 was not mentioned in their favor; with the end of the hostilities in Thessaly, anti-Jewish riots broke out and an important part of the Jewish population was compelled to seek refuge in Salonika. At the beginning of the 20^th century there were about 10,000 Jews in Greece. After the Balkan War (1912–13), with the annexation of further territories in 1912, which included Salonika, Chios, Crete, Epirus, Kavalla, and Phlorina, their numbers grew to 100,000.

After the population exchanges between Turkey and Greece as a result of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) and the arrival in Salonika of 100,000 Greeks from Anatolia, the status of the Jews deteriorated because of the increased competition in commerce and the crafts. Many Jews were compelled to leave the city. The Asia Minor refugees introduced legislation in Salonika in 1924 forbidding work on Sunday, thus compelling Salonikan Jewry either to lose a day's work or break the Sabbath. When the legislation was promulgated nationally, Jews began leaving Ioannina for Ereẓ Israel. In the late 1920s, zealous elements amongst the Asian Minor refugee population continued to bait Salonikan Jewry and incited them in the Salonikan daily Greek newspaper Makedonia. In 1931, Isaak Cohen, a young Jew from Salonika and member of Maccabi who went to Sofia for a regional Maccabi meeting, was falsely accused on the front page of Makedonia of going to Bulgaria for Macedonian nationalist meetings and riots broke out against Salonikan Jewry in much of the eastern part of the city, which was heavily Jewish. The Campbell neighborhood, which housed Jewish fishermen and port workers, who had become homeless after the devastating 1917 fire, was burned to the ground by the student eee (Nationalist Greek Union) and Jewish migration ensued to Ereẓ Israel. On the other hand, the economic position of the Jews in the provincial towns of Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, and the islands did not arouse the jealousy of their neighbors. Until World War ii the situation of the Jews in Greece was satisfactory. They controlled the markets of paper, textiles, medicines, glassware, ironware, wood, and hides, and were also represented in heavy industry, international commerce, and banking. Many Jews were also employed in manual labor as stevedores, coachmen, and fishermen, as well as in various handicrafts. The number of Jews in Greece on the eve of World War ii was 77,000.

Civic and Cultural Conditions of the Jews

Greece recognized the civic and political equality of the Jews from the time of its establishment as a modern state in 1821. In 1882 legal status was granted to the Jewish communities. This status was confirmed on various occasions when laws defining the privileges and obligations of the communities were passed. The community councils, which were elected by general suffrage, were responsible for the religious, educational, and social affairs.

At the beginning of the 20^th century the Alliance Israélite Universelle still maintained a number of Jewish schools in Greece. The Jewish schools were attached to the communities and did not have any attachment to religious or political trends. Jewish children attended the state schools and the religious studies were entrusted to ḥazzanim, who were content to teach the prayers in their traditional tunes. It was only in Corfu that the religious studies were of a higher standard. In those regions, which were under Turkish rule until 1912, such as Thrace, Macedonia, and Epirus, there was a Jewish school in every community, which was supported by the Alliance. The greatest concentration of Jewish schools was in Salonika. In Salonika alone, at the beginning of the 20^th century, there were some seven schools under the auspices of this Parisianled Jewish school system. Between the two world wars there were 12 Jewish schools founded by the community, institutions of the Alliance, as well as private schools. In 1931 a law was passed which prohibited children of Greek nationality from attending foreign schools before they had completed their elementary education. This came as a fatal blow to the Alliance schools; the institutions of the Alliance amalgamated with the community schools in 1935. The Italians opened a seminary for the training of rabbis and teachers of Jewish subjects on the island of Rhodes, but it closed in 1938.

holocaust period

The Italian army attacked Greece on Oct. 28, 1940, and the Germans invaded on April 6, 1941. According to statistics of the *Salonika Jewish community, 12,898 Jews, among them 343 officers, served in the Greek army and several hundred Jews fell in battle. The entire country was occupied on June 2, 1941, and split up among the Axis (German, Italian, and Bulgarian) forces. Treatment of the Jews differed from one occupied zone to another.

