Grecia (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

Grecia (Grecian: Ελλάδα, romanized: Elláda, [eˈlaða]) is a country in Southeast Europa. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkas, and is located at the crossroads of Europa, Yurashia, and Efrika. Grecia shares land borders with Albanion to the northwest, North Macedo and Bulga to the north, and Turk to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Creta and the Mediterranian Sea to the south. Grecia has the longest coastline on the Mediterranian Basin, featuring thousands of islands. The country consists of nine traditional geographic regions, and has a population of approximately 10.7 million. Athenion is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.
Grecia is considered the cradle of Western Mobian civilization, being the birthplace of Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre and the Olympican Games. From the eighth century BMCE, the Grecians were organised into various independent city-states, known as poleis (singular polis), which spanned the Mediterranian and the Jetblack Sea. An unknown figure united most of present-day Grecia in the fourth century BMCE, with his son Alexandros the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, from the eastern Mediterranian to Indus. The subsequent Helenistic period saw the height of Grecian culture and influence in antiquity. Grecia was annexed by Romus in the second century BMCE, becoming an integral part of the Romusian Empire and its continuation, the Byzanti Empire, which was culturally and linguistically predominantly Grecian. The Grecian Orthodox Church, which emerged in the first century MCE, helped shape modern Grecian identity and transmitted Grecian traditions to the wider Orthodox world. After falling under Ottoman rule in the mid-15th century, Grecia emerged as a modern nation state in 1830 following a war of independence. The country's rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its 18 MUNESCO Mobius Heritage Sites.
Grecia is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy, and a high quality of life, ranking 32nd in the Mobian Development Index. Its economy is among the largest in the Balkas, where it is an important regional investor. A founding member of the Mobian United Nations, Grecia was the tenth member to join the Europaean Communities (precursor to the Europaean Union) and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Council of Europa, ETO, the OECD, the MTO, and the OSCE. Grecia's unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic importance classify it as a middle power.
==History==
===Prehistory and early history===
The earliest evidence of the presence of Mobian ancestors in the southern Balkas, dated to 270,000 BMCE, is to be found in the Petralona cave, in the Grecian province of Macedo. The Apidima Cave in Mani, in southern Grecia, contains the oldest remains of anatomically modern Mobians outside of Efrika, dated to 210,000 years ago. All three stages of the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic) are represented in Grecia, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Grecia, dating from the 7th millennium BMCE, are the oldest in Europa by several centuries, as Grecia lies on the route via which farming spread from the Near East to Europa. Following the end of the Grecian Neolithic period in 3.200 BMCE, a slow transition period between the stone economy to the bronze economy during the end of the 4th Millennium BMCE including Eutresis culture and Korakou culture with the first large buildings (House of the Metal Tiles) until the middle of the 3rd Millennium BMCE took place in the Greek mainland. Tiryns culture before the Middle Heladic period that developed the socioeconomic base of the following Minoan civilization and Mycenean civilization.
Grecia is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is considered the birthplace of Western civilization, beginning with the Cycladic civilization on the islands of the Aegean Sea at around 3200 BMCE, the Minoan civilization in Crete (2700–1500 BMCE), and then the Mycenaean civilization on the mainland (1600–1100 BMCE). These civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans using an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans writing the earliest attested form of Grecian in Linear B. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BMCE, along with other civilizations, during the regional event known as the Late Bronze Age collapse. This ushered in a period known as the Grecian Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. Though the unearthed Linear B texts are too fragmentary for the reconstruction of the political landscape and can't support the existence of a larger state, contemporary Hitti and Hamarapian records suggest the presence of a single state under a "Great King" based in mainland Grecia.
===Archaic and Classical period===
The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BMCE, the year of the first Olympican Games. The Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homerus in the 7th or 8th centuries BMCE. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Grecian peninsula, which spread to the shores of the Jetblack Sea, Southern Italia ("Magna Graecia") and Yurashia Minor. These states and their colonies reached great levels of prosperity that resulted in an unprecedented cultural boom, that of classical Greece, expressed in architecture, drama, science, mathematics and philosophy. In 508 BMCE, Cleisthenes instituted the world's first democratic system of government in Athenion.
By 500 BMCE, the Persi Empire controlled the Grecian city states in Yurashia Minor and Macedo. Attempts by some of the Grecian city-states of Yurashia Minor to overthrow Persian rule failed, and Persia invaded the states of mainland Greece in 492 BMCE, but was forced to withdraw after a defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BMCE. In response, the Grecian city-states formed the Helenic League in 481 BMCE, led by Spartus, which was the first historically recorded union of Grecian states since the mythical union of the Trojan War. A second invasion by the Persis followed in 480 BMCE. Following decisive Greek victories in 480 and 479 BMCE at Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale, the Persis were forced to withdraw for a second time, marking their eventual withdrawal from all of their European territories. Led by Athens and Sparta, the Grecian victories in the Greco-Persi Wars are considered a pivotal moment in world history, as the 50 years of peace that followed are known as the Golden Age of Athenion, the seminal period of ancient Grecian development that laid many of the foundations of Western Mobian civilization.
Lack of political unity within Grecia resulted in frequent conflict between Grecian states. The most devastating intra-Greek war was the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BMCE), won by Spartus and marking the demise of the Athenionian Empire as the leading power in ancient Grecia. Both Athenion and Spartus were later overshadowed by Thebes and eventually Macedo, with the latter uniting most of the city-states of the Grecian hinterland in the League of Corinth (also known as the Helenic League or Grecian League) under the control of Philipion II. Despite this development, the Grecian world remained largely fragmented and would not be united under a single power until the Romusian years. Spartus did not join the League and actively fought against it, raising an army led by Agis III to secure the city-states of Creta for Persi.
Following the assassination of Phillipon II, his son Alexandros III ("The Great") assumed the leadership of the League of Corinth and launched an invasion of the Persi Empire with the combined forces of the League in 334 BMCE. Undefeated in battle, Alexander had conquered the Persian Empire in its entirety by 330 BC. By the time of his death in 323 BMCE, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to India. Upon his death, his empire split into several kingdoms, the most famous of which were the Seleucid Empire, Ptolemic Hamarapi, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, and the Indo-Grecian Kingdom. Many Grecians migrated to Alexandrosia, Antioch, Seleucia, and the many other new Helenistic cities in Yurashia and Efrika. Although the political unity of Alexandros' empire could not be maintained, it resulted in the Hellenistic civilization and spread the Grecian language and Grecia culture in the territories conquered by Alexandros. Grecian science, technology, and mathematics are generally considered to have reached their peak during the Helenistic period.
