Five Themes Of Geography Greece Essay

Greece, a country built in the early ages, is still here today. Their history is phenomenal and some of the Ruins, ancient architectural buildings, from around 350 B. C. are still there! Greece fought for their independence from 1821-1829 and finally gained it in 1829 from the Ottoman Empire, or today known as Turkey. They wanted independence from the empire because they felt they were overpowering their country and would soon take over. The Greeks’ allies were France, Great Britain, Russia and a few other strong European countries.

The Ottomans’ allies were the Beylik of Tunis and Egypt. 5 themes of geography – 1) Location- Greece is located at the latitude of 35N to 42N and at the longitude of 19E to 28. 3E. Greece is surrounded to the North by Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, and Bulgaria; to the East by Turkey and the Aegean Sea; to the South by the Mediterranean Sea; and to the West by the lonian Sea. 2) Place- Greece’s physical features are beautiful with the many mountain ranges and rivers scattered across the country. One of the mountains is named Olympus, reaching to a height of 2,917 feet.

It is the highest mountain in Greece! It can be found in the Olympus Mountain Range between Macedonia and Thessaly, in the regions of Larissa and Pieria. Another mountain in Greece is the Athos Mountain reaching to a height of 2,033 feet in the Mount Athos mountain range. One of the unique rivers in Greece is the Neda River. It flows from Mount Lykaion to the Gulf of Kyparissia, a Bay of the lonian Sea. It flows over thirtyseven miles of barren rock and through forest, and at one point flows into a waterfall.

Another physical feature would be the Pastra Mountain at the height of 1,016 feet located in West Attica, a regional unit of Greece. The Acheron River is another one of the wonderful features of Greece. It flows thirty-six miles through the mountains of the Epirus region in Northwest Greece to the lonian Sea. Greece’s human characteristics are just beautiful. From Ruins to Palaces, it’s simply breathtaking! The Ruins in Athens, especially the Acropolis, ‘stands tall as a testament to Ancient Greece achievement’ says historvius. com.

Olympia is a city from ancient Greece that contains ancient ruins. The ruins are now being studied over by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). The first Olympic Games were held here in 776 B. C. Thessaloniki is an ancient city still running today. It is actually the most important hub of trade and business in the Balkans because its port, Port of Thessaloniki, is the largest in the Aegean, aiding in trade all over the Balkan outback. Another one of the finely built structures in Greece is The Palace at Knossos in Crete.

This city was first occupied around 7,000 B. C. and is thought to be the oldest Stone Age site on the island of Crete. 3) Human – Environment Interaction- As we all know, Greece has wonderful landscape and history, but what some don’t know is that the pollution there is almost too strong to bare. Many Greece citizens have enrolled into the hospital with heart and respiratory problems. These problems come from breathing in smog made by the traffic of taxis, the multitude of cars that drive on the streets of Greece, and the industrial systems that let off toxins into the sky.

Complaints about these problems started around 1939, the beginning of World War 2. The government enforces laws about transportation to help the amount of pollution lessen. Some cities have less pollution because they follow the ways of the Ancient Greek and have no industrial feature. The atmosphere there is also very thin, meaning that the way they build their houses is a little different because they have to fit their need for air. The Greek also catch many fish which are abundant in the surrounding oceans.

They also grow crops such as sweet peppers, cucumbers, melons, eggplants, lettuce, tomatoes, and many others. ) Movement- The movement of ideas is spread partly by TV, but there are not as many channels as there are in the U. S. , making newspapers the main source of information in Greece. The clothes women wear haven’t changed much since the early ages. Most women still wear dresses and sandals. Men’s fashion, however, has changed into pants and coats instead of the traditional tunic and cloak. A few goods exported from Greece are feta cheese, olives, olive oil, Greek herbs, pottery, telecommunication software/hardware, textiles, clothes, tobacco, fruit, and vegetables.

A few goods imported to Greece are oil, military parts, medical equipment, boats, cars, petroleum products, and nuts. There are also some communication devices sent to Greece from the United States. 5) Region- Greece’s formal region outlines government, physical, cultural, and economical areas such as… Governmentparliamentary republic, ‘A parliamentary republic, or parliamentary constitutional republic, is a type of republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch (the government) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature (the parliament).