German Zone

Salonika was taken by German troops on April 9, 1941. Anti-Jewish measures were at once instituted, beginning on April 12 when Jewish-owned apartments were confiscated and the Jewish inhabitants ordered to vacate them within a few hours. Three days later, the members of the Jewish community council and other prominent Jews were arrested. A "scientific" delegation arrived from Germany for the purpose of plundering the community of its valuable Hebrew books and manuscripts for transfer to the Nazi "Institute for Jewish Affairs" in Frankfurt. Before long, the impoverishment of the community became overwhelming and the community council was unable to extend aid to all those who were in need. Contagious diseases spread and the death rate rose steeply, especially among the children. In July 1942 the men were sent on forced labor; a short while later, however, the community council made an agreement with the Germans, whereby it undertook to pay them the sum of 2,500,000,000 old drachmas, due Dec. 15, 1942, in consideration of which the Germans would refrain from drafting Jews for forced labor. At the end of 1942 Jewish-owned factories and groceries were confiscated and the well-known Jewish cemetery was destroyed. On Feb. 6, 1943, racial restrictions were introduced; Jews were ordered to wear a yellow badge and confined to a ghetto, while special signs had to be posted above windows and establishments belonging to Jews. Jews were also prohibited from using public transport and had to be indoors by sundown. The transfer to the ghetto, set up in a specially designated area, had to be completed by March 25, 1943. On February 25, the trade unions were ordered to expel their Jewish members; on March 1 the Jews had to declare all the capital in their possession, and 104 hostages were seized to ensure full compliance with this order. At this time, a rumor spread that the Jewish population was about to be deported to *Poland. The recently established Jewish underground warned the Jews of the danger confronting them, but little heed was taken and only about 3,000 escaped to Athens. The first transport of Jewish deportees left Salonika for the gas chambers on March 15, 1943, followed by further transports of 3,000 Jews each at intervals of two to three days. Thus, various sectors of the ghetto were systematically cleared of their inhabitants. Five transports left in the last two weeks of March, nine in April, and two in May; in June 820 Jews were dispatched to Auschwitz, the transport consisting of members and employees of the community council and teachers. On Aug. 2, 1943, skilled workers, "privileged" Jews, and a group of 367 Spanish citizens were sent to *Bergen-Belsen, where they remained until Feb. 7, 1944. On Aug. 7, 1,800 starving Jewish forced laborers were brought to Salonika and deported from there in the 19^th and final transport from Salonika to the death camps. In all 46,091 Salonika Jews were deported – 45,650 to Auschwitz and 441 to Bergen-Belsen – 95% of whom were killed. The renowned Salonika community, the great center of Sephardi Jewry, came to an end.

Other Districts under German Occupation

On Feb. 3, 1943, the chief rabbi of Salonika, Rabbi Ẓevi Koretz, was ordered to ensure adherence to the racial restrictions in the provincial towns under the jurisdiction of German headquarters in Salonika. These were the towns in East Thracia, near the Turkish border, as well as Veroia, Edessa, and Phlorina in central and eastern Macedonia. On May 9, 2,194 Jews from these towns were sent to Auschwitz. A few Jews were saved by the local population and the chief of police, e.g., in the town of Katherine. Prominent Greeks, among them the archbishop of Athens and labor leaders, tried to assist the Jews, and there were Greeks who offered shelter and helped the Jews escape to the mountains.

italian zone

The Italian forces controlled Athens and the Peloponnesus. As long as the zone was held by the Italians, the Jews were not persecuted, the racial laws were disregarded, and efforts were made to sabotage the Italian racial policy. After the Italian surrender (Sept. 3, 1943), however, the Germans occupied the entire country, and on Sept. 20, 1943, Eichmann's deputy, Dieter *Wisliceny, arrived in Athens with detailed plans for the destruction of the Jews. Elijah Barzilai, the rabbi of Athens, was ordered by Wisliceny to provide a list of all the members of the Jewish community. Instead of doing so, the rabbi warned the Jews of Athens and himself fled to a provincial town. This enabled a considerable number of Athenian Jews to escape. On Oct. 7, 1943, Juergen *Stroop, the hoehere ss und Polizeifuehrer in Greece, published an order in the newspapers, dated October 3, for all Jews to register, on penalty of death. Archbishop Damaskinos gave instructions to all monasteries and convents in Athens and the provincial towns to shelter all Jews who knocked on their doors. On March 24, 1944, the Athens synagogue was surrounded by the Nazis and 300 Jews were arrested; another 500 Jews were routed out of hiding. They were first interned in a temporary camp at Haídar and later sent to their death in Auschwitz on April 2, along with other Jews caught in Athens. The rest of Athenian Jewry hid with their Greek-Christian neighbors. The Jewish partisans supplied food to those in hiding in cellars and attics.

bulgarian zone

A large part of Thrace and Eastern Macedonia remained under Bulgarian occupation, including the towns of Kavalla, Serrai, Drama, Besanti, Komotine, and Alexandroupolis (Dedeagach). Over 4,000 Jews from Thrace and over 7,000 from Macedonia were deported by the Bulgarians (see *Bulgaria, Holocaust) to the gas chambers in Poland; about 2,200 Jews survived.