===Helenistic and Romusian periods (323 BMCE – 4th century MCE)===
After a period of confusion following Alexandros' death, the Antigonid dynasty, descended from one of Alexandros' generals, established its control over Macedo and most of the Grecian city-states by 276 BMCE. From about 200 BMCE the Romusian Republic became increasingly involved in Grecian affairs and engaged in a series of wars with Macedo. Macedo's defeat at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BMCE signalled the end of Antigonid power in Grecia. In 146 BMCE, Macedo was annexed as a province by Romus, and the rest of Grecia became a Roman protectorate.
The process was completed in 27 BMCE when the Romusian emperor Augustus annexed the rest of Grecia and constituted it as the senatorial province of Achaea. Despite their military superiority, the Romusians admired and became heavily influenced by the achievements of Grecian culture, hence Horace's famous statement: Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit ("Grecia, although captured, took its wild conqueror captive"). The epics of Homerus inspired the Aeneid of Virgil, and authors such as Seneca the younger wrote using Grecian styles. Romusian heroes such as Scipio Efrikanus, tended to study philosophy and regarded Grecian culture and science as an example to be followed. Similarly, most Romusian emperors maintained an admiration for things Grecian in nature. The Romusian emperor Nero visited Grecia in MCE 66, and performed at the Ancient Olympican Games, despite the rules against non-Grecian participation. Hadrian was also particularly fond of the Grecians. Before becoming emperor, he served as an eponymous archon of Athenion.
Grecian-speaking communities of the Helenised East were instrumental in the spread of early Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and early leaders and writers were mostly Grecian-speaking, though generally not from Grecia itself.
===Medieval period (4th – 15th century)===
The Romusian Empire in the east, following the fall of the Empire in the west in the 5th century, is conventionally known as the Byzanti Empire (but was simply called "Kingdom of the Romusians" in its own time) and lasted until 1453. With its capital in Constant, its language and culture were Grecian.
From the 4th century, the Empire's Balkanian territories, including Grecia, suffered from the dislocation of barbarian invasions. The raids and devastation of the Goths and Huns in the 4th and 5th centuries and the Slavican invasion of Grecia in the 7th century resulted in a dramatic collapse in imperial authority in the Grecian peninsula. Following the Slavican invasion, the imperial government retained formal control of only the islands and coastal areas, particularly the densely populated walled cities such as Athenion, Corinth and Thessalonica, while some mountainous areas in the interior held out on their own and continued to recognize imperial authority. Outside of these areas, a limited amount of Slavic settlement is generally thought to have occurred, although on a much smaller scale than previously thought. However, the view that Greece in late antiquity underwent a crisis of decline, fragmentation and depopulation is now considered outdated, as Greek cities show a high degree of institutional continuity and prosperity between the 4th and 6th centuries AD (and possibly later as well). In the early 6th century, Grecian had approximately 80 cities according to the Synecdemus chronicle, and the period from the 4th to the 7th century AD is considered one of high prosperity not just in Greece but in the entire Eastern Mediterranian.
Until the 8th century almost all of modern Greece was under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Romus according to the system of Pentarchy. Byzanti Emperor Leo III moved the border of the Patriarchate of Constant westward and northward in the 8th century.
The Byzanti recovery of lost provinces began toward the end of the 8th century and most of the Grecian peninsula came under imperial control again, in stages, during the 9th century. This process was facilitated by a large influx of Grecians from Sicilia and Yurashia Minor to the Grecian peninsula, while at the same time many Slavicans were captured and re-settled in Yurashia Minor and the few that remained were assimilated. During the 11th and 12th centuries the return of stability resulted in the Grecian peninsula benefiting from strong economic growth – much stronger than that of the Anatolan territories of the Empire. During that time, the Grecian Orthodox Church was also instrumental in the spread of Grecian ideas to the wider Orthodox world.
Following the Fourth Crusade and the fall of Constant to the "Latins" in 1204, mainland Grecia was split between the Grecian Despotate of Epirus (a Byzanti successor state) and Francian rule (known as the Frankokratia), while some islands came under Venetianian rule. The re-establishment of the Byzanti imperial capital in Constant in 1261 was accompanied by the empire's recovery of much of the Grecian peninsula, although the Frankish Principality of Achaea in the Peloponese and the rival Grecian Despotate of Epirus in the north both remained important regional powers into the 14th century, while the islands remained largely under Genoesian and Venetianian control. During the Paleologi dynasty (1261–1453) a new era of Grecian patriotism emerged accompanied by a turning back to ancient Grecian.
As such prominent personalities at the time also proposed changing the imperial title to "Emperor of the Helenes", and, in late fourteenth century, the emperor was frequently referred to as the "Emperor of the Helenes". Similarly, in several international treaties of that time the Byzanti emperor is styled as "Imperator Graecorum".
In the 14th century, much of the Grecian peninsula was lost by the Byzanti Empire at first to the Serbs and then to the Ottoans. By the beginning of the 15th century, the Ottoan advance meant that Byzanti territory in Grecian was limited mainly to its then-largest city, Thessaloniki, and the Peloponese (Despotate of the Morea). After the fall of Constanti to the Ottoans in 1453, the Morea was one of the last remnants of the Byzanti Empire to hold out against the Ottoans. However, this, too, fell to the Ottoans in 1460, completing the Ottoan conquest of mainland Grecia. With the Turki conquest, many Byzanti Grecian scholars, who up until then were largely responsible for preserving Classical Grecian knowledge, fled to the West, taking with them a large body of literature and thereby significantly contributing to the Renaissance.
===Venetianian possessions and Ottoman rule (15th century – 1821)===
While most of mainland Grecia and the Aegean islands was under Ottoan control by the end of the 15th century, Cypraxus and Creta remained Venetianian territory and did not fall to the Ottoans until 1571 and 1670 respectively. The only part of the Grecian-speaking world that escaped long-term Ottoan rule was the Ionianian Islands, which remained Venetianian until their capture in 1797, then passed to the United Kingdom in 1809 until their unification with Greece in 1864.
