Ap Human Geography Greece

Greece is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with rituals and ceremonies dating back to ancient times. The same wedding dances still occur at modern day Greek weddings that started centuries ago. Greece is a non-unilineal culture, which means that they trace their ancestry through both their mother and father. Greece is a peninsula located in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. Greece is a nation of islands with 227 inhabited, and 6,000 total temperate islands (“Visit Greece/Islands”). Greece’s population has increased from 1960 to 2012, but has recently been declining in recent years. The majority of the Greek population practices Eastern Orthodox Christianity, or Greek Orthodox so the majority of modern day weddings take place in an Orthodox Church.

Erudition, innovation, sophistication, every word and thousands more are associated with the name Greece. Steeped in complex lore, mythology, and history, it stands as a turning point in European culture. Its ideas and inventions are responsible for shaping many future events and turning the tide in science, art, and philosophy. At one time a group of city states, Greece was dominated by two centers a cultural one, Athens, and a military one, Sparta. Athens is probably best known for its playwrights, its philosophers, and the Acropolis. Sparta on the other hand is remembered as a military marvel where courage was the highest virtue. Legend tells that it had no walls for its best and only defense was its citizens’ valor

Greece, located in the Southern Europe and has a very irregular-shaped peninsula, it is surrounded to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the west by the Ionian Sea, and to the south by the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is also located between Africa, Asia and Europe which makes it very attractive and strategic destination. Greece gained its independence in 1830 from The Ottoman Empire and over the years has gone through a various number transformation from the Ancient Greece to the Republic of Greece. Its capital Athens is located in the heart of the country and has kept most of its landmarks since the 5th century. Greece joined the European Union in June 2001, has suffered a severe economic crisis in 2009 and recently agreed on its third bailout valued at$96 Billion.

Greece is also known as Hellenic Republic, the first country in Europe to advance civilization, Greece is one of the most visited country in Europe locate in southern Europe near Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Rep. Macedonia.

Greece is located on the Southern part of Europe. Also, on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Greece dominates the Sea and the southern route to the Turkish Strait because of its location west of the Aegean Sea. Greece is mostly surrounded

Athens’ patron goddess was Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Once they formed the city states, the started colonizing and taking as much as possible. Who ruled these city states? Nobles, at first. Then the people wanted to rule. Greece city states started to become a democracy. Most city states accepted the change. Sparta didn’t though, and remained under the rule of a king. Once Greece was stabilized, Greece started to be targeted by other civilizations. The first major war that Greece was in was against Persia from 492 B.C.E. to 490 B.C.E. To win this war, most of Greece had to work together. This peace didn’t last though. Sparta grew jealous of Athens, who was in their Golden Age. During this war, Sparta won. Their unison didn’t last though. They city-states soon broke into uncertainty. In the far corners of Greece, the Macedonians attacked the rest of Greece

Ancient Greece is perhaps one of the most extraordinary civilizations in history as it had remarkable advancements that altered the future of the world. During the period of 600 BCE, many new concepts originated from this location, such as Homer’s Ilad and the Odyssey. These acted as resources for Greeks to learn about their gods. A significant amount of culture in conjunction with religion was also generated in this region as well, including pottery and sculptures that were created for different purposes along with the creation of the music theory. In the end, Greece possessed city states that thrived united and individually, which is seen in Sparta with its highly trained Spartans, leading to an increase in military victory.

Physical geography of Greece is located in Southern Europe, bordering the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey. It is a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 3,000 islands. With the vast percentage of its land comprised of hills and rugged mountains, Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. “Its 13,676 km toothy-edged shoreline is deeply indented by dozens of gulfs. The western half of the country is dominated by the steep peaks of the Pindus Mountains, Typical elevations here exceed 2,500 meters, and those mountains are punctuated by numerous lakes, rivers and wetlands. The highest Greek mountain is

Cultures from around the world vary greatly based on the locations. Which draws up the question why culture differs from location to location? The first factor that influences culture and how they are formed and developed is their geological factors. The first example that comes to mind when considering how geography effects how culture forms, is the Greek peninsula. From the start of ancient times, Greece was in a way, isolated from the rest of the mainland and separated into city-states because of the mountainous landscape that is Greece.

It is very interesting to talk about Greece and precisely the ancient Greece which had left a crucial history to learn and share to others over the world today. It also left a mark, trace or line of politics systems and comprised: democracy, oligarchy, tyranny, monarchy, and furthermore aristocracy for politicians on the worldwide. Logically, “Greece was a collection of some 1500 separate communities scattered round the Mediterranean and Black sea shores ‘like frogs around a pond’.” (Cartledge, P., 2011) However, its capital is Athens, and Sparta is another great city which is next to Athens. They have different cultures, values, and lifestyles.

Ancient Greece was and still is a mountainous land almost completely surrounded by the Mediterranean sea having more than 1400 islands (The British Museum, n.d.). The mountainous geography caused the Greek populations to be isolated in different colonies, even though they spoke the same language and had the same gods in common, the separation and distance between its people, drove them into forming poleis also known as city-states (Gaskell, 2015). Consequently, it not only influence these colonies to develop different cultures, but also different government systems such as aristocracy, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, and tyranny, as it will be discussed in the paragraphs to follow.

Greece-Greece is made up of many different islands, situated within the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The geography of Greece wasn’t suitable for stable crops so the civilizations who migrated relied on maritime trade. It just so turns out that this trade would become the most valuable waterway in ancient world. Unlike other agriculturally-rich civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia Greece’s geography had rocky valleys with soil that was not conducive to stable crop production. Due to the nature of Greece’s soils olives and grapes flourished throughout the mainland. The land was vulnerable to active volcanos, earthquakes and storms, as that seems to be a part in the downfall of the empire as societies could be wiped away without a second

In a relatively resource-poor region, a society rose from the access of foreign sources of raw materials and markets abroad. This society came to be known as one of the largest nations in Eurasia. The rise and fall of this great nation has to do with war-fare and the conflict between city-states. Their division led to the widespread of language and culture. This is the great story of Ancient Greece and how individualism changed the view Greece had on certain issues. (Bulliet 99) From 1000 B.C.E to 30 B.C.E, Ancient Greece’s view on individualism changed the political system Greece had, over time changed the way individuals thought and made important Intellectual changes, and gradually changed the Economic system such as bartering.

The economy of Greece is the 45th largest in the world. Greece is considered a developed nation and is classified as an advanced and high-income economy. Greece 's main industries are tourism, shipping, industrial products, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products, mining and petroleum. The Greek Merchant Navy is the largest in the world, with Greek-owned vessels accounting for about 15% of global deadweight tonnage as of 2013. The increased demand for international maritime transportation has also developed an unparalleled amounts of investment in the shipping industry. Greece is the 7th most country visited in the

Greece’s government type is parliamentary republic. The Prime minister of Greece is Antonis Samaras. The Euro is the currency used in Greece. 1 Euro is equal to1.37 USD.