The total number of Jews in Greece sent to death in the extermination camps is estimated at 65,000 – about 85% of the entire Jewish population.

Jewish Resistance

The conquest of Athens by the Germans on April 27, 1941, marked the end of open warfare. Over 300 Jewish soldiers and 1,000 other Jews joined Greek partisan units. The Jewish partisans sabotaged German military centers and military factories, blew up German supply ships, and severed lines of communication. A group of 40 Jewish partisans took part in the blowing up of Gorgopotamo Bridge, causing a break in the rail link between northern and southern Greece. At the beginning of 1943 partisan units made up entirely or primarily of Jews were set up in Salonika, Athens, and Thessaly, under the command of Greek or British officers. The Salonika partisan units gathered information on troop movements in Macedonia and transmitted it to partisan headquarters in Athens. In Thessaly the national resistance organization, set up by the Jews in the towns of Volos, Larissa, and Trikkala, was under the command of an aged rabbi, Moses Pesaḥ, who roamed the mountains with a rifle in his hand. The courage and heroism displayed by the Jewish partisans earned them the praise of field marshal Wilson, the commanding officer of the Allied Forces in the Near East. Their main task was the establishment of contacts between the various parts of Greece and the Allied general headquarters in Cairo. The Jewish partisans also succeeded in hiding hundreds of Jews in the mountains and remote villages. Others worked for the Germans under assumed names in such places as the port of Piraeus and carried out acts of sabotage. The greatest single heroic act of the Greek-Jewish underground was the mutiny of 135 Greek Jews in Auschwitz; they were members of a Sonderkommando, charged with cremation of the corpses from the gas chambers. With the aid of a group of French and Hungarian Jews they blew up two crematoriums. Attacked by the ss guards and by five planes, the rebels held out for an hour until all 135 were killed.

contemporary period

In the autumn of 1944, when Greece was liberated from Nazi occupation, over 10,000 Jews, almost all of them destitute, were in the country. A variety of factors (the general political instability, successive changes in the composition of the government, and the extended economic crisis) made the reconstruction of the Jewish community difficult. The Greek civil war also made emigration difficult for the Jews, as the majority of the men were obligated by the draft and could not receive emigration permits. After Greece's de facto recognition of the State of Israel a Greek cabinet committee decided (on Aug. 4, 1949) to permit Jews of draft age to go to Israel on condition that they renounce their Greek citizenship. Until the end of the 1950s about 3,500 Jews from Greece settled in Israel, 1,200 immigrated to the United States, and a few hundred others immigrated to Canada, Australia, South Africa, the Congo, and Latin American countries. In 1950 the number of Jews in Greece was about 8,000; in 1958 it was 5,209; and in 1967 about 6,500 Jews were scattered among 18 communities; 2,800 in Athens, 1,000 in Salonika (a number which rose to 1,300 by 1968), and 450 Jews in Larissa. As early as November 1944 a meeting of Athenian Jews elected a temporary council of 12 members that was recognized by the government as the representative of the Jewish community; in June 1945 the council was accorded legal status.

During the war, almost all of the synagogues had been destroyed or severely damaged; the synagogue in Athens was reconstructed, however, as were synagogues in other cities. A major obstacle to the reestablishment of Greek Jewry was the question of restitution of property that was confiscated during the occupation by the Nazis and compensation for the Nazi persecution. Although the anti-Jewish laws were repealed in most areas in 1944, they were canceled in Salonika only in June 1945. The question of compensation, however, involved a slower process. In 1949 the Organization for the Assistance and Rehabilitation of Greek Jews was established by official order to deal with this problem, but its work made no progress for a number of years. In spite of the lack of legal evidence as to who was deported to death camps, an agreement was signed in Bonn in March 1960 between the governments of West Germany and Greece on compensation to Nazi victims. About 62,000 claims for compensation were registered under this law; 7,200 of them were by Jews, of which about 6,000 were registered by Jews living outside Greece who had lost their Greek citizenship, and thus also their right to compensation.

During the first years after the liberation, Greek Jewry was materially supported by world Jewish organizations – the American Jewish *Joint Distribution Committee, the *Jewish Agency, etc. Only slowly did it rise above its state of poverty. As late as 1954 large numbers of survivors of the Holocaust continued to live in substandard conditions. Over the years the situation improved: unemployment decreased, and by the late 1960s the Jewish population included many artisans, merchants, retailers and wholesalers, industrialists (especially in clothing and textiles), free professionals, etc.