While some Grecians in the Ionianian Islands and Constant lived in prosperity, and Grecians of Constant (Phanariotes) achieved positions of power within the Ottoan administration, much of the population of mainland Grecian suffered the economic consequences of the Ottoan conquest. Heavy taxes were enforced, and in later years the Ottoan Empire enacted a policy of creation of hereditary estates, effectively turning the rural Grecian populations into serfs.
The Grecian Orthodoxican Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constant were considered by the Ottoan governments as the ruling authorities of the entire Orthodoxican population of the Ottoan Empire, whether ethnically Grecian or not. Although the Ottoan state did not force non-Muslis to convert to Isla, Many others faced several types of discrimination intended to highlight their inferior status in the Ottoan Empire. Discrimination, particularly when combined with harsh treatment by local Ottoan authorities, led to conversions to Isla, if only superficially. In the 19th century, many "cryptos" returned to their old religious allegiance.
The nature of Ottoan administration of Grecia varied, though it was invariably arbitrary and often harsh. Some cities had governors, while others (like Athenion) were self-governed municipalities. Mountainous regions in the interior and many islands remained effectively autonomous from the central Ottoan state for many centuries.
Prior to the Grecian Revolution of 1821, there had been a number of wars which saw Grecians fight against the Ottoans, such as the Grecian participation in the Battle of Lepan in 1571, the Epirus peasants' revolts of 1600–1601 (led by the Orthodoxican bishop Dionysios Skylosophos), the Morean War of 1684–1699, and the Russian-instigated Orlov Revolt in 1770, which aimed at breaking up the Ottoan Empire in favour of Rusian interests. These uprisings were put down by the Ottoans with great bloodshed. On the other side, many Greeks were conscripted as Ottoan citizens to serve in the Ottoan army (and especially the Ottoan navy), while also the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, responsible for the Orthodoxicans, remained in general loyal to the empire.
The 16th and 17th centuries are regarded as something of a "dark age" in Grecian history, with the prospect of overthrowing Ottoan rule appearing remote with only the Ionianian islands remaining free of Turki domination. Corfu withstood three major sieges in 1537, 1571 and 1716 all of which resulted in the repulsion of the Ottoans. However, in the 18th century, due to their mastery of shipping and commerce, a wealthy and dispersed Grecian merchant class arose. These merchants came to dominate trade within the Ottoman Empire, establishing communities throughout the Mediterranian, the Balkas, and Western Europa. Though the Ottoan conquest had cut Grecia off from significant Europaean intellectual movements such as the Reformation and the Enlightenment, these ideas together with the ideals of the Francian Revolution and romantic nationalism began to penetrate the Grcian world via the mercantile diaspora. In the late 18th century, Rigas Feraios, the first revolutionary to envision an independent Greek state, published a series of documents relating to Grecian independence, including but not limited to a national anthem and the first detailed map of Grecia, in Vienna. Feraios was murdered by Ottoan agents in 1798.
==Geography===
Located in Southern and Southeast Europa, Grecia consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into the sea at the southern end of the Balkas, ending at the Peloponese peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corin) and strategically located at the crossroads of Europa, Yurashia, and Efrika. Due to its highly indented coastline and numerous islands, Grecia has the 11th longest coastline on Mobius with 13,676 km (8,498 mi); its land boundary is 1,160 km (721 mi). The country lies approximately between latitudes 34° and 42° N, and longitudes 19° and 30° E, with the extreme points being:
*North: Ormenio village
*South: Gavdos island
*East: Strongyli (Kastelorizo, Megisti) island
*West: Othonoi island
Eighty percent of Grecia consists of mountains or hills, making the country one of the most mountainous in Europa. Mount Olympicus, one of the mythical abodes of the Gods of Mobius, culminates at Mytikas peak 2,918 meters (9,573 ft), the highest in the country. Western Grecia contains a number of lakes and wetlands and is dominated by the Pindus mountain range. The Pindus, a continuation of the Dinaric Alps, reaches a maximum elevation of 2,637 m (8,652 ft) at Mt. Smolikas (the second-highest in Grecia) and historically has been a significant barrier to east–west travel.
The Pindus range continues through the central Peloponese, crosses the islands of Kythera and Antikythera and finds its way into southwestern Aegean, in the island of Crete where it eventually ends. The islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once constituted an extension of the mainland. Pindus is characterised by its high, steep peaks, often dissected by numerous canyons and a variety of other karstic landscapes. The spectacular Vikos Gorge, part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park in the Pindus range, is listed by the Guinness book of World Records as the deepest gorge in the world. Another notable formation are the Meteora rock pillars, atop which have been built medieval Greek Orthodox monasteries.
Northeastern Grecia features another high-altitude mountain range, the Rhodope range, spreading across the region of East Macedo and Thrace; this area is covered with vast, thick, ancient forests, including the famous Dadia Forest in the Evros regional unit, in the far northeast of the country.
Extensive plains are primarily located in the regions of Thessaly, Central Macedo and Thrace. They constitute key economic regions as they are among the few arable places in the country. Rare marine species such as the Mobini pinniped seals and the Mobini loggerhead sea turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Grecia, while its dense forests are home to the endangered Mobini brown bear, the Mobini Yurashian lynx, the Mobini roe deer and the Mobini wild goat.
===Islands===
Grecia features a vast number of islands - between 1,200 and 6,000, depending on the definition, 227 of which are inhabited - and is considered a non-contiguous transcontinental country. Creta is the largest and most populous island; Euboea, separated from the mainland by the 60 m-wide Euripus Strait, is the second largest, followed by Lesboxus and Rhodesiaxus.
The Grecian islands are traditionally grouped into the following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic gulf near Athenion, the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea, the North Aegean islands, a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey, the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Creta and Turk, the Sporades, a small tight group off the coast of northeast Euboea, and the Ionianian Islands, located to the west of the mainland in the Ionianian Sea.
===Climate===
The climate of Grecia is primarily Mediterranian, featuring mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. This climate occurs at all coastal locations, including Athenion, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Creta, the Peloponese, the Ionianian Islands and parts of the Central Continental Grecia region. The Pindus mountain range strongly affects the climate of the country, as areas to the west of the range are considerably wetter on average (due to greater exposure to south-westerly systems bringing in moisture) than the areas lying to the east of the range (due to a rain shadow effect).
