Albania Greece Map (Chinese-English Contrast)

Author: Zhou Min, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: Albania: Physical Geography: It covers an area of 131,957 square kilometers, of which 15% are islands. Located at the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania to the north, the European part of Turkey to the northeast, the Ionian Sea to the southwest, the Aegean Sea to the east, and faces the African continent across the Mediterranean to the south. The coastline is about 15,000 kilometers long, and the territorial sea is 6 nautical miles wide. The country is mostly mountainous, with plains along the coast. The Pindus Mountains run through the west, and the central part is the Thessaly Basin. Rivers are short, and there are many harbors. The largest peninsula is the Peloponnese Peninsula, and the largest island is Crete. It has a subtropical Mediterranean climate with warm and wet winters and dry and hot summers. The average temperature is 6-1°C in winter and 23-33°C in summer. The average annual precipitation is 400-1,000 millimeters. Population: 10.9 million (2001). Over 98% are Greeks, and the rest are Muslims. The official language is Greek, and the religion is Eastern Orthodox.
Brief History: Greece is the cradle of Western civilization and has created a brilliant ancient culture, achieving great achievements in music, mathematics, philosophy, literature, architecture, and sculpture. From 2800 to 1400 BC, the Minoan culture emerged on Crete, and the Mycenaean culture appeared on the Peloponnese Peninsula. In 800 BC, slave-owning city-states were formed, and the 5th century BC was the peak period. Since 228 BC, it has been occupied by Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, etc. In 1460, it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire. On March 25, 1821, Greece launched an independence war against Turkish invaders and declared independence. On September 24, 1829, Turkish troops completely withdrew from Greece. During World War II, Greece was occupied by German and Italian forces. In 1944, the country was liberated and independence was restored. In 1946, the king was restored to power. In April 1967, a military coup was launched, establishing a military dictatorship. In June 1973, the king was abolished, and a republic was established. In July 1974, the military government collapsed; in November, parliamentary elections were held, and the New Democracy Party won and came to power; in December, a referendum was held to establish the state system as a republic.
Administrative Divisions: The country is divided into 13 regions, 52 prefectures (including the northern region with significant autonomy, the "Holy Mountain Monastic State," and 359 municipalities. The names of the major regions are as follows: Thrace and East Macedonia, Central Macedonia, West Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Ionian Islands, West Greece, Central Greece, Attica, Peloponnese, North Aegean, South Aegean, Crete.
Economy: Greece is one of the least developed countries in the European Union, with a relatively weak economic foundation. The main mineral resources include bauxite (estimated reserves of about 1 billion tons), lignite (estimated reserves of 5.6 billion tons), nickel, chromium, magnesium, asbestos, uranium, and marble. Forests cover 20% of the country. The industrial base is weaker than that of other EU countries, with outdated technology and small scale, mainly including mining, metallurgy, textiles, shipbuilding, and construction. Greece is a traditional agricultural country, with arable land accounting for 26.4% of the country's total area. The service sector is an important part of the economy, and tourism is one of the main sources of foreign exchange and maintaining international balance of payments. Since the 1960s, tourism has developed rapidly, and the number of inbound tourists has been continuously increasing since the 1970s. In recent years, the number of inbound tourists has exceeded the total population of Greece. The main tourist attractions include the Acropolis of Athens, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the ruins of the ancient Olympic stadium, the labyrinth of Crete, the open-air theater of Epidaurus, the tomb of the Macedonian king Vergina, the Holy Mountain, Rhodes, and Corfu.