In spite of the stormy changes that passed over Greece after the war – and in spite of the influence of Nazi propaganda during the occupation – organized antisemitism was not evident in Greece, and the people generally refrained from activities motivated by hate against the Jews, except for some isolated incidents. Strong cultural contacts exist between the Jews and the Greeks, and the rate of intermarriage is on the rise.

A special problem arose from the fact that during the occupation a relatively large number of Jews participated in the struggle of the partisans and some of them afterward went over to the Communist camp. After the civil war the minister of defense issued a special order that clarified the position of the Jews who served in the elas brigades. He emphasized that these Jews were not to be viewed as "Communists," since during the Nazi occupation they had no choice but to flee to the mountains. Nonetheless, a number of Jewish partisans were executed. Five Jews who were condemned to death and 21 others who were deported to the islands were freed on the condition that they immigrate to Israel and renounce their Greek citizenship. When the situation in Greece became more stable, the Jews slowly returned to civilian life. They participated in elections – and were even candidates on various party lists – and a few were absorbed into government positions.

In 1964 a Jewish school existed in Athens with 150 pupils. Other areas were deprived of Jewish educational activities because of the small number of children and a shortage of teachers. The religious and communal life of Greek Jewry was very weak. Synagogues were empty except during the High Holidays. In the 1950s, in addition to the rabbi in Athens, there were rabbis in Volos, Ioannina, and Larissa; later there was only the one rabbi in Athens who also served as the chief rabbi of Greek Jewry. The Council of Jewish Communities was affiliated with the *World Jewish Congress and published a bimonthly; *wizo carried on activities for women.

In the 1970s the Jewish population of Greece was approximately 5,000; 2,700 in Athens and about 1,000 in Salonika. The Council of Jewish Communities was affiliated with the World Jewish Congress and published a monthly magazine, Chronika. Other Jewish publications were Jewish Review (monthly) and New Generation published by the Jewish Youth Organization of Athens.

There were three rabbis in Athens, while Thessaloniki, Larissa, Volos, and Chalkis were served by ḥazzanim. The Athens Jewish school had 150 pupils, and there were educational facilities in Thessaloniki and Larissa. Women were particularly active in communal affairs and were organized in movements such as wizo. There was also a chapter of B'nai B'rith and B'noth B'rith.

The 1980s can be characterized as the beginning of an active historical commemoration of the Judeo-Greek and the Sephardi heritages in Greece. Greek Jewry had aged, but a new generation of youth was being educated. Assimilation had taken a great toll and the legalization of civil marriages by the Papandreou government in the early 1980s greatly accelerated the process. Since then, most marriages were mixed and conducted outside of the synagogue, and there was no compelling need for the female to convert to Judaism. Jewish communities dwindled due to deaths in places such as Corfu, and Ioannina, and in Didamotiko, Zakynthos, and Cavalla deaths of influential leaders and the elderly brought Jewish communal life to an end. During the Lebanon War, Greek society was very critical of Israel and hostile to Israeli tourists and athletes. The press and the media vociferously condemned Israel for invading Lebanon, the course of the war, the bombing of civilian targets, and its treatment of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Greek Jewry was very uncomfortable during this period.

Until 1985, *Yad Vashem had only recognized 42 Greeks as Righteous Gentiles during the Holocaust. By 1994, 160 were recognized. In October 1992, at the dedication of Yad Vashem's Valley of the Communities, Greek Jewry was represented with stones for the communities of Salonika and Rhodes, and one general stone with the names of the other annihilated Greek Jewish communities by the Germans in the Holocaust. Yad Vashem established a room in their archive in memory of the annihilated Jewish community of Rhodes, and a foyer with an exhibit on the destroyed Salonikan Jewish community. In July 1994, Yad Vashem recognized the late Princess Alice as a Righteous Gentile for saving two Jewish families in Athens in wwii. Her son, Prince Philip of England, and daughter came to Jerusalem for the ceremony. Greek opposition leader Miltiadis Ebert came to Yad Vashem in 1995 for a ceremony honoring his father, Angelos Ebert, deceased Athens police chief, who had issued new identification cards with Greek names to thousands of Jews during wwii.

In 1999 at Yad Vashem, Bracha Rivlin, Yitzchak Kerem, and Leah Bornstein-Makovetsky published Pinkas Kehillot Yavan, a memorial volume on the history of the past Jewish communities of Greece destroyed in the Holocaust. The Holocaust Museum of Kibbutz Loḥamei ha-Gettao't established a permanent exhibition on Salonikan Jewry, the largest Jewish community of Greece annihilated in the Holocaust.