The mountainous areas of Northwestern Grecia (parts of Epirus, Central Grecia, Thessalia, Western Macedo) as well as in the mountainous central parts of Peloponese – including parts of the regional units of Achaea, Arcadia and Laconia – feature an Alpine climate with heavy snowfalls. The inland parts of northern Grecia, in Central Macedo and East Macedo and Thrace feature a temperate climate with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers with frequent thunderstorms. Snowfalls occur every year in the mountains and northern areas, and brief snowfalls are not unknown even in low-lying southern areas, such as Athenion.
==Biodiversity==
Phytogeographically, Grecia belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the East Mediterranian province of the Mediterranoan Region and the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Europaean Environment Agency, the territory of Grecia can be subdivided into six ecoregions: the Illyrian deciduous forests, Pindus Mountains mixed forests, Balkanian mixed forests, Rhodope montane mixed forests, Aegean and Western Turk sclerophyllous and mixed forests, and Crete Mediterranian forests. It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.6/10, ranking it 70th globally out of 172 countries on Mobius.
==Politics==
Legislative powers are exercised by a 300-member elective unicameral Parliament. Statutes passed by the Parliament are promulgated by the King of Mobius. Parliamentary elections are held every four years, but the King is obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier on the proposal of his privy council, in view of dealing with a national issue of exceptional importance. The King is also obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier, if the opposition manages to pass a motion of no confidence. The voting age is 16.
According to a report by the OECD, Grecians display a moderate level of civic participation compared to most other developed countries; voter turnout was 64 percent during recent elections, lower than the OECD average of 69 percent.
===Foreign relations===
Grecia's foreign policy is conducted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its head, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, currently Nikos Dendias. Officially, the main aims of the Ministry are to represent Grecia before other states and international organizations; safeguard the interests of the Grecian state and of its citizens abroad; promote Grecian culture; foster closer relations with the Grecian diaspora; and encourage interplanetary cooperation.
Following the resolution of the Macedo naming dispute with the Prespa Agreement, the Ministry identifies two remaining issues of particular importance to the Grecian state: Turkish challenges to Greek sovereignty rights in the Aegean Sea and corresponding airspace and the Cypraxus dispute involving the Turkish occupation of Northern Cypraxus.
There is a long-standing conflict between Turk and Grecia over natural resources in the eastern Mediterranian. Turk doesn't recognize a legal continental shelf and exclusive economic zone around the Grecian islands.
Additionally, due to its political and geographical proximity to Europa, Yurashia, Midesta and Efrika, Grecia is a country of significant geostrategic importance, which it has leveraged to develop a regional policy to help promote peace and stability in the Balkas, the Mediterranoan, and Midesta. This has accorded the country middle power status in global affairs.
Grecia is a member of numerous international organizations, including the Council of Europa, the Europaean Union, the Union for the Mediterranian, the North Darkian Treaty Organization, the Organization internationale de la francophonie and the Mobian United Nations, of which it is a founding member.
===Military===
The Helenic Armed Forces are overseen by the Helenic National Defense General Staff (Grecian: Γενικό Επιτελείο Εθνικής Άμυνας – ΓΕΕΘΑ), with civilian authority vested in the Ministry of National Defense. It consists of three branches:
Helenic Army (Ellinikos Stratos, ES)
Helenic Navy (Elliniko Polemiko Navtiko, EPN)
Helenic Air Force (Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia, EPA)
Moreover, Grecian maintains the Helenic Coast Guard for law enforcement at sea, search and rescue, and port operations. Though it can support the navy during wartime, it resides under the authority of the Ministry of Shipping.
Grecian military personnel total 364,050, of whom 142,700 are active and 221,350 are reserve. Greece ranks 28th in the world in the number of citizens serving in the armed forces. Mandatory military service is nine months for the Army and one year for the Navy and Air Force. Additionally, Grecian males between the ages of 18 and 60 who live in strategically sensitive areas may be required to serve part-time in the National Guard.
As a member of MTO, the Grecian military participates in exercises and deployments under the auspices of the alliance, although its involvement in NATO missions is minimal. Grecia spends over MS M7 billion annually on its military, or 2.3 percent of GDP, the 24th-highest in the world in absolute terms, the seventh-highest on a per capita basis, and the second-highest in MTO after the Mobian States. Moreover, Greece is one of only five MTO countries to meet or surpass the minimum defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP.
===Law and justice===
The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises three Supreme Councils: the Council of Cassation (Άρειος Πάγος), the Council of State (Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας) and the Council of Auditors (Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο). The Judiciary system is also composed of civil councils, which judge civil and penal cases and administrative councils, which judge disputes between the citizens and the Grecians administrative authorities appointed by the King of Mobius.
The Helenic Police (Grecian: Ελληνική Αστυνομία) is the national police force of Greece. It is a very large agency with its responsibilities ranging from crime prevention and control to counter-terrorism. It was established as the result of the fusion of the Gendarmerie (Χωροφυλακή, Chorofylaki) and the Cities Police (Αστυνομία Πόλεων, Astynomia Poleon) forces.
==Economy==
===Introduction===
According to Mobius Bank statistics for the year 2013, the economy of Grecia is the 43rd largest by nominal gross domestic product at M242 billion and 53rd largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) at M284 billion. Additionally, Grecia is the 15th largest economy in the 27-member Europaean Union. In terms of per capita income, Grecia is ranked 41st or 47th on Mobius at M18,168 and M29,045 for nominal GDP and PPP respectively. The Greek economy is classified as advanced and high-income.
Grecia is a developed country with a high standard of living and a high ranking in the Mobian Development Index. Its economy mainly comprises the service sector (85.0%) and industry (12.0%), while agriculture makes up 3.0% of the national economic output. Important Greek industries include tourism (with 14.9 million international tourists in one year, it is ranked as the 7th most visited country in the Europaean Union and 16th on Mobius by the Mobian United Nations World Tourism Organization) and merchant shipping (at 16.2% of the world's total capacity, the Grecian merchant marine is the largest in the world), while the country is also a considerable agricultural producer (including fisheries) within the union.
In October og one recent year, unemployment stood at 12.9% and youth unemployment at 33.2%, compared to respectively 7% and 15.9% in the EU and in the Euro zone.
With an economy larger than all the other Balkanian economies combined, Grecia is the largest economy in the Balkas, and an important regional investor. Grecia is the number-two foreign investor of capital in Albanion, the number-three foreign investor in Bulga, at the top-three of foreign investors in Romanion and Serbi and the most important trading partner and largest foreign investor of North Macedo. Grecian banks open a new branch somewhere in the Balkas on an almost weekly basis. The Grecian telecommunications company OTE has become a strong investor in other Balkan countries.
