Greece

Greece

Located in southeastern Europe, Greece is a fascinating place with sandy beaches, blue seas(below left)and ancient ruins from B.C.E. (Below right) and, with Athens at its capital, Greece is truly a piece of paradise.

Greece is one of the nations that are going to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As the founding nation of the Olympic Games and in keeping with tradition, Greece will enter first, leading the Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony.

This year for the Olympics Greece with send 89 talented athletes to compete in the 2016 olympics.

       With a population of 10,917,083 Greece has chosen only their very best athletes to compete.

In Greece the most popular tourist attraction is the Acropolis, an ancient temple that was dedicated to the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.The Acropolis was originally seen as a fortress. It was meant to protect Athens from attacks. As the years went on, the people of Athens saw another purpose for the Acropolis. They wanted it to be a beautiful symbol of Athens.

The citizens of Athens believed their city was the best in the world. They believed the Acropolis should be as grand as the city itself. They spared no expense. The best sculptors, artists, and architects were hired to construct the buildings of the Acropolis.  

Did you know:

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• Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe.
• The official name of Greece is the Hellenic Republic.
• Greece has more archaeological museums than any other country in the world.
• Football is the national sport of Greece.
• Greece is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as its currency.
• The highest mountain in Greece is Mount Olympus, it has over 50 peaks with the highest reaching 2917 metres
• Ancient Greece is said to have laid the foundation for Western civilization, having a large influence on the Roman Empire.
• The Olympic Games began  in Ancient Greece.
• Athens recently hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 2004.

Greece buries 80% of its rubbish. Greece is struggling to manage a colossal garbage problem as recycling fails to and landfills fill up and expand, posing serious health and safety risks. Greece  faces millions of euros in fines from the European Commission if they fail to close down all illegal landfills by the end of the year.

In Greece because of all the factories all of the smog the comes out of them is hanging over Greece like a shadow (below left). The government is trying to stop using coal in attempt to reduce the smog so far it has slowly been working!

Also Greece has a garbage problem (below right) as they have so many hotels that have so many people and so people make rubbish and they have nowhere to put it so they dump it in rubbish dumps and it stays there :(

By Juliette Agborchi :)