User:Andymilson/GreeceSandbox

Sandbox for the Greece Group - GEOG 2302 - Fall 2018

Greece flag

History of Greece

Book source on information about the struggle of ancient Greece in places like Athens.

A key date in Greece was in 1981 - Greece joins EU.

Geography of Greece

The Greece mainland consists of: Sterea (Central Greece), Peloponnese (Southern), Thessaly (Eastcentral), Epirus (North West), Macedonia (North) and Thrace (North West). Greece also consists of several islands and island complexes which are known as: Crete, Cyclades, Dodecanese, Ionian, Sporades, Saronic and Eastern Aegean islands. The inland is dissected by mountains that extend south towards a landscape of plains, pine forested uplands and foothills.

Agriculture of Greece

Agriculture in Greece is made up of primarily small farmers, usually family-owned. Unlike the United States, local farming is important in Greece where virtually no big businesses compete with small-time farmers. Greece exports many crops and goods like grapes, melons, tomatoes, peaches, oranges, olives, corn, wheat, barley, sugar beets, cotton, and tobacco. Also, animal production in Greece is vital to its agriculture. Animals such as hogs, cattle, chickens, rabbits, beehives, and pigeons are important, but none more important than sheep and goats. The fishing industry is also an important facet to Greece's agriculture. Due to Greece's geography, Greece lacks natural resources, so approximately 30% of Greece's land is available to use. Of the 30% of arable land, about 72% was planted in seasonal crops, and 28% in orchards and vineyards. About 36% of the agricultural land was irrigated in 1998.

The Work Force

The agricultural sector accounts for approximately 12% of the work force. As of 1999, the work force totaled around 20% but has declined to today's 12%. In 1999, the total amount of employs was around 794,000 people, where it currently sits around 528,000.

The Agricultural Economy

File:Greece Agriculture.jpg

This displays the types of crops/products produced in Greece.

The total of Greece's agriculture business makes up a small percentage of Greece's economy, approximately 3.6% of its total gross domestic product. A decline in the amount of GDP from 1998, where agricultural business made up approximately 8.3% of Greece's total GDP, shows Greece's agricultural sector slowly withering. The European Union has granted Greece's agricultural sector many subsidies and loans yet the sector continues to perform poorly.

Imports and Exports

In 2016, U.S. agri-food exports to Greece were valued at approximately $80.6 million, while imports from Greece reached $412.4 million.

The main importers to Greece's agricultural sector include Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, and France. Key crops and products imported to Greece include cheese, pork, beef, and food preparations. The main nations Greece exports its goods to are Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Bulgaria. Olive oil, cheese, and olives dominate Greece's agricultural exports, followed by cotton, sea bream, and canned peaches.

Greece's Import and Exports (U.S.)

Greece is a net importer, meaning Greece imports more goods and services than exports.

U.S. Ag Exports to Greece $80.6 M       U.S. Ag Imports from Greece $412.4 M

Tree Nuts: $25.3 M                                Processed Fruits & Vegetables: $208.0 M

Distilled Spirits: $9.9 M                           Seafood Products: $60.4 M  

Soybeans: $6.0 M                                   Vegetable Oils: $39.3 M

Forest Products: $5.8 M                         Cheese: $27.6 M

Seafood Products: $4.3 M                      Wine & Beer: $13.0 M

Hides & Skins: $4.0 M                            Snack Foods: $8.7 M

Agricultural Threats

Reasons to blame Greece's poor agricultural performance include low precipitation levels, lack of natural resources and fossil fuels, weak manufacturing output, and lack of subsidies and capital investment. Not only does Greece suffer from natural limitations such as poor soil and drought, it also suffers from soil erosion and lack of fertilizers.

Soil content and quality heavily affect Greece's ability to produce crops. The climate also affects Greece's ability to grow crops, for example, the amount of rainfall limiting the potential to produce certain types of crops. The amount of land covered by forests, pastures, and scrubs severely impact the amount of land available to use. Among environmental and climate factors, urbanization has drastically lowered the potential of the agricultural business, as well as rural land ownership. In recent years, Greece has seen the expansion of rural ownership which has endangered the agricultural lands that could be used for cultivation of crops.

Greece's Marine Life

Marine life is threatened by over-fishing, and waste pollution. The fishing industry near the Mediterranean has been intensive which has led to severe consequences. Over-fishing and failure of regulating fishing seasons or quantities has severely limited the effects of the fishing industry on the agricultural sector as a whole.

Population Geography

Population geography shows trends in population growth, migration and population in respects to place.

Population

Greece's population is about 10.75 million as of 2016 and 11.1 million as of 2018. The population is slightly decreasing about 10,000 to 30,000 people per year since 2015.

Birth Rate

Greece's birth rate is 8.4 births/1,000 population (2017) Greece's comparison to the rest of the world is 218 out of 226.

Statistics show that Greece's birthrate represents the trend that the population is decreasing very rapidly. According to Express News: "In order to maintain the population Greece needs a birth rate of 2.1 per woman, but this has dipped to between 1.1 and 1.3."