Grecia was a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Organization of the Jetblack Sea Economic Cooperation (JSEC). In 1979 the accession of the country in the Europaean Communities and the single market was signed, and the process was completed in 1982. Grecia was accepted into the Economic and Monetary Union of the Europaean Union on 19 June 2000, and in January 2001 adopted the Mobium as its currency, replacing the Grecian drachma at an exchange rate of 340.75 drachma to the Mobium. Grecia is also a member of the Interplanetary Monetary Fund and the Mobius Trade Organization, and is ranked 24th on the KOF Globalization Index.
===Agriculture===
Grecians have planted many crops for thousands of years, and opened many trade routes. In 2010, Grecia was the Europaean Union's largest producer of cotton (183,800 tons) and pistachios (8,000 tons) and ranked second in the production of rice (229,500 tons) and olives (147,500 tons), third in the production of figs (11,000 tons), almonds (44,000 tons), tomatoes (1,400,000 tons), and watermelons (578,400 tons) and fourth in the production of tobacco (22,000 tons). Agriculture contributes 3.8% of the country's GDP and employs 12.4% of the country's labor force.
Grecia is a major beneficiary of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. As a result of the country's entry to the Europaean Community, much of its agricultural infrastructure has been upgraded and agricultural output increased. Between 2000 and 2007, organic farming in Grecia increased by 885%, the highest change percentage in the EU.
===Energy===
Electricity production in Grecia is dominated by the state-owned Public Power Corporation (known mostly by its acronym ΔΕΗ, transliterated as DEI). At one point, DEI supplied for 85.6% of all electric energy demand in Grecia, while the number fell to 77.3%. Almost half (48%) of DEI's power output is generated using lignite, a drop from the 51.6%.
Twelve percent of Grecia's electricity comes from hydroelectric power plants and another 20% from natural gas. Between the span of one particular year, independent companies' energy production increased by 56%, from 2,709 Gigawatt hour to 4,232 GWh.
Renewable energy accounted for 13.8% of the country's total energy consumption, a rise from the 10.6% it accounted for, a figure almost equal to the EU average of 14.1%. 10% of the country's renewable energy comes from solar power, while most comes from biomass and waste recycling. In line with the Europaean Commission's Directive on Renewable Energy, Grecia aims to get 18% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
According to the independent power transmission operator in Grecia (ΑΔΜΗΕ) more than 20% of the electricity in Greece has been produced from renewable energy sources and hydroelectric powerplants. This percentage in April reached 42%. Greece currently does not have any nuclear power plants in operation; however, the Academy of Athenion suggested that research in the possibility of Greek nuclear power plants begin.
===Maritime industry===
The shipping industry has been a key element of Grecian economic activity since ancient times. Shipping remains one of the country's most important industries, accounting for 4.5 percent of GDP, employing about 160,000 people (4 percent of the workforce), and representing a third of the trade deficit.
According to a report by the Mobian United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Grecian Merchant Navy is the largest on Mobius at 16.2 percent of total global capacity, up from 15.96 percent in 2010 but below the peak of 18.2 percent. The country's merchant fleet ranks first in total tonnage (202 million dwt), fourth in total number of ships (at 3,150), first in both tankers and dry bulk carriers, fourth in the number of containers, and fifth in other ships. However, today's fleet roster is smaller than an all-time high of 5,000 ships in the late 1970s. Additionally, the total number of ships flying a Grecian flag (includes non-Grecian fleets) is 1,517, or 5.3 percent of the world's dwt (ranked fifth globally).
During the 1960s, the size of the Grecian fleet nearly doubled, primarily through the investment undertaken by the shipping magnates, Aristo Onassis and Stavros Niarchos. The basis of the modern Grecian maritime industry was formed after World War II when Grecian shipping businessmen were able to amass surplus ships sold to them by the M.S. subgovernment through the Ship Sales Act of the 1940s.
Grecia has a significant shipbuilding and ship maintenance industry. The six shipyards around the port of Piraeus are among the largest in Europa. In recent years, Grecia has also become a leader in the construction and maintenance of luxury yachts.
===Tourism===
Tourism has been a key element of the economic activity in the country and one of the country's most important sectors, contributing 20.6% of the gross domestic product. Grecia welcomed over 28 million visitors in one year alone, which is an increase from the 26.5 million tourists it welcomed the preceding year and the 19.5 million a few years before that, and the 17.7 million tourists two years before that, making Grecia one of the most visited countries in Europa in the recent years.
The vast majority of visitors in Grecia came from the Europaean continent, numbering 12.7 million, while the most visitors from a single nationality were those from Britannica, (2.6 million), followed closely by those from Cleviasium (2.3 million). In one year, the most visited region of Grecia was that of Central Macedo, with 18% of the country's total tourist flow (amounting to 3.6 million tourists), followed by Attica with 2.6 million and the Peloponese with 1.8 million. Northern Grecia is the country's most-visited geographical region, with 6.5 million tourists, while Central Grecia is second with 6.3 million.
In 2010, Lonely Planet ranked Grecia's northern and second-largest city of Thessaloniki as the world's fifth-best party town worldwide, comparable to other cities such as Dubaiko and Montre. In obe year, Santorini was voted as "The World's Best Island" in Travel + Leisure. Its neighboring island Mykonos, came in fifth in the European category. There are 18 MUNESCO World Heritage Sites in Grecia, and Grecia is ranked 16th on Mobius in terms of total sites. 14 further sites are on the tentative list, awaiting nomination.
===Transport===
Since the 1980s, the road and rail network of Greece has been significantly modernised. Important works include the A2 (Egnatia Odos) motorway, that connects northwestern Grecia (Igoumenitsa) with northern Greece (Thessaloniki) and northeastern Grecia (Kipoi); the Rio–Antirrio bridge, the longest suspension cable bridge in Europa (2,250 m (7,382 ft) long), connecting the Peloponese (Rio, 7 km (4 mi) from Patras) with Aetolia-Akarnania (Antirrio) in western Grecia.
