Area: 131,957 sq. km. (51,146 sq. mi.) including islands; roughly the size of Alabama. Cities: Capital-(greater) Athens (3 million). Other cities-Thessaloniki (705,000), Patras (154,600), Iraklion (111,000). Terrain: Largely mountainous interior, with coastal plains; many islands. Climate: Temperate.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective-Greek(s). Population: 10 million (1990 est.). Ethnic Groups: Greek 98%, other 2%. Religions: Greek Orthodox 97%, Muslim 2%, Other 1%. Language: Greek. Education: Years compulsory-9. Literacy-men 96%, women 89%. Health (1984): Infant mortality rate-13.8/1,000. Life expectancy-men 72 yrs., women 75 yrs. Work force (1988): Agriculture-29%. Industry- 27%. Services- 43%.
Government
Type: Presidential parliamentary republic. Independence: 1827. Constitution: June 1975, amended March 1986. Branches: Executive-president (chief of state), elected May 1990 for 5 years; prime minister (head of government). Legislative-unicameral parliament (Vouli) elected April 1990; parliamentary system with 4 year (maximum) term. Judicial- supreme court (Areios Pagos). Major Political parties: New Democracy (ND), Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Left Alliance (Synaspismos)-coalition of communist and leftist parties, principally the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Greek Left (EAR). Suffrage: Universal, 18 and over. Administrative Subdivisions: 51 prefectures (nomi), 13 regional districts (periferiarchies). Central Government Budget (1988 projected): $25.3 billion. Defense (1988 projected): approximately 11% of central government budget, 5% of GDP.)
Flag: Four white and five blue alternating horizontal stripes, with a white cross on the upper staff corner.
Economy
GDP: $53.8 billion (1989). Annual Growth Rate: -0.5% (1987); 2.4% (1988); 2.3% (1989) Inflation (1989): 14.8%. Natural Resources: bauxite, lignite, magnesite, oil. Agriculture (12.8% of GDP, 1989): Products: grains, fruits (especially olives, olive oil, and raisins), vegetables, wine, tobacco, cotton, livestock, dairy products. Industry (including mining, electricity and construction): Manufactured goods (30% of GDP, 1989)-processed foods, shoes, textiles, metals, chemicals, electrical equipment, cement, glass, transport equipment, petroleum products, construction, electrical power; Services (57% of GDP, 1989)-transportation, communications, trade, banking, public administration, defense. Trade: Exports (1989)-$6 billion: textiles, metal products, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals. Major Markets (1988)-EC 64.2%, Middle East and North Africa 8.2%, USSR and Eastern Europe 4.3%, US 6.3%. Imports (1989)-$15 billion: petroleum, machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, meat and animals. Major Suppliers (1988) - EC 65.5%, Middle East and North Africa 4.2%, USSR and Eastern Europe 5.1%, US 4% (taken from Greek customs statistics, which exclude military equipment imports). Exchange Rate: 150 drachmas = $1 US (1990). US Economic and Security Assistance (1946-1989): $9.3 billion.
Membership in International Organizations
UN, EC, NATO, OECD, INTELSAT, Council of Europe.
PEOPLE
In ancient times Greece was a mosaic of ethnically similar small city-states. During the migrations and invasions of the Byzantine and Ottoman periods (4th-19th centuries AD), Greece's ethnic composition lost its homogeneity. Since independence (1827) and the exchange of populations with Turkey in 1923, however, Greece has reforged a national identity whose roots date back to the 13th century BC. Greece's pride in these Hellenic roots is reflected in its official name, Hellas or the Hellenic Republic; the name "Greece" derives from the Latin name. Greek society retains its traditional Mediterranean values of family, education, and personal honor (philotimo), despite the changes wrought by urbanization and industrialization.
From earliest times, Greeks have migrated across the country and across the Mediterranean, eventually creating Greek-speaking communities all over the globe. Emigration has been on such a scale that, by one count, there are more than 3 million people of Greek heritage in the United States alone. Over the past two decades, however, migration within Greece from rural to urban centers has been more extensive than emigration abroad. The 1961 census showed an urban population of 43% compared to a rural and semiurban population of 57%. By 1971, the urban population had grown to 53% and by 1981 to 58%. About one-third of Greece's total population lives in the greater Athens area.
Education is highly esteemed in Greece, not only because it transmits culture and knowledge but also because it contributes to social and cultural mobility.
Orthodox Christianity is the established religion. The Greek Orthodox Church is self-governing under the spiritual guidance of the Ecumenical Patriarch, resident in Istanbul, Turkey. During the centuries of Ottoman domination, the church preserved the Greek language, values, and national identity and became an important rallying point in the struggle for independence. The church is under the protection and partial control of the state, which pays the clergy's salaries.