The Jewish Museum in Athens was founded in 1979 by the art historian Nikos Stavroulakis. After several years, it moved from Amalias Street to a new building purchased on Nikis Street. Stavrolakis in the late 1990s also restored the neglected synagogue of Chania, Crete, and turned it into a Jewish museum.

Greek Jewry, in particular in Athens, lost many of its elderly dynamic leaders. Owing to transportation problems in vast Athens, Jewish elementary school enrollment greatly decreased. The Jewish summer camp in Loutraki, operated by the Salonikan Jewish community, serving all the Jewish youth of Greece, increased its enrollment significantly in the latter half of the 1980s.

The retiree, Moshe Halegua officiated as rabbi in Salonika in the late 1980s. Rabbi Elie Shabetai left his position in Athens at kis to serve in Larissa.

Several antisemitic events were passed over in the 1980s with little publicity and repercussions. During the Lebanon War, the doors of the Corfiote synagogue were damaged. In the 1989 Greek election campaign, the campaign staff of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou fabricated a photo of opposition leader Mitsotakis embracing two Nazis, when the latter was a resistance officer in Crete. In Larissa, the Holocaust martyrs' memorial was defaced several times with antisemitic graffiti. In the 1980s Greek society shared identification with Jewish suffering in the Holocaust. Prime Minister Papandreou laid a wreath for Greek Jewry at Auschwitz in November 1984.

In the 1980s, 40 years after the Holocaust, Jewish survivors from Greece began to speak of their World War ii experiences. By the early 1990s several books of Greek Jewish survivor testimonies were published. In 1985, "Dor Hemshech," the second generation of Greek Jewish Holocaust survivors in Tel Aviv, was founded. It publishes an annual publication on Greek Jewry and the Holocaust on Yom ha-Shoah.

The Salonikan Jewish community has been active in preserving its rich history. Local Jewish community historian Albertos Nar established the Salonikan Jewry Study Center in 1985. Salonikan Jewish academics founded the Society for the Study of the Jews of Greece, and organized a conference in fall 1991. Historian Yitzchak Kerem uncovered a rare photo collection of the Bulgarian deportation of Jews from Macedonia and Thrace in wwii to Treblinka.

At Cambridge University, England, the Bulletin of Judeo-Greek Studies was founded to advance the field of the study of Greek Jewry since classical times. David Recanati published in 1986 the second volume of Zikhron Saloniki ("Salonika Memoir").

Greek Jewry received growing exposure through the arts. Films on Greek Jewry in the 1980s and early 1990s included Auschwitz-Saloniki, Ioannina, Athens, Jerusalem (Yitzchak Kerem & Israeli Television Society), and Because of that War (Yehuda Polikar).

During the 1985–86 Austrian presidential election campaign, former un secretary Kurt Waldheim was accused of wwii Wehrmacht activities in Yugoslavia and Greece as an intelligence officer outside of Salonika, and of connections to the deportations of the Jews of Ioannina, Crete, Corfu, and Rhodes. The Salonikan Buna (Auschwitz iii) champion boxer Jacko Razon sued his former best friend and boxing apprentice Salomon Arouch and the producers for stealing his identity in the film Triumph of the Spirit. The problem of 700 Israeli Greek Holocaust survivors, who never received reparations from Germany, was aired on Israeli tv. The Israel government began to grant some of the survivors indemnities, but the Claims Conference, despite promises in writing in 1980 by its president Nahum Goldmann, did not recognize most Sephardi Holocaust survivors for German reparations. On May 7, 1995, Israeli Salonikan Auschwitz survivors appealed to the Israel High Court to upgrade their reparations payments parallel to German Jews.

Prominent Greek Jews include filmmaker and author Nestoros Matsas, radio interviewer Maria Rezan, radio music commentator Jak Menachem, play director Albert Ashkenazi, Post Office Director-General Moisis Kostantini, former Energy Ministry Director General Raphael Moissis, retired brigadier-general Marcos Moustakis, and retired military colonels Edgar Allalouf and Doctor Errikos Levi.

In the summer of 1993, the existing practice of listing one's religion on the identification card in Greece became a major news issue. A delegation of U.S. Jewish leaders met with Prime Minister Papandreou, and other officials, who promised to find a solution for the Jewish objections. The interior minister supported a change in the practice, but the political weight of the Greek-Orthodox Church was overwhelming. The European Parliament passed a decision noting that the obligation of entering one's religion on an identity card creates prejudice and is an infringement upon human rights. In the summer of 1991, there were anonymous threats to the Jewish summer camp in Loutraki.

