Greek Culturepresentation prepared by:

Sonia SolarczykSylwia Kopeć

Stanisław MostekSylwester LisAdam Bandyk

Sports in GreeceFootball is the most popular sport in Greece. The Greek national football team rose to prominence in the UEFA Euro 2004, when they were crowned European champions in one of thebiggest shocks in international football history.In picture - Angelos Charisteas, member of the Greek national football team.During the victorious Euro 2004 campaign, Charisteas scored three goals.

Sports in GreeceGreece has a long tradition and history of success in basketball, which is also very

popular in the country. The Greek national basketball team is considered among the world's top basketball powers.

In picture - Michalis Kakiouzis, member of the Greek team that won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2005 and also a member of Greece's silver medal winning team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Sports in GreeceAthletics has been another successful individual sport which has often given to Greece joy. Greek athletes have won 29 medals in total at the Olympic games for Greece and 19 medals in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

In picture - Periklis Iakovakis, who won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Annecy.

Greek FoodGreek cuisine has a long tradition and its flavors change with the season and its geography. The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cuisine is olive oil, which is frequently used in most dishes. It is produced from the olive trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food.

Greek Food

Greek cuisine uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines do, namely: oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill

and bay laurel leaves. Dining out is common in Greece, and has been for quite some time. There’s a lot

of traditional restaurants and bars, but fast-food has also become more popular in Greece.

Greek Food

Appetizers :• Deep-fried vegetables• Dakos• Greek Salad• Kalamarakia• Patatosalata• Tyropita

Greek FoodSoups:• Bourou-Bourou• Fasolada• Psarosoupa• TrahanaVegetarian main dishes:• Arakas me aginares• Gemista• Lachanorizo• Spanakorizo

Greek FoodMeat and seafood dishes:• Gyros• Astakomacaronada• Pastitsio• Souvlaki• XiphiasDesserts and sweets:• Finikia• Koulourakia• Loukoumi• Kourabiedes• Diples• Yogurt

Greek Food

Drinks:• Greek coffee• Wine• Mastichato• Ouzo

Greek Music

Greek music splits into two parts: traditional Greek music and Byzantine music. Greek music has many similiarities with the music of Cyprus. History of their music extends far back into ancient Greece.

In picture - different types of Greek flutes.

Greek Music

If talking about modern Greek Music, they have artists from all genres – starting from jazz (Sphinx), rock (The Earthbound, Monika Christodoulou), ending at acid house and underground (Stereo Nova, Plokámi tou Karxaría).

In picture – on of the Stereo Nova albums.

Greek MusicFunny fact:The majority of people don’t remember the

traditional music and moves. In fact that music is annoying for young people... but at weddings everybody’s dancing.

Greek Holidays

You may be thinking that people who lives in Greece don’t have to go abroad to spend their holiday break. In fact – they really don’t have to. But many of Greeks try to leave their houses and visit one of the Greek islands.

In picture – seaside of the largest islandin Greece, Crete.

Greek Holidays

This fact can be surprising too, but Greeks with smile on face wants to leave their houses and go to the hotter countries, like Egypt.

Also „staycation” phenomenon is very popular last years in Greece – many people are satisfied of the weather in their country.

Greek Ethnic Group

Greek colonies and communities have been historically established in most corners of the Mediterranean, but Greeks have always been centered around the Aegean Sea, where the Greek language has been spoken since antiquity.

In picture – famous Greek people.

Greek Ethnic Group

In the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War a large-scale population exchange between Greece and Turkey

transferred and confined Christians from Turkey, except Constantinople into the borders of the modern Greek state and Cyprus. Other ethnic Greek populations can be found

from southern Italy to the Caucasus and in small communities in other countries.

Map of the top fifty countries with the largest Gek communities.

Greek Ethnic GroupThroughout the 20th century, millions of Greeksmigrated to the United States, United Kingdom,Australia, Canada, and Germany, creating A thriving Greek diaspora. Net migration started toshow positive numbers from the 1970s but until the beginning of the 1990s the main influx wasthat of return migrants.

In picture - Central square in Nafplion, the first capital of modern Greece.

Greek ReligionsThe Greek Constitution recognizes theOrthodox faith. The Greek government does not keep statistics on religious groups and censuses do not ask for religious affiliation. According to the U.S. State Department, an estimated 97% of Greek citizens identify themselves as OrthodoxChristians, belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church.

In picture – flag of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Greek ReligionsEstimates of the recognized Greek Muslimminority, which is mostly located in Thrace.Athens is the only EU capital without a builtplace of worship for its Muslim population.There’s also group of Judaism, but it’s verysmall in comparison to other religion groups.

In picture - Holy Trinity monastery, in Meteora, central Greece.

Greek Religions

Greek members of Roman Catholic faith areestimated at 50,000 with the Roman Catholic immigrant communityapproximating 200,000. The Jehovah's Witnesses report having 28,859active members.

In picture – one of the Greek Orthodox Churches.

Greek Languages

Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in theMediterranean world and beyond duringClassical Antiquity, and would eventuallybecome the official parlance of the ByzantineEmpire. Greece is today relatively homogeneous inlinguistic terms, with a large majority of the nativepopulation using Greek as their first or onlylanguage.

Greek LanguagesAmong the Greek-speaking population, speakers of the distinctive Pontic dialect came to Greece from Asia Minor after the Greek genocide and constitute a sizable group.

In map - Regions with a traditional presence of languages other than Greek.

Greek Languages

The Muslim minority in Thrace consistsof speakers of Turkish, Bulgarian and Romani.Romani is also spoken by Christian Roma inother parts of the country. Aromanians andMoglenites, also known as Vlachs, whoselanguage is closely related to Romanian andwho used to live across several areas of centralGreece.

Greek Languages

Near the northern Greek borders there are alsosome Slavic or locally known asSlavomacedonian-speaking groups, whosemembers identify ethnically as Greeks in theirmajority.

In picture - ancient theatre of Epidaurus.

Greek GovernmentGreece is a parliamentary republic. President ofcountry is Karolos Papoulias (since 2005) and the Prime Minister is George Papandreou.Since the restoration of democracy, the Greek two-party system is dominated by the liberalconservative New Democracy (ND) and the social-democratic Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).

In picture – Karlos Papoulias, president of Greece.

Greek Government

Other significant parties include theCommunist Party of Greece (KKE), the Coalitionof the Radical Left (SYRIZA) and the PopularOrthodox Rally (LAOS). In 2010, two newparties split off from ND and SYRIZA, thecentrist-liberal Democratic Alliance (DS) andthe moderate leftist Democratic Left (DA).

Greek GovernmentSince the 2010 economic crisis, the two majorparties, New Democracy and PASOK, have seen a sharp decline in the share of votes in polls conducted, with predictions allocating just over 60% of eligible votes to them.

Additionally, only 11% of the population agree with thepolicies of the governing party, PASOK, while only 6% withthe main opposition, New Democracy.

In picture – Hellenic Parliament.

Where did we find info?

All of the pictures in our presentation are from Google Graphics (with permissions to download and public). Some of the pictures are also from wikipedia gallery.

Sites are:http://pl.wikipedia.org/ http://grecja.w.w.interia.pl/info.htmlhttp://ogrecji.com/

Little bonus from our group

Our group, starting from left: Sylwia Kopeć, Sonia Solarczyk, Stanisław Mostek,Sylwester Lis and Adam Bandyk. On the background you can see a poster aboutour Indepence Day celebration on 11th of November. (date from camera is… epic)