The Muslim minority, concentrated in western Thrace, was given legal status by provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 and is Greece's only officially recognized minority .
The Greek language dates back at least 3,500 years, and modern Greek preserves many features of its classical predecessor. In the 19th century, after Greece's war of independence, an effort to rid the language of Turkish and Arabic borrowings and to make it close again to the language of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, led to a version known as Katharevousa. However, this never became the everyday language of most Greeks, and in 1976, it was abolished as the language of high school instruction and of the government. Today, spoken Greek is generally termed Demotiki; a more recent reform movement has given rise to Nea Demotiki, the version that is now considered standard Greek for everyday usage and for contemporary literature.
HISTORY
The eastern Mediterranean is one of the "cradles of civilization." Greece was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic period, and by BC 3000 had become home, in the Cycladic Islands, to a culture whose art remains evocative. Early in the second millennium BC, the island of Crete nurtured the sophisticated maritime empire of the Minoans, evidence of whose trade stretches from Egypt to Sicily. The Minoans were challenged and eventually supplanted by mainland Mycenaeans, who spoke a dialect of Greek. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, composed probably around BC 800, drew on memories of the Mycenaeans, whose civilization collapsed around BC 1100, shortly after the Trojan war. This collapse left Greece, except the fortified citadel of Athens, open to migrating Dorian tribes from the north.
During the next few hundred years of political instability, the Greek polis or city-state came into existence. The polis included the city and its surrounding territory, its institutions, its way of life, and the unique values of its citizens. When the cities sent their excess population to found colonies around the eastern and western Mediterranean and in the Black Sea, the colonies remained linked to the mother city by common values and traditions. Despite their differences and frequent conflicts, the separate city-states shared the epics of Homer and other poetry; the Olympic and other games; and the same mythology, religion, and language which unified the Greek world. They were conscious of their common identity and called non-Greeks "barbarians."
Eventually two city-states emerged to dominate Greece-the Ionian city of Athens, a democracy and a sea power, and the Dorian city of Sparta, an oligarchy, a land power, and a militaristic society. In the fifth century BC, Persian invasions united the cities briefly, mainly under the military leadership of Athens. The subsequent "Golden Age" (BC 446-431) of Pericles, an Athenian leader, reflected an explosion of cultural and intellectual achievements which has had a profound influence on Western civilization.
The conflicting ambitions of Athens and Sparta led to the Peloponnesian wars (BC 431-404), which Athens lost. The war caused suffering throughout Greece but did not immediately diminish Athenian cultural achievements. A weakened Greece later fell under the domination of the Macedonians. Alexander the Great, whose tutor was the great philosopher Aristotle, spread Greek culture as he marched east to conquer the world, but he also adopted much from the Persian Empire he defeated. The fusion of Greek and Persian cultures created the Hellenistic civilization of Asia Minor, which later was an important influence in the culture of the Roman Empire and on Christianity and subsequent Western thought.
Rome conquered Greece in BC 146 and eventually ruled over the entire Hellenistic world. As Rome's power declined, one of its emperors, Constantine, split the empire by establishing his Greek-speaking capital, later called Constantinople, at the site of the ancient Greek city of Byzantium in AD 330.
Although Rome was overrun by migrating tribes and the western part of the empire fragmented in the fifth century AD, the eastern part flourished as the Byzantine Empire. Greek in language and culture, the empire was Roman in law and administration. The people called themselves Romans and tended to set aside the ancient Greek culture because it was pagan. Christianity was the official religion, and the empire was seen as ecumenical, embracing all Christians. By the 11th century, the Latin-speaking and the Greek-speaking churches split in the Great Schism, which still continues. Attacks by fellow Christians during the Crusades and increasing pressure from Central Asian peoples weakened the Byzantine Empire. It collapsed finally with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The patriarch of Constantinople (subsequently renamed Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, then became both the head of the Orthodox Church and the temporal leader of all Greek and many Orthodox subjects of the Sultan.
The Greek war of independence began in 1821, and the country obtained independence in 1827. Under the tutelage of England, France, and Russia, a monarchy was established with a Bavarian prince, Otto, named king in 1833. He was deposed 30 years later, and the European powers chose a prince of the Danish House of Glucksberg as his successor. He became George I, King of the Hellenes.