Fertility Rate

1.33 births per woman (2016)

1.44 births per woman (2018)

Shows the age and sex trend and population growth or decrease in Greece.

Population Pyramid

Population pyramids provide visual trend that represent population growth or decline within the corresponding country. According to Greece's population pyramid, the trend provides a visual representation of the population decrease within the population over time. In other words, Greece's population is decreasing since women are not maintaining the recommended replacement level to maintain population stability. As a result, this trend shows as women enter child bearing age, the children population is significantly smaller than the women in child bearing ages.

Migration

Greece is known to be an important emigration country where many immigrants enter Europe.

Migrants make up 25% of wage and salary earners. They are so plentiful that in Greece's society with a negative natural population growth, immigration has become the sole source of the country's overall population increase.

Cultural Geography

Cultural Geography provides insight of a country's social and cultural influence and importance within a country's society.

Popular Culture

Greeks have similar kinds of fast food restaurants as in America and they combine american style into many of their Greeks foods and restaurants. The majority of the American style fast foods would be McDonald's and KFC, however the menus are very different. One of the major differences in Greece is that you can purchase alcohol at these fast food restaurants.

The clothing that Greeks wear is normal popular culture clothing that has been influenced by western European styles. Most Greek art is traditional with things like embroidery, pottery, weaving, tapestry, and silver jewelry.

Technology has somewhat influenced the Greeks, but they still hold their own traditions close to them and write many plays that they perform on their ancient stage. However, hey have been influenced in other ways as they have things like televisions and computers in large quantities.

Greek music combines eastern and western influences. Young Greek people prefer popular music from Europe and the USA, although folk dancing is still common at Greek events.

Folk Culture

Greece's folk culture is still practiced within society since its residents are currently trying to preserves the cultural rich influence from disappearing. Greek art is an important part of Greece culture still to this day. Greek literature is centuries old yet, is still preserved since it is still being taught around the world. Greece's cultural history has been a major influence throughout the world history and a major significance in advancements that the world has grown to see. Therefore, the study of Greece's traditional culture's popularity help preserve its status of importance within the world and the country itself. But needless to say, popular culture has created a major influence within Greek folk culture since Greek folk culture has been threatened by it.

Religion

Temple of Zeus Olympian, Athens, Greece. Shows the lasting effect of the Olympian gods on the modern Greek landscape.

The primary and official religion of Greece is Greek Orthodox. 81-90% of religious persons in Greece identify as belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, roughly over eight million Greeks. However many sources suggest that the percentage is much higher. Islam is the second highest practiced religion at 2% and roughly 4-15% of Greeks do not identify as belonging to a particular religion. The Greek Orthodox faith is a member of the Eastern Orthodox Communion and has been recognized as the state religion since 1850 and is recognized in Greece's constitution due to the impact that it had within the government during the Greek War of Independence. Every Greek Orthodox church displays the national flag of Greece. Additionally each Greek Orthodox church is ordained with the Greek coat of arms. The Greek Orthodox Church's influence also reaches into the landscape and the cultural geography of Greece. Many of the churches are known for emphasizing ornate multi tiered floor plans featuring the use of multiple archways or domed roofs. Despite the Greek Orthodox Church's involvement in political and social geography of Greece, it is the religion of ancient Greece that has had the most lasting and dominant effect on Greece. Ancient Greeks worship of the Olympian gods and the effect that it had on society can still be seen today. Ancient structures such as the Acropolis in Athens and the The Temple of Zeus in Olympia are lasting testaments to the ancient Olympian gods. Additionally, toponyms of ancient gods are still used today in reference to cities, churches other geographical features. Greek's ancient religious culture provides one of its biggest sources of income, tourism. In 2017 over 1,666,286 tourists would visit the Acropolis in Athens. Religious tourism is also an important factor of Greek culture. Monasteries in Meteora and Mount Athos serve as a center of religious gravitation. Because of all this Greece is considered to be one of the most religious countries in modern Europe.

St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church

Language

The official language of Greece is Greek. The majority of the population speaks this language. English is the dominate foreign language spoken in the business world of Greece and is taught in schools.

Urbanization of Greece

There is two ways in which we can identify urbanization in Greece, urban population and the rate at which its urbanizing. The urban population of Greece is measured by the percentage of total population of Greece living in urban areas. Currently in 2018 that percentage is at 79.1%.The rate of urbanization describes the rate at which the population urbanization is changing in a specific time frame. Currently in 2018 that percentage is at 0.22%.

Education in Greece

The Greek educational system is mostly divided into three levels which are primary, secondary and tertiary, with an additional post-secondary level that provides vocational training. Primary education is divided into kindergarten which lasts one or two years, and primary school spanning over six years. Secondary education comprises two stages which are Gymnasio (Middle or Junior High School), a three-year school, after which students can attend Lykeion. Higher Tertiary education is provided by universities, technological universities, and academies which mainly cater for the military and the clergy. Undergraduate courses last around 4 years, postgrad courses last from 1 to 2 years and doctorates from around 3 to 6 years.

