The People
The estimated population of Greece (1998) is around 10 million people. Greater Athens contains more than 30 percent of the nation's population. Thessaloniki in the Macedonian region, is the second largest city and Pireaus, the port of Athens and the biggest port of the country, third.
Most Greek farmland is stubbornly unproductive, and the nation has few natural resources. Since ancient times Greeks have sailed away to foreign lands to make a living. There was a massive Greek immigration in the early and mid twentieth century. The United States, Canada, and Australia all have large communities of people of Greek origin. Since Greeks are hardworking and thrifty, they are generally succesful wherever they settle.
The family is the center of the Greek society. Because Greeks are immensely friendly, outsiders are often invited to join their family circle; but the outsider should remember that the Greek considers an injury or insult to one family member to be an injury to all. The Greek word "philotimo" describes the feeling of self-esteem that governs day-to-day behavior. The philotimo creed requires that a male never lose face in public. the emotions surrounding philotimo have a powerful influence on family life. A young boy grows up with the message that it is vital to always defend and never disgrace family honor.
Until recent years there was very little inherited wealth in Greece, most Greek millionaires, like the legendary Aristotle Onassis, are self-made. Perhaps this is the reason the Greek poor or middle class tend to respect rathen than envy the rich. The poor people maintain their lives with remarkable dignity. Rarely does one see a beggar or even a person who appears ill-fed or poorly clothed, not a Greek at least.
A man or a woman can wander through the most improverished neighborhood in Athens and never worry about being robbed or attacked. Drug and alcohol abuse, which ravage poor communities in the other countries, hardly exist in Greece.
More articles about Greece and Greeks from Hellenism.Net(in alphabetical order)
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