Several changes occurred within the Greek Jewish leadership. In the unprecedented holding of communal elections in fall 1993, the Jewish community of Salonika elected Andreas Sephiha as president. The new regime was committed to Jewish education, Jewish renewal and continuity, and historical restoration and commemoration.

In Athens, Joseph Lovinger, Board of Greek Jewish Communities (kis) chairman for many years, died and was succeeded by Nissim Mais, and later Mois Konstantini.

The Beit Loḥamei ha-Getta'ot Holocaust Museum established a permanent exhibition on Salonikan Jewry in September 1993. At Bar-Ilan University, Shmuel Refael produced a temporary exhibit on Jewish life in Salonika.

In New York in spring 1995, a Second Generation group of Salonikan Holocaust survivors was established by Dr. Joe Halio. For the Spielberg Foundation of the Shoah, Yitzchak Kerem filmed 99 Greek Jewish Holocaust survivors in the usa, France, and Israel, and Rena Molho interviewed several dozen survivors in Greece. Unfortunately, the Spielberg Shoah Foundation lacked the dedication to actively film Salonikan and other Greek Jewish survivors on a mass level in Tel Aviv.

After the revelation of the Secret Archives in Moscow of captured documents taken from Nazi Germany at the end of World War ii, hundreds of Salonikan Jewish community files as well as several from the Jewish community of Athens were microfilmed for the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, d.c.

The Jewish population of Salonika increased to some 1,100 in 2000 from about 800 in the 1980s.

Despite the establishment of numerous Holocaust memorials throughout Greece, media attention, and exposure to the Holocaust by both Jewish and non-Jewish Greek authors, the end of the 1990s marked a resurgence of Neo-Nazi activism and attacks on Jewish Holocaust targets in Greece.

Worrisome was the secret and spontaneous international gathering of 500 Neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers in Thessaloniki in 1999. Neo-Nazi and Holocaust denial literature was still published in Greece by publishing houses like Nea Thesis, and Eleftheri Skepsis (Free Thought). General antisemitic literature still flowed freely. The Greek government and the Greek Jewish community did not combat this danger.

The small fascist Chryse Avge Party has been a very disturbing element. Remarks by antisemitic mp Yiorgos Karatzaferis about Greek Jewry or wild allegations about the Jewish roots of Greek politicians were generally not criticized by the government or Greek and Jewish organizations.

Attacks on most of the public memorial squares and statues took place in 1999 and 2000. Holocaust memorials for the annihilated Jewish communities were tainted by antisemitic graffiti and vandalized in Larissa, Athens, Thessaloniki, and Chalkis. Some of the messages called for the Jews to leave Greece. Also the Jewish cemeteries in Thessaloniki and Athens were vandalized by both far left and Neo-Nazi groups.

Opposed to Neo-Nazi activity in Greece, the Board of Jewish Communities (kis) and general Greek-Orthodox groups have encouraged Holocaust education and commemoration. kis encouraged students and authors to write essays on the Holocaust. In 1997, the Central Board of Jewish Communities began an active public Holocaust education campaign. The active role of Greek television in the production of documentary films on Greek Jewry in the Holocaust in Greece has increased public awareness.

The initiation of Jewish Holocaust squares and monuments in Athens, Salonika, Ioannina, Volos, Larisa, Castoria, Drama, Rhodes, and elsewhere has been a positive step in public Holocaust recognition in Greece.

In 2000–1 the Jewish Museum in Greece began an educational Holocaust project with Greek public schools. In Autumn 2004 the first Greek Holocaust conference for educators was held in Athens.

Following Neo-Nazi activity in the late 1990s and exacerbated by reactions to the second Palestinian Intifada, Greek antisemitism reached dangerous and unprecedented levels in the press, in desecration of cemeteries, synagogues, Holocaust memorials, and in threats and attempted attacks against Jewish institutions and individuals in Greece. Perturbing was the lack of condemnation by the Greek government and the Greek-Orthodox Church. Official revival and sponsorship by the Greek government and the Greek Orthodox Church of the Burning of Judas ceremony on Easter is equally heinous and surprising. Voices of Greek intellectuals and artists in support of Israel and Greek Jewry are rarely heard, and the singer Mikis Theodorakis created an international scandal with his pronouncements that the Jews and Israel are sources of all global evil and with his interview in Haaretz justifying his grandmother's belief in blood libel and Greek eon Fascist Youth Movement activities of the late 1930s. Neo-Nazi publications continue to be published actively in Greece, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion have been reprinted in Greek, and large segments of Greek society are influenced by conspiracy theories directed against world Jewry. In an October 2001 kapa poll conducted amongst 622 households in greater Athens, 42% believed that 4,000 Jews intentionally did not go to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, while only 30% rejected the theory.