Military in Greece

There are a couple of branches when it comes to Greek government: Hellenic Army (Ellinikos Stratos, ES), Hellenic Navy ( Elliniko Polemiko Navtiko, EPN), the Hellenic Air Force (Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia, EPA). The military age begins at 19 up to 45 years old for service. Even though the service age is technically 19, during wartime the recruitment of citizens can begin January of the year of the inductee's 18th birthday, which in some cases can include 17 year olds. If a person wants to volunteer for service they must be 18 years old and the obligations for service include, 1 year in the Army and 9 months for the Air Force/ Navy. Women can volunteer for military service, not just male citizens.

Terrorism in Greece

When it comes to Revolutionary Struggle, there is a group that has been largely inactive for a couple of years now in Greece that use to operate primarily in Athens. There have been some recent shootouts when police officers try to arrest members. Their goal is to disrupt the any influence of globalization and international capitalism influence on their society as well as eventually overthrow the Greek government.

Economy

After WWII, Greece economy was boosted through tourism. But the global The global financial crisis in the late 2000's left Greece in bad shape full of debt because of high public spending. 2009 December - Greece's credit rating is downgraded by one of world's three leading rating agencies amid fears the government could default on its ballooning debt. PM Papandreou announces program of tough public spending cuts. Greece has a high percentage of the population who are not employed, currently standing at 19.5%. For comparison we can look to the United States whose unemployment rate is only at 3.8%.

GDP of Greece

was 200.3 billion USD (2017)

GDP per capita was 18,613.42 USD ‎(2017)

GDP growth rate was 1.4% annual change ‎(2017)

Greece's Gross National Income

299.4 billion dollars (2017)

Banks of Greece

The central bank of Greece that handles the stability of price and acts as an oversight to other private banks is known as the Bank of Greece. This bank is also known to handle government accounts.

Banking System

Greece entered the European Union in 2001 which incorporated the Euro currency within their economy.

Government

General:

The Hellenic Republic of Greece is a democratic republic or also known as a parliamentary republic, established under a constitution. This system government is headed by a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and the Ministerial Councils is the decision-making body of the Hellenic Republic. The President's duties include appointing the Prime minister and acting as the representative of the State. The Hellenic Republic has three branches of government divided into the Legislative, Executive, and, Judicial. The Hellenic Parliament presides over the Legislative branch. The President presides over the Executive branch, and the Judiciary is maintained by the Greek Courts elected by the people of Greece.

Constitution:

The current Greek Constitution was ratified in 1975. Additionally, the constitution of Greece does not separate Church and State and recognizes the Greek Orthodox Church as the primary religion of Greece due to its role in the war for Greek independence.

Greek Flag:

The National Flag of Greece is contrived of nine alternating blue and white horizontal stripes with a white cross on a blue square background in the upper left corner. The white is symbolic of Greek purity and the blue represents the sky and sea. The cross is symbolic of the Christian faith and the nine alternating stripes syllabize the Greek motto "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος"(Eleftheria i Thanatos) Freedom or Death.

Political Unions:

Greece joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on October 22, 1951.

Greece formally joins the European Union in 1981.

A map displaying the geographic locations of the nations bordering Greece. They include Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and, Turkey.

Geopolitical Goals and Relations with Neighboring Countries:

Albania:

Greek-Albanian relations have been improving since 1971 and both countries are working towards bilateral relations. Greece supported Albania's indoctrination into the EU. However Greece is currently pushing Albania to fulfill" all criteria for Albania’s accession course and the implementation of European standards" in regards to the small Greek minority living within Albania's borders.

Bulgaria:

Greek-Bulgarian relations are perceived to be at an "exceptional level by the Hellenic Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two countries consider themselves as strong allies under NATO and EU membership and have also formed quadripartite between Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, and,Romania focused on developing political relations in the region. Currently Greece and Bulgaria are focusing on political, economic and energy related issues.

Republic of Macedonia:

Greek-Macedonian relations have been improving since 1995. Macedonia, a former portion of Yugoslavia,and Greece have experienced political tension over the naming of the Republic of Macedonia. Despite the political tension. Greece openly maintains an open relation with the Republic of Macedonia. In 2001, Greece sent military support along side NATO and EU forces to aid the newly formed republic. Additionally, Greece aided the establishment of the Macedonian military by donating 10 APC Leonidas-2. As of 2018, relations between the countries have progressed greatly as Greece has officially recognized Macedonia as "The Republic of Macedonia".

Turkey:

Greek-Turkish relations are currently improving however are constantly undergoing immense amounts of political stress. The two countries have an eb and flow relationship containing periods of conflict and periods of cooperation. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 however established a period of conflict between the two nations. Greece feels that the invasion is a breach of international law. However after series of earthquakes in 1999, the two countries have begun bilateral relations in hopes of maintaining peace in the region. On December 5-6th 2014, the two countries signed six documents that would expand upon bilateral relations. Additionally, the Hellenic Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it hopes to maintain relations between the two countries through "consistent bilateral visits and contacts".