2nd Primary School of Nafplio 2015-2016 1
General Information
Our country's name is Greece or Hellas as we, the Greeks, call it. It is a small country in the Balkan peninsula, in the south-east of Europe. In the north it borders Bulgaria, FYROM, and Albania. In the east it borders Turkey. In the south there is the Mediterranean Sea. In the west there is the Ionian Sea.
2
The population of Greece is about eleven million people and most of them live in Athens, the capital . Some other cities are : Pireaus, Thessaloniki, Herakleo and Patra.
Our flag is called “Galanolefki� (which means blue and white in Greek) because it is blue and white. It has got nine stripes and a white cross. It symbolizes freedom and Christianism.
3
Greece is in the European Union. Our currency is the euro.
Our language is Greek and it has affected many European languages. There are twenty-four letters in the greek alphabet, which are:
4
Landscape of Greece
Greece is a mountainous country, with lots of islands and a long coastline. It has got about 15.000 kms coastline, which is the 9th in length in the world. And so, there are a lot of peninsulas, gulfs, bays, capes and beaches. There are a lot of high mountains, too. The most important are Pindos and Rodopi. Olympos is the highest mountain, in the centre of the country. Some of our forests are protected because their flora and fauna are important. There are rivers, such as Nestos, Evros and Axios. Also there are lakes, such as Trichonida, the two Prespes, etc. But generally the rivers and lakes aren't very big because it doesn’t rain a lot.
5
There are few plains in Greece. The biggest is the plain of Thessalia, in the centre of the country, and there are also three big plains in the north, at the mouths of the Strimonas, Axios and Evros rivers.
The Greek islands are numerous and beautiful and they have their own history. Almost all of them have large, clean, beautiful beaches. The biggest island is Crete in the south.
6
7
8
9
PEOPLE The Greeks are friendly, hospitable and helpful with the others. We like helping people. We are also cheerful and outgoing. We, the children, like playing with our friends, dancing and going for walks in our free time. The grown-ups like going out, drinking wine, eating good food and dancing traditional Greek dances. Do you know “syrtaki”dance? Also, we like telling jokes and laughing. We are famous for our cuisine: tzatziki, souvlaki, stifado, moussakas, and Greek “choriatiki” salad.
tzatziki
souvlaki
moussakas
We have loved Arts since ancient times. Perhaps you have heard of the excellent statue of “Aphrodite of Milos”. It is an ancient Greek statue which is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Also “the Parthenon” in Athens is another perfect monument of Ancient Greece. Moreover, there are important people in painting (El Greco is one of them),and in poetry. George Seferis and Odysseas Elytis are two poets who have won Nobel prizes and their poems have been translated in many languages. Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Chatzidakis, Maria Kallas and Demis Roussos are famous for their music and songs, too. 10
The Greeks like sports. Remember? We started the Olympic Games. We are good at basketball, football, handball, polo and boat races. And at the rings. Petrounias, some time ago, this year, won the gold medal in the World Championship at the rings.
boat races
Water polo
Dimas at weight lifting
rings
Petrounias
We would also like to talk about the Greek doctor, George Papanikolaou, who invented the “Pap test� for women.
Nowadays, we have lots of famous important scientists who teach in large universities in Europe and the USA. Nanopoulos and Daskalakis are great at Physics and Krimizis at Astrophysics, just to mention some.
Unfortunately, our country has economic problems at present and we try to solve them.
Anyway, Greece is a beautiful country and it is worth visiting it and learning things about it!
11
Visit Greece for ‌ Greece has got a very big history. As a result, it is full of famous buildings and sights. Everywhere you travel, you will find ancient ruins. Some of them are the Parthenon, in the Acropolis of Athens, and the ancient theatre of Epidaurus, with its great acoustics.
The Parthenon
The ancient theatre of Epidaurus
Also the ancient town of Mykines, with the impressing Cyclops Walls made from huge stones, and Olympia, where the first Olympic Games took place.
Mykines
Olympia
12
Furthermore, Knossos town, in Crete, and Vergina town, in Northern Greece, where you can see the tombs of old Macedonian Kings.
Knossos
Vergina
A piece of Greek history which unfortunately is not in Greece is one of the Karyatides statues. Five of them are in Athens and you can see them in the new museum of the Acropolis.
Karyatides
But the sixth one is in the British Museum in London. Lord Elgin took it from the Acropolis of Athens.
13
Greece is a country with a lot of beautiful islands, such as Mykonos, Rhodos, Crete, Zakynthos and Santorini.
Mykonos island
Zakynthos island
Castle on Rhodos island
Santorini island
Thousands of tourists visit them every year to enjoy their beauty, the hospitality of the people and their long history.
14
In many towns of our country there are very pretty places and, we think, we can call them natural wonders.
Canyon of Samaria
Some of them are the Canyon of Samaria in Crete, the fossilized forest on Lesvos island, the forest of butterflies on Rhodos island, the high rocks with monasteries up them in Meteora, the Waterfalls of Edessa and the volcano on Santorini island.
Lesvos: Fossilized Forest
Meteora
The tourists who like exercise can swim and sail in our clean sea and enjoy the sun on our sandy beaches. They can hike, walk, climb and go camping up our high mountains. They can also go kayaking in our long and safe rivers. 15
In the countryside we can find very beautiful flowers and herbs, such as thyme and oregano. In the forests there are a lot of trees, some of which are rare.
Thyme
Oregano
Also, in Greece, we have a lot of special animals such as the kri-kri (a wild goat) on Crete island, the carretta-carretta turtle on Zakynthos island , the monahus-monahus seal in Allonissos island, the brown bear up our high mountains and dolphins in our seas.
kri - kri
caretta - caretta
If we convinced you, you can visit our beautiful Greece and have fun! And, believe us, you won’t regret it! 16