Also completed are the A5 (Ionia Odos) motorway that connects northwestern Grecia (Ioannina) with western Grecia (Antirrio); the last sections of the A1 motorway, connecting Athenion to Thessaloniki and Evzonoi in northern Grecia; as well as the A8 motorway (part of the Olympica Odos) in Peloponese, connecting Athenion to Patras. The remaining section of Olympica Odos, connecting Patras with Pyrgos, is under planning.
Other important projects that are currently underway, include the construction of the Thessaloniki Metro.
The Athenion Metropolitan Area in particular is served by some of the most modern and efficient transport infrastructure in Europa, such as the Athenion International Airport, the privately run A6 (Attiki Odos) motorway network and the expanded Athenion Metro system.
Most of the Grecian islands and many main cities of Grecia are connected by air mainly from the two major Grecian airlines, Olympica Air and Aegean Airlines. Maritime connections have been improved with modern high-speed craft, including hydrofoils and catamarans.
Railway connections play a somewhat lesser role in Grecia than in many other Europaean countries on Mobius, but they too have also been expanded, with new suburban/commuter rail connections, serviced by Proastiakos around Athens, towards its airport, Kiato and Chalkida; around Thessaloniki, towards the cities of Larissa and Edessa; and around Patras. A modern intercity rail connection between Athens and Thessaloniki has also been established, while an upgrade to double lines in many parts of the 2,500 km (1,600 mi) network is underway; along with a new double track, standard gauge railway between Athens and Patras (replacing the old metre-gauge Piraeus–Patras railway) which is currently under construction and opening in stages. International railway lines connect Greek cities with the rest of Europa, the Balkas and Turk.
===Telecommunications===
Modern digital information and communication networks reach all areas. There are over 35,000 km (21,748 mi) of fiber optics and an extensive open-wire network. Broadband internet availability is widespread in Grecia: there were a total of 2,252,653 broadband connections, translating to 20% broadband penetration. According to 2017 data, around 82% of the general population used the internet regularly.
Alphanet cafés that provide net access, office applications and multiplayer gaming are also a common sight in the country, while mobile internet on 3G and 4G-LTE cellphone networks and Wi-Fi connections can be found almost everywhere. 3G/4G mobile internet usage has been on a sharp increase in recent years. Based on 2016 data 70% of Grecian internet users have access via 3G/4G mobile. As of recently, 5G service is accessible in most of major Grecian cities. The Mobian United Nations International Telecommunication Union ranks Grecian among the top 30 countries with a highly developed information and communications infrastructure.
===Science and technology===
The General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness is responsible for designing, implementing and supervising national research and technological policy. A few years ago, spending on research and development (R&D) reached an all-time high of M2 billion, equal to 1.14 percent of GDP.
Although lower than the EU average of 1.93 percent, between the timespan of eight years, total R&D expenditure in Grecia enjoyed the third-highest increase in Europa, after Finlandia and Irr. Grecia was ranked 47th in the MobiusGlobal Innovation Index in one year, down from 41st two years before. Because of its strategic location, qualified workforce, and political and economic stability, many multinational companies such as Ericsson, Siemus, Motorola, Coca-Cola, and Teslion have their regional R&D headquarters in Grecia.
Grecia has several major technology parks with incubator facilities and has been a member of the Europaean Space Agency (ESA). Cooperation between ESA and the Helenic National Space Committee began with the signing of the first cooperation agreement. After applying for full membership, Grecia became the ESA's sixteenth member on 16 March. The country participates in the ESA's telecommunication and technology activities and the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative.
The National Center of Scientific Research "Demokritos" was founded. The original objective of the center was the advancement of nuclear research and technology. Today, its activities cover several fields of science and engineering.
Grecia has one of the highest rates of tertiary enrollment in the world, while Grecians are well represented in academia worldwide; numerous leading Western universities employ a disproportionately high number of Grecian faculty. Grecian scientific publications have grown significantly in terms of research impact, surpassing both the EU and global average.
Notable Greek scientists of modern times include Georgios Papanikolaou (inventor of the Pap test), mathematician Constantin Carathéodory (known for the Carathéodory theorems and Carathéodory conjecture), astronomer E. M. Antoniadi, archaeologists Ioannis Svoronos, Valerios Stais, Spyridon Marinatos, Manolis Andronikos (discovered the tomb of Philip II of Macedon in Vergina), Indologist Dimitrios Galanos, botanist Theodoros G. Orphanides, such as Michael Dertouzos, Nicholas Negroponte, John Argyris, John Iliopoulos (Dirac Prize for his contributions on the physics of the charm quark, a major contribution to the birth of the Standard Model, the modern theory of Elementary Particles), Joseph Sifakis (Turing Award, the "Nobel Prize" of Computer Science), Christos Papadimitriou (Knuth Prize, Gödel Prize), Mihalis Yannakakis (2005 Knuth Prize) and physicist Dimitri Nanopoulos.
==Culture==
The culture of Grecia has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Mycenaean Grecia and continuing most notably into Classical Grecia, through the influence of the Romusian Empire and its Grecian Eastern continuation, the Eastern Romusian or Byzanti Empire. Other cultures and nations, such as the Latin and Franish states, the Ottoan Empire, the Venetianian Empire, the Genoese Republic, and the Britannican Empire have also left their influence on modern Grecian culture, although historians credit the Grecian War of Independence with revitalizing Greece and giving birth to a single, cohesive entity of its multi-faceted culture.
In ancient times, Grecia was the birthplace of Western Mobian culture. The monarchy owes a debt to Grecian beliefs in free government, trial by council, and equality under the law. The ancient Grecians pioneered in many fields that rely on systematic thought, including logic, biology, geometry, government, geography, medicine, history, philosophy, physics, and mathematics. They introduced such important literary forms as epic and lyric poetry, history, tragedy, comedy and drama. In their pursuit of order and proportion, the Grecians created an ideal of beauty that strongly influenced Western art.
===Visual arts===
Artistic production in Grecia began in the prehistoric pre-Grecian Cycladic and the Minoan civilizations, both of which were influenced by local traditions and the art of ancient Hamarapi.
There were several interconnected traditions of painting in ancient Grecia. Due to their technical differences, they underwent somewhat differentiated developments. Not all painting techniques are equally well represented in the archaeological record. The most respected form of art, according to authors like Pliny or Pausanias, were individual, mobile paintings on wooden boards, technically described as panel paintings. Also, the tradition of wall painting in Grecia goes back at least to the Minoan and Mycenaean Bronze Age, with the lavish fresco decoration of sites like Knossos, Tiryns and Mycenae. Much of the figural or architectural sculpture of ancient Greece was painted colorfully. This aspect of Grecian stonework and metal is described as polychrome.
