CYPRUS - ECONOMY
Economic affairs in Cyprus are dominated by the division of the country into the southern area controlled by the Cyprus Government and the northern Turkish Cypriot-administered area.
CYPRUS - BASIC FACTS
Name: Cyprus (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros;Turkish: Kıbrıs), officially the Republic of Cyprus
’Cyprus’ has an uncertain etymology. Some suggest it comes from Cupressus sempervirens - Greek for the Mediterranean cypress tree. Others feel it stems from aes Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum.
GREECE - LANGUAGE PHRASES
This Greek language is one of the best documented languages in the world. There is direct knowledge about this language of time period of 3000 years. Modern Greek is full of inflexions. Articles, adjective and nouns all decline while verbs conjugate. Nouns and verbs have several declensions and conjugations respectively, which make people, not want to learn this language
There are 12,000,000 people in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, Australia, Egypt, the United States of America, Canada, Russia, Corsica, Romania and Bulgaria who speak Greek.
GREECE - COMMUNICATION
Corporate Culture
- Punctuality is not particularly important in Greece, but foreigners are expected to be on time for business meetings, even though his/her Greek counterpart may be late.
- Greeks want to get to know you before they will do business with you. Business meetings will usually begin with general conversation before business is discussed.
- Trust is a major ingredient for acceptance and is much more important than qualifications, expertise or performance.
GREECE - CULTURE
Arts such as architecture, sculpture, pottery, weaving, music, jewellery making, and painting have a long-standing tradition in Greece, where civilisations were already established in pre-historic times.
GREECE - POLITICS
Contemporary political system
Executive branch
Chief of State: President Karolos PAPOULIAS (since 12 March 2005, next to be held by February 2010) Head of Government: Prime Minister Konstandinos (Kostas) KARAMANLIS (since 7 March 2004) Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister Foreign Minister: Dora Bakoyannis
Legislative branch
GREECE - HISTORY
History, culture and religion
Classical Greece dates from the first Olympic Game in 776 B.C .and the end of the period is the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. Ancient Greece is considered the cultural foundation of Western Civilization. Even though it was invaded by the Roman, its cultural heritage was preserved by the Roman Empire, which carried a version of the Greek model to many parts of Europe, and shaped the way modern a democratic civilization performs.
GREECE - ECONOMY
Greece has a capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP at least 75% of the leading Eurozone economies. Tourism provides 15% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in agricultural and unskilled labour. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP.