Greece Background Informaiton based on Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, August 2004 (Greece/Greek/Crete/Creta/Kriti):
Background Note: Greece
PROFILE OFFICIAL NAME:
Hellenic Republic
People
Population (March 2001 est.): 10,939,771 million.
Growth rate: 0.21%.
Languages: Greek 99% (official); English.
Religions: Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim 1.3%, other .7%.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Literacy--95%. All levels are free.
Health: Infant mortality rate--6/1,000. Life expectancy--male 76 years, female 81 years.
Work force: 4.32 million.
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
Greece was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic period and by 3000 BC had become home, in the Cycladic Islands, to a culture whose art remains among the most evocative in world history. In the second millennium BC, the island of Crete nurtured the maritime empire of the Minoans, whose trade reached from Egypt to Sicily. The Minoans were supplanted by the Mycenaeans of the Greek mainland, who spoke a dialect of ancient Greek. During the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires (1st-19th centuries), Greece's ethnic composition became more diverse. Since independence in 1830 and an exchange of populations with Turkey in 1923, Greece has forged a national state which claims roots reaching back 3,000 years. The Greek language dates back at least 3,500 years, and modern Greek preserves many elements of its classical predecessor.
Law Offices of Savvas Zannetos
Igumenu Gavriil 103-105
74100 Rethimno, Crete
Greece
Tel: (30) 28310-26-258
Fax: (30) 28310-52-263
Please Contact Us today via-
Email: zannetos@creteattorney.com
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