In Salonika, a Jewish museum opened and the community was strengthened by the hiring of young Rabbi Frezis, a native Greek-speaking Athenian ordained in Israel. In Athens, a Chabad center was opened at the beginning of the 21^st century.

Relations with Israel

The relations between Greece and Israel have generally been cool. Greece was the only European country to vote against the un partition plan for Palestine in 1947. After the establishment of the State of Israel, Greece recognized the new state de facto, but for a time did not establish diplomatic ties with it. Diplomatic representations were set up in Athens and Jerusalem only in 1952, but not on the level of an embassy or legation. Greece usually supports the Arab side in disputes brought before the un. However, shipping, air, and trade ties exist between the two countries. After the *Six-Day War of 1967, Arab terrorists made Athens the scene of attacks on Israel air communications. In 1970 seven Arab terrorists were convicted by Greek courts and sentenced to various prison terms, from two to 18 years, for attacks on an El Al plane, throwing a bomb at the El Al office, killing a Greek child, and trying to hijack a twa plane. In August 1970 when Arab terrorists hijacked an Olympic Air Lines plane and demanded the release of the seven convicted terrorists, the Greek government submitted to their blackmail and released them. After that incident, Greek authorities seem to have taken special precautions against the renewal of Arab terrorist activities on Greek territory.

The main event of the 1980s was the culmination of the process lasting throughout most of the decade in preparing the terms and the establishment of full de jure diplomatic relations between Greece and Israel, which was technically achieved on May 21, 1990. With the election of the Socialist Pasok Party in 1982 under the leadership of Andreas Papandreou, gradual preparations were made for eventual full diplomatic relations between Greece and Israel. When the moderate Nea Demokratia Party came into power in 1989, full diplomatic relations with Israel were established. In November 1991, Greek Prime Minister Constantinos Mitsotakis paid an official state visit to Israel. Israel Ambassador Moshe Gilboa toiled for the exit of over 300 Albanian Jews, most of whom were of Greek Ioanniote origin, to immigrate to Israel.

From the early 1990s relations between Greece and Israel have been cordial. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, returning to the premiership after sitting as opposition leader for four years, adopted a more moderate Israel policy than in the past. He apologized to Israel's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Yosi Beilin, for his past harsh policy toward Israel and his affinity for extremist Arab movements and countries. Following the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord Greek Defense Minister Gerasimos Ersenis visited Israel in December 1994. Greece and Israel signed a mutual military cooperation agreement.

[Simon Marcus /

Yitzchak Kerem (2^nd ed.)]

musical traditions of greece and the balkans

The eastern migration of Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula, at the end of the 15^th century, toward the main centers of the Ottoman Empire, led to a synthesis of musical traditions in the Balkan Peninsula in which Spanish elements – of Mozarabic or medieval Christian origin – were deeply fused with Greco-Byzantine, Turkish, and Slavic ones. Among the Balkan Jews, three distinct stylistic traditions could still be discerned at least up through the late decades of the 20^th century: (1) the Sephardi, which was most evident until World War ii among the Jewish cultural centers of Salonica, Larissa, and Volos (Greece) as well as in Sarajevo (Bosnia), Sofia (Bulgaria), Monastir (Bitolj, Yugoslavia), Bucharest, and Creiova (Romania). This Sephardi musical tradition differed from those of the dominant Arabic communities of the Near East, as well as the Andalusian in northern Morocco, and the Portuguese, which was more prominent in Western Europe (Amsterdam, Bayonne, Leghorn (Livorno), etc.). (2) The *Romaniot, evident in such isolated centers of continental Greece as Arta, Chalkis (Euboea, Negroponte), Ioannina, Patras, and Trikkala, and Crete, preserved remnants from the musical and liturgical traditions of the Byzantine period, in spite of the overwhelming influence of the Sephardi newcomers. The Romaniot Jews maintained a Judeo-Greek dialect in their hymnographic tradition, whose characteristic melodic conventions evolved independently during the 16^th through 18^th centuries. Even though they adopted the Sephardi rite in their liturgy, they did not entirely abandon their traditional music. (3) The Italianate, evident on the island of Corfu and neighboring centers – such as Zante – reflected the liturgical and musical influences of southern Italy which the Jews carried with them as early as the 14^th and 15^th centuries. A similar influence, traceable to Venice, was apparent in the now extinct Sephardi communities of Dalmatia – such as Dubrovnik, Split, and Vlona.