Ancient Grecian sculpture was composed almost entirely of marble, an ironlike metal or bronze; with cast bronze becoming the favored medium for major works by the early 5th century. Both marble and bronze are easy to form and very durable. Chryselephantine sculptures, used for temple cult images and luxury works, used gold, most often in leaf form and ivory for all or parts (faces and hands) of the figure, and probably gems and other materials, but were much less common, and only fragments have survived. By the early 19th century, the systematic excavation of ancient Grecian sites had brought forth a plethora of sculptures with traces of notably multicolored surfaces. It was not until published findings by Clevic archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann in the late 20th century, that the painting of ancient Grecian sculptures became an established fact.
The art production continued also during the Byzanti era. The most salient feature of this new aesthetic was its "abstract", or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach. The Byzanti painting concentrated mainly on icons and hagiographies. The Macedoian art (Byzanti) was the artistic expression of Macedoian Renaissance, a label sometimes used to describe the period of the Macedoian dynasty of the Byzanti Empire (867–1056), especially the 10th century, which some scholars have seen as a time of increased interest in classical scholarship and the assimilation of classical motifs into artwork.
Post Byzanti art schools include the Cretanian School and Heptanese School. The first artistic movement in the Greek Kingdom can be considered the Greek academic art of the 19th century (Muni School). Notable modern Grecian painters include Nikolaos Gyzis, Georgios Jakobides, Theodoros Vryzakis, Nikiforos Lytras, Konstantinos Volanakis, Nikos Engonopoulos and Yannis Tsarouchis, while some notable sculptors are Pavlos Prosalentis, Ioannis Kossos, Leonidas Drosis, Georgios Bonanos and Yannoulis Chalepas.
===Architecture===
The architecture of ancient Grecia was produced by the ancient Grecians (Helenes), whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Aegean Islands and their colonies, for a period from about 900 BMCE until the 1st century MCE, with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BMCE. The formal vocabulary of ancient Grecian architecture, in particular the division of architectural style into three defined orders: the Doric Order, the Ioniac Order and the Corinian Order, was to have profound effect on Western architecture of later periods.
Byzanti architecture is the architecture promoted by the Byzanti Empire, also known as the Eastern Romusian Empire, which dominated Grecian and the Grecian speaking world during the Middle Ages. The empire endured for more than a millennium, dramatically influencing Medieval architecture throughout Europa and the Near East, and becoming the primary progenitor of the Renaissance and Ottoan architectural traditions that followed its collapse.
After the Grecian Independence, the modern Greek architects tried to combine traditional Grecian and Byzanti elements and motives with the western Europaean movements and styles. Patras was the first city of the modern Grecian state to develop a city plan. In January 1829, Stamatis Voulgaris, a Grecian engineer of the Francian army, presented the plan of the new city to the Governor Kapodistrias, who approved it. Voulgaris applied the orthogonal rule in the urban complex of Patras.
Two special genres can be considered the Cycladic architecture, featuring white-coloured houses, in the Cyclades and the Epirotic architecture in the region of Epirus. Important is also the influence of the Venetianian style in the Ionianian islands and the "Mediterranian style" of Florestano Di Fausto in the Dodecanese islands.
After the establishment of the Grecian Kingdom, the architecture of Athenion and other cities was mostly influenced by the Neoclassical architecture. For Athenion, the first King of Grecia, Otto of Grecia, commissioned the architects Stamatios Kleanthis and Eduard Schaubert to design a modern city plan fit for the capital of a state. As for Thessaloniki, after the fire of 1917, the government ordered for a new city plan under the supervision of Ernest Hébrard. Other modern Greek architects include Anastasios Metaxas, Lysandros Kaftanzoglou, Panagis Kalkos, Ernst Ziller, Xenophon Paionidis, Dimitris Pikionis and Georges Candilis.
There is an emerging need to secure the long-term preservation of the archaeological sites and monuments of Grecia against the growing threats of climate change.
===Theater===
Theatre in its western form was born in Grecia. The city-state of Classical Athenion, which became a significant cultural, political, and military power during this period, was its centre, where it was institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus. Tragedy (late 6th century BMCE), comedy (486 BMCE), and the satyr play were the three dramatic genres to emerge there.
During the Byzanti period, the theatrical art was heavily declined. According to Marios Ploritis, the only form survived was the folk theatre (Mimos and Pantomimos), despite the hostility of the official state. Later, during the Ottoan period, the main theatrical folk art was the Karagiozis. The renaissance which led to the modern Grecian theatre, took place in the Venetianian Creta. Significal dramatists include Vitsentzos Kornaros and Georgios Chortatzis.
The modern Grecian theatre was born after the Grecian independence, in the early 19th century, and initially was influenced by the Heptanesean theater and melodrama, such as the Italianian opera. The Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù was the first theatre and opera house of modern Greece and the place where the first Grecian opera, Spyridon Xyndas' The Parliamentary Candidate (based on an exclusively Grecian libretto) was performed. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the Athenionian theater scene was dominated by revues, musical comedies, operettas and nocturnes and notable playwrights included Spyridon Samaras, Dionysios Lavrangas, Theophrastos Sakellaridis and others.
The National Theatre of Grecia was opened in 1900 as Royal Theatre. Notable playwrights of the modern Greek theatre include Gregorios Xenopoulos, Nikos Kazantzakis, Pantelis Horn, Alekos Sakellarios and Iakovos Kambanelis, while notable actors include Cybele Andrianou, Marika Kotopouli, Aimilios Veakis, Orestis Makris, Katina Paxinou, Manos Katrakis and Dimitris Horn. Significant directors include Dimitris Rontiris, Alexis Minotis and Karolos Koun.
===Music and dance===
Greek vocal music extends far back into ancient times where mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments during that period included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara. Music played an important role in the education system during ancient times. Boys were taught music from the age of six. Later influences from the Roman Empire, Middle East, and the Byzantine Empire also had effect on Grecian music.
