Greece presentation

By Matthew Sparks

GREECE

Physical Characteristics Greece is about 131,957 sq kmWestern Greece has a number of lakes, rivers

and wetlands. Off the coast of Greece, there are numerous islands, with some of the more famous including Crete and Rhodes.

Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe - in fact, 80% of the land is either mountains or hills.

FactsPopulation: 10.6 million (2004)Religious beliefs: 97.6% are Greek

orthodox, 1.3 Muslim, 0.4 Catholic, and 0.7 other

The Greek language is the most important possession of the Greeks

Ethnic make-up: 98% Greek and 2% other

Capital: AthensGovernment: parliamentary republic;

monarchy rejected by referendum December 8, 1974

Customs & TraditionsTraditions in Greece and Greek Islands are either religious or

coming from paganism. Most of the traditions and festivals still followed and celebrated today are religious. That is why so many panygiria(Greek word for festival) are organized in the country, which are actually religious celebrations of saints followed by traditional music and dance in the square of the village.

Many Greeks are very superstitious people and believe a lot in religion as well as in supernatural or paranormal occurences. This impresses many visitors who travel in Greece. For example, some people believe it is bad luck to see a black car, it is 7 years bad luck to break a glass or mirror, while others knock their fingers against wood if they have a bad thought.

Greek MythologyGreek mythology is the mythology of Ancient

Greece. The 12 main Greek gods lived on Mount Olympus. They were led by Zeus and his wife, Hera, who was always getting back at him for one affair or another. Some of the other gods were Demeter, Persephone, Hades, Hephaestus, Athena, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Apollo and Artemis. Greek Mythology is a collection of stories invented by the Ancient Greeks, usually involving Greek gods. There is an endless collection of these stories... many are written in books, but even we don't know all of them.

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