The chant of Balkan Sephardim, which was directly linked to that of the communities of Asia Minor (Izmir and Rhodes), integrated Greek and Turkish elements. The *Makam scales of ḥiijāz and ḥiijāz Kar were widely used in secular songs; the Phrygian cadence (a-g-f-e) was frequent, while the Makam Sika (Siga) was preferred for the reading of the Torah. The stylistic differences between the men's and women's repertoire, however, was not as striking as one might surmise. The men's style, more Orientalized (microtonal) and ornamented, had been influenced by the florid kontakionic and kalophonic styles of Byzantine hymns and chants, respectively, and by the florid Muslim chant which was practiced mainly in the synagogue repertoire. The women, who preserved a domestic repertoire in Judeo-Spanish, sang in a more relaxed manner, yet with varied degrees of vocal ornamentation, microtonal inflection, and in a medium to high vocal register. Within the more predominantly Greek communities, the 15^th-century Castilian ballads (romances) which had survived in their repertoire were stylistically different from ballads sung in other centers of the Balkans and northern Morocco. The predominant Greek traits included those that were found in Greek klephtic songs, wherein the textual hemistichs did not coordinate with the melody phrases, and the popular ⅞ epitrite dance meter. Even their texts varied greatly from those preserved in non-Greek centers. Like the folksongs of pre-World War ii Greece, the varied Sephardi communities also assimilated elements from classical Greek and Byzantine church music. Chants, songs, and hymns in Judeo-Spanish played an important role during the varied liturgical and paraliturgical occasions. The chants, sung as vernacular translations of Hebrew texts, could be heard during the removal of the Torah scroll from the Ark, as well as the homiletic translations of Jonah, and the haftarah sung on the Ninth of Av. The songs were interspersed during the reading of the Haggadah; and the hymns were fervently rendered for Simḥat Torah.

The earlier Byzantine ("Romaniot") style flourished much more overtly in the areas where Judeo-Greek was spoken, particularly in Ioannina, Chalkis, and partly in Corfu. The men's synagogal chant was highly influenced by the Greek kalophonia and the microtonal intonations of the surrounding Greek and Muslim cults (as in Ioannina). Among the women, the style was plaintive, with minimal ornamentation and flourishes, and there existed the ancient practice of singing funeral lamentations mainly as distichs or quatrains bearing short verses that were sung responsorially or antiphonally. The women were also assigned the singing of paraliturgical hymns, like those on Purim, often based on midrashic traditions. These songs flourished during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, coinciding, more or less, with the post-Shabbatean period that also gave rise to the mystic brotherhoods. The traditional literature of liturgical music was performed in rhymed distichs or quatrains, often with refrains or intercalations in Hebrew, which revealed the existence of a more ancient homiletic tradition, preserved both orally and in manuscripts. It reached its highest level in the 17^th century with the poet-composer Samuel Hanen.

Three distinct traditions coexisted and still exist to some degree among the Corfiote communities in Tel Aviv and Trieste: 1) the Italian or Pugghiesi (from Salento in Apulia-Puglia), which has remained the only important witness to the tradition of the medieval Jewish communities of southern Italy; 2) the Greek or "Romaniot," which was similar to that of Ioanina; and 3) the Sephardi. Some are sung alternatively in four languages (Judeo-Greek, Italian, Judeo-Spanish, and Hebrew) which confirm this symbiosis. A well-known bilingual folksong, which concerns a lubricious quarrel between mother and daughter, provides a good example of the differences of class and culture between the more bourgeois and assimilated Greeks, and the earthier Pugghiesi. However, the translations in the ancient Apulian dialect and the songs of this tradition, which are included in the Passover Haggadah, were the common property of all Corfiote Jews. A considerable number of manuscripts bear witness to the existence of a Minhag Corfu, rich in piyyutim, such as the elegy on the destruction of the Temple, for the Ninth of Av, in the Apulian-Venetian dialect. The chant of the Pugghiesi displays a singular persistence of medieval styles, also preserved in Greco-Italic church chants (mainly in those of the 8^th mode). The more recent religious synagogue and domestic chants, Sabbath hymns, and popular poems in Hebrew, or in their Italian translation, are performed as polyphonic settings for three to six voices, similar to the folksongs sung among the gentile populations in the Adriatic-Dalmatic region.

[Leo Levi /

Israel J. Katz (2^nd ed.)]

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