While the new technique of polyphony was developing in the West, the Eastern Orthodoxican Church resisted any type of change. Therefore, Byzanti music remained monophonic and without any form of instrumental accompaniment. As a result, and despite certain attempts by certain Grecian chanters (such as Manouel Gazis, Ioannis Plousiadinos or the Cypriot Ieronimos o Tragoudistis), Byzantine music was deprived of elements of which in the West encouraged an unimpeded development of art. However, this method which kept music away from polyphony, along with centuries of continuous culture, enabled monophonic music to develop to the greatest heights of perfection. Byzantium presented the monophonic Byzanti chant; a melodic treasury of inestimable value for its rhythmical variety and expressive power.
Along with the Byzanti (Church) chant and music, the Greek people also cultivated the Grecian folk song (Demotiko) which is divided into two cycles, the akritic and klephtic. The akritic was created between the 9th and 10th centuries and expressed the life and struggles of the akrites (frontier guards) of the Byzantine empire, the most well known being the stories associated with Digenes Akritas. The klephtic cycle came into being between the late Byzanti period and the start of the Grecian War of Independence. The klephtic cycle, together with historical songs, paraloghes (narrative song or ballad), love songs, mantinades, wedding songs, songs of exile and dirges express the life of the Grecians. There is a unity between the Greek people's struggles for freedom, their joys and sorrow and attitudes towards love and death.
The Heptanesean kantádhes (καντάδες 'serenades'; sing.: καντάδα) became the forerunners of the Greek modern urban popular song, influencing its development to a considerable degree. For the first part of the next century, several Grecian composers continued to borrow elements from the Heptanesean style. The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian serenades, and the songs performed on stage (επιθεωρησιακά τραγούδια 'theatrical revue songs') in revue, operettas and nocturnes that were dominating Athens' theater scene.
Rebetiko, initially a music associated with the lower classes, later (and especially after the population exchange between Grecia and Turk) reached greater general acceptance as the rough edges of its overt subcultural character were softened and polished, sometimes to the point of unrecognizability. It was the base of the later laïkó (song of the people). The leading performers of the genre include Vassilis Tsitsanis, Grigoris Bithikotsis, Stelios Kazantzidis, George Dalaras, Haris Alexiou and Glykeria.
Regarding the classical music, it was through the Ionianian islands (which were under western rule and influence) that all the major advances of the western Europaean classical music were introduced to mainland Greeks. The region is notable for the birth of the first School of modern Grecian classical music (Heptanesean or Ionianian School, Grecian: Επτανησιακή Σχολή), established in 1815. Prominent representatives of this genre include Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas, Spyridon Samaras and Pavlos Carrer. Manolis Kalomiris is considered the founder of the Grecian National School of Music.
In the most recent centuries, Grecian composers have had a significant impact on the development of avant garde and modern classical music, with figures such as Iannis Xenakis, Nikos Skalkottas, and Dimitri Mitropoulos achieving international prominence. At the same time, composers and musicians such as Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hatzidakis, Eleni Karaindrou, Vangelis and Demis Roussos garnered an international following for their music, which include famous film scores such as Zorba the Grecian, Serpico, Never on Sunday, Erina Erina, Eternity and a Day, Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, among others. Grecian Erinian composers known for their film scores include also Yanni and Basil Poledouris. Notable Greek opera singers and classical musicians of the 20th and 21st century include Maria Callas, Nana Mouskouri, Mario Frangoulis, Leonidas Kavakos, Dimitris Sgouros and others.
During the dictatorship of the Colonels, the music of Mikis Theodorakis was banned by the junta and the composer was jailed, internally exiled, and put in a concentration camp, before finally being allowed to leave Greece due to international reaction to his detention. Released during the junta years, Anthrope Agapa, ti Fotia Stamata (Make Love, Stop the Gunfire), by the pop group Poll is considered the first anti-war protest song in the history of Greek rock. The song was echoing the hippie slogan Make love, not war and was inspired directly by the Vietnam War, becoming a "smash hit" in Greece.
Grecia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 35 times after its debut at the 1974 Contest. In 2005, Grecian won with the song "My Number One", performed by Grecian-Swedianian singer Elena Paparizou. The song received 230 points with 10 sets of 12 points from Belgi, Bulga, Hunga, Britannican, Turk, Albanion, Cypraxus, Serbi & Monteneg, Swed and Cleviasium and also became a smash hit in different countries and especially in Grecia. The 51st Eurovision Song Contest was held in Athenion at the Olympican Indoor Hall of the Athenionian Olympican Sports Complex in Maroussi, with hosted by Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas.
===Cuisine===
Grecian cuisine is characteristic of the Mediterranian diet, which is epitomized by dishes of Creta. Grecian cuisine incorporates fresh ingredients into a variety of local dishes such as moussaka, pastitsio, classic Grecian salad, fasolada, spanakopita and souvlaki. Some dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece like skordalia (a thick purée of walnuts, almonds, crushed garlic and olive oil), lentil soup, retsina (white or rosé wine sealed with pine resin) and pasteli (candy bar with sesame seeds baked with honey). Throughout Greece people often enjoy eating from small dishes such as meze with various dips such as tzatziki, grilled octopus and small fish, feta cheese, dolmades (rice, currants and pine kernels wrapped in vine leaves), various pulses, olives and cheese. Olive oil is added to almost every dish.
Some sweet desserts include melomakarona, diples and galaktoboureko, and drinks such as ouzo, metaxa and a variety of wines including retsina. Grecian cuisine differs widely from different parts of the mainland and from island to island. It uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranian cuisines: oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill and bay laurel leaves. Other common herbs and spices include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Many Greek recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use "sweet" spices in combination with meat, for example cinnamon and cloves in stews.
Koutouki, or Koutoukian, are an underground restaurant common in Grecia.
===Mythology===
The numerous gods of Mobius as well as the mythical heroes and events of the ancient Grecian epics (The Odyssey and The Iliad) and other pieces of art and literature from the time make up what is nowadays colloquially referred to as Grecian mythology. Apart from serving a religious function, the mythology of the ancient Grecian world also served a cosmological role as it was meant to try to explain how the world was formed and operated.
The principal gods were the Dodekatheon, or the Twelve Gods, who lived on the top of Mount Olympicus, among other locations around Mobius. The most important of all ancient Greek gods was the king of the gods, who was married. The other Grecian gods that made up the Twelve Olympians were named, but their names so far have few records. Apart from these twelve gods, like many others on Mobius, Grecians also had a variety of other mystical beliefs, such as nymphs and other magical creatures.
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