The Megali Idea (Great Idea), the vision of uniting all Greeks of the declining Ottoman Empire within the newly independent Greek State, exerted a strong influence on Greek political consciousness. At independence, Greece had an area of 47,515 square kilometers (18,346 sq. mi.), and its northern boundary extended from the Gulf of Volos to the Gulf of Arta. The Ionian Islands were added in 1864; Thessaly and part of Epirus in 1881; Macedonia, Crete, Epirus, and the Aegean Islands in 1913; western Thrace in 1918; and the Dodecanese Islands in 1947.
Greece entered World War I in 1917 on the side of the Allies and at the war's conclusion, took part in the Allied occupation of Turkey, where many Greeks still lived. In 1922, the Greek army marched from its base in Smyrna, now Izmir, toward Ankara but was forced to withdraw. At the end of the war with the exchange of populations, more than 1.3. million Greek refugees from Turkey poured into Greece, posing enormous problems for the Greek economy and society.
A continuing feature of Greek politics, particularly between the two World Wars, was the struggle for power between monarchists and republicans. Greece was proclaimed a republic in 1924, but George II returned to the throne in 1935, and a plebiscite in 1946 reconfirmed the monarchy. It was finally abolished by referendum on December 8, 1974, when, by a two-thirds vote, the Greeks supported the establishment of a republic.
Greece's entry into World War II was precipitated by the Italian invasion on October 28, 1940. That date is celebrated in Greece by the remembrance of the one-word reply-ochi (no)-given by the prime minister to a series of demands made by Mussolini. Despite Italian superiority in numbers and equipment, determined Greek defenders drove the invaders back into Albania. Hitler was forced to divert German troops to protect his southern flank and attacked Greece in early April 1941. By the end of May, the Germans had overrun most of the country, although Greek resistance was never entirely suppressed. German forces withdrew in October 1944.
With the German withdrawal, the principal Greek resistance movement, which was controlled by the communists, sought to take control of the country and undertook a siege of the British forces in Athens during the winter of 1944-45. When the siege was defeated, an unstable coalition government was formed. Continuing tensions led to the dissolution of that government and the outbreak of Civil War in 1946. First the United Kingdom, and later the United States, gave extensive military and economic aid to the Greek government. Communist successes in 1947-48 enabled them to move freely over much of mainland Greece, but with extensive reorganization and American material support, the Greek national army under Marshal Papagos eventually was able to gain ascendancy. Yugoslavia closed its borders to the insurgent forces in 1949 after Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia broke with Stalin and the Soviet Union. Hostilities ceased in the fall of 1949 with some 80,000 Greeks killed. Twenty-five thousand more were either voluntarily or forcibly evacuated by the Greek communists to Eastern Bloc countries, and there were 700,000 refugees.
Greece sought, after the Civil War, to join the Western democratic alliance. In 1952, Greece joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). From 1952 to late 1963, Greece was governed by conservative parties (The Greek Rally of Marshal Papagos and its successor, the National Radical Union (ERE) of Constantine Karamanlis). In 1963, the Center Union Party of George Papandreou won the election and governed until July 1965. It was followed by a succession of unstable coalition governments.
On April 21, 1967, just before scheduled elections, a group of colonels led by Col. George Papadopoulos seized power. Civil liberties were suppressed, special military courts established, and political parties dissolved. Several thousand opponents were imprisoned or exiled to remote Greek islands. Papadopoulos' associate, Gen. Dimitrios Ioannides, took power in November 1973. Ioannides' decision in July 1974 to attempt to overthrow Archbishop Makarios, the President of Cyprus, and install a client regime on Cyprus brought Greece to the brink of war with Turkey, which, in response to the coup, militarily intervened and occupied almost 40 percent of the island.
Senior Greek military officers then withdrew their support from the junta. Leading citizens persuaded Karamanlis to return from exile in France to establish a government of national unity until elections could be held. Karamanlis' newly organized party, New Democracy (ND), won elections held in November 1974, and he became prime minister.
Following the 1974 referendum which resulted in the rejection of the monarchy, a new constitution was approved by parliament on June 19, 1975, and parliament elected Constantine Tsatsos President of the Republic. In the parliamentary elections of 1977, New Democracy again won a majority of seats. In May 1980, Prime Minister Karamanlis was elected to succeed Tsatsos as president. George Rallis was then chosen party leader and succeeded Karamanlis as prime minister.
In January 1981, Greece became the 10th member of the European Community. In parliamentary elections, held in October 1981, Greece elected its first socialist government when the Panhellenic Socialist Party (PASOK), led by Andreas Papandreou, won 172 of 300 seats with 48% of the popular vote.
On March 9, 1985, Prime Minister Papandreou announced that PASOK would not support President Karamanlis for a second term and nominated Supreme Court Justice Christos Sartzetakis. On March 29, 1985, Sartzetakis was elected President by the Greek Parliament, receiving the minimum 180 votes required on the third ballot.