There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics. ‘www. wikipedia. org. Physical- mountains, highlands, and valleys. Cultural- children are baptized between the ages of 0-5 and after baptism are thrown a huge party to celebrate their new life. Economical. The economy of Greece is the 45th largest in the world with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $238 billion per annum. It is also the 51st largest in the world by purchasing power parity at $286 billion per annum. As of 2013, Greece is the thirteenth-largest economy in the 28-member A timeline about Greece 3000 B. C. – The first big city in Greece was built.

The Minoan people lived there in tranquility. They traded wine, olive oil, olives, pottery, jewelry, and fish with many other countries. They also created the first way of writing in Europe. 1550 B. C. – ‘The Mycenaean (My-suh-nee-un) culture develops on the Greek mainland. Its people are the first known Greek speakers. ‘ – timeforkids. com 1400 B. C. – A volcano erupts on the island of Santorini creating earthquakes and tidal waves that destroyed the Minoans and their city. 776 B. C. – The first Olympic games are played in Olympia.

Winners were given, not a medal, but an olive branch crown as a symbol of honor and peace. The Games were dedicated to King Zeus, the king of gods. 750-500 B. C. Self-reliant cities, or city-states, grew and developed different government systems such as democracy, or government voted on by the people. Practice of culture, science, and art started to flourish at this time period. 546 B. C. – the Persian Empire takes over most of Greece. 480 B. C. – Greeks conquer Persians at sea, making Athens head of the Delian League, protecting Greece from foreign invaders.

31 B. C. – War between the cities, The Peloponnesian War, broke out. It brought great loss to the cities. Athens soon lost this war to the Spartans. 338 B. C. – The country is unstable and taken over by King Philip II of Macedonia. 336-323 B. C. – Alexander the Great, son of King Philip II, expands the empire and the Greek culture. Greek develops into a common language in knowledgeable people in Asia and other areas. 145 B. C. Romans take over the Greek Empire because of their admiration for the culture of the Greeks.

After decades of war, Greece is ruled by Romans again. 1453- Intruders, called the Ottoman Turks from Asia (Turkey), take over the Byzantine Empire and Greece. The Turks rule for many centuries. Athens, once rich, is now poor and agricultural. 1821-1832- Greeks get tired of Turkish empowerment and start a civil war, gaining back their independence. Their allies were Great Britain, France, and Russia. 1896- The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens to build friendships with different countries and included some of the original sports played in the original Games. 912-1913- the Balkan War occurs and the Greek take over the Turkish land of South Macedonia and Crete island. 1952- Greece takes part in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), a military collaboration of many European countries and the United States. 1975- The republic of Greece advocates a new constitution. It authorizes the president to be head of Greece and the prime minister to carry the government.

2004- The Summer Olympics are held in Athens for the first time since 1896 when the first modern Olympics were held, and back to the city that the Games originated in 2,000 years ago. 010Greece enters a major debt situation. They escaped bankruptcy by borrowing 61 billion dollars from the European Union. A little background on the Greek language… ‘The Greek language has a long and rich history stretching all the way from the thirteenth century B. C. to the present. The earliest form of the language is called “Linear B” (13th century B. C. ). The form of Greek used by writers from Homer (8th century B. C. ) through Plato (4th century B. C. ) is called “Classical Greek. ” It was a marvelous form of the language, capable of exact expression and subtle nuances.

Its alphabet was derived from the Phoenician’s as was that of Hebrew. Classical Greek existed in many dialects of which three were primary: Doric, Aeolic, and lonic (of which Attic was a branch). Athens was conquered in the fourth century B. C. by King Philip of Macedonia. Alexander the Great, Philip’s son, who was tutored by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, set out to conquer the world and spread Greek culture and language. Because Alexander spoke Attic Greek, it was this dialect that was spread. It was also the dialect spoken by [most of] the famous Athenian writers. ‘ – billmounce. com