Forgotten World (173): Greece

Greece is a mainly mountainous country with over 1400 islands (the largest Crete) that returned to democracy – after seven years of the colonels – in 1974 and entered the European Union in 1981. It remains locked in dispute with Turkey over the future of Cyprus and aspects of the Aegean. Greece also has been in dispute since the early 1990s with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the use of the name Macedonia.
Athens stepped into the global spotlight when the Olympic Games returned home in 2004. The games were hailed as a success, despite widely publicised fears that the infrastructure would not be complete in time. However, recent years have seen the Greek population of around 11 million experiencing high unemployment and rising inflation and government plans for pension and labour reforms have prompted industrial action.
A little-known fact is that the Greek national anthem is the longest in the world with 158 verses.


 




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