Greece witnessed two rounds of parliamentary elections in 1989. In June, New Democracy won 146 of the 300 seats - not enough to form a government. The centrist-conservative party joined forces with the newly-formed coalition of communist and leftist parties called the Left Alliance to form an interim coalition government under Prime Minister Tzannis Tzannetakis (ND). The Tzannetakis government's mandate was limited to a program of national "catharsis," or cleansing. The focus was parliamentary investigations into crimes allegedly committed by ministers of the previous government, including former Prime Minister Papandreou, himself. Following months of hearings, parliament voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of most of the ministers incriminated, including Papandreou, and the Tzannetakis government resigned, turning the country over to an interim government in preparation for new Parliamentary elections in November.
The November elections were, if anything, even more inconclusive, with ND and PASOK (with Papandreou at the helm) both picking up additional seats at the expense of the Left Alliance. This time ND won 46% of the vote but still came up three seats short of a parliamentary majority. The stalemate led to the formation of a short-term, all-party coalition government tasked with addressing the growing crisis in the Greek economy under Prime Minister Xenophon Zolotas, an internationally-respected economist. The pressures of economic reform proved too much for the fragile coalition; the party leaders withdrew their support in February 1990, and elections were held on April 8.
New Democracy won 150 seats in the April 1990 election. With the cooperation of the single deputy elected from the centrist DIANA party, a New Democracy government headed by ND leader Constantine Mitsotakis won a vote of confidence in Parliament. The DIANA deputy subsequently changed his affiliation to ND, and a special Greek electoral court awarded a contested seat originally claimed by PASOK to ND, bringing ND's total to 152 seats.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The 1975 constitution, which describes Greece as a "presidential parliamentary republic," is similar to the 1952 constitution but has more extensive and precise guarantees of civil liberties and vests the powers of the head of state in a president elected by parliament and advised by the Council of the Republic.
On balance, the Greek governmental structure is similar to that found in most Western European countries and has been described as a compromise between the French and German models. As in most of Western Europe, the prime minister and parliament play central roles in the political process, but the Greek president also performs certain governmental functions in addition to ceremonial duties. The extent of the president's influence in the political process depends to a large degree on personal qualities and leadership.
Presidential Powers Elected by parliament to a 5-year term, the president can be reelected once. The president has the power to declare war and to conclude agreements of peace, alliance, and participation in international organizations; a three-fifths parliamentary majority is required to ratify such agreements or treaties. The president can also exercise certain emergency powers, which must be countersigned by the appropriate minister.
On March 7, 1986, parliament amended 11 articles of the constitution, limiting many of the president's political powers. The president may no longer dissolve parliament, dismiss the government, suspend certain articles of the constitution, or declare a state of siege. To call a referendum, he must obtain approval from parliament. Restricting presidential authority has given more power to the parliament and prime minister. Prime Minister Papandreou's majority party (PASOK) supported the amendments.
Parliament
Parliamentary deputies are elected by direct, secret ballot for a maximum of 4 years, but elections can be called earlier.
Greece uses a complex, reinforced proportional electoral system. That system has discouraged splinter parties and made a parliamentary majority possible even if the leading party fell short of 51% of the popular vote. However, the constitution makes it possible for Parliament to re-write the electoral law virtually at will. Prior to the June 1989 elections, the PASOK-majority parliament wrote a new electoral law that took a big step toward simple proportional representation, giving more power to the smaller parties and making it more difficult for any one party to win a majority in Parliament. In November 1990, parliament revised the electoral law again, lowering the percentage of the popular vote needed to win an absolute majority in parliament.
Political Parties in the Greek Parliament (April 1990)
Party Seats
New Democracy (ND 152
Panhellenic Socialist Party
(PASOK) 124
Left Alliance 21
Muslim Independent (GUVEN 2
Ecologists/Alternatives 1
Total 300
Local Administration
Greece is divided into 51 prefectures (nomi), each headed by a prefect (nomarch) appointed by the minister of the interior; 13 regional governments (periferiarchis) were established in 1987, headed by regional governors (periferiarchs), appointed by the minister of the interior. Although municipalities and villages have elected officials, they do not have an adequate independent tax base and must depend upon the central government for a large part of their financial needs and are subject to numerous central government controls.
Principal Government Officials
President Constantine Karamanlis
Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis
Foreign Minister Andonis Samaras
Ambassador to the United States - Christos Zacharakis
Ambassador to the United Nations - Antonios Exarchos
Greece maintains an embassy in the United States at 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 [tel. (202) 667-3168]. There are consulates general in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, and consulates in New Orleans, Boston, and Atlanta.
