thirteenth part of the country being woodland; and numerous herds of goats tend to kill the young growths and prevent the rehabilitation of the forest areas, which were once far more extensive. The nature of the flora varies with altitude, three distinct zones being recognized. All the fruits and grains of the Mediterranean lands are raised from the sea-level to an elevation of 1500 feet. The tree zone is mainly between 1500 and 5000 feet, the oak and beech predominating in the lower, and conifers in the higher altitudes. There are still some fine forest areas among the mountains. Alpine conditions prevail above 5000 feet, where only a few wild plants find a foothold in the thin soil. Many of the mountains are almost bare of vegetation; and the natural vegetation on the plains only consists of grasses, scattered clumps of evergreen shrubs, and small patches of woodland.

FAUNA. The bear, boar, fox, wildcat, lynx, and jackal are the most conspicuous wild animals. Several varieties of deer, hare, and rabbit, besides quails, partridges, and pheasants, are the game animals.

GEOLOGY. Western Greece, including twothirds of the mainland and nearly all the Peloponnesus, is composed of the long, parallel limestone ridges of Tertiary formation, of the Dinaric mountain system, the narrow troughs that separate them being schists and sandstone. This mountain region is a part of the Karst system which extends along the Adriatic; for, farther north, it exhibits the characteristic Karst phe nomena of caverns, sink-holes, and underground river channels, leaving much of the land dry and relatively barren. Some of the limestone has hardened into the purest marble. The same limestone formation built up the Ionian Islands, once a part of the mainland. The rocks of Northeast Greece are of a different character, being the continuation of the crystalline rocks that built up the mountains of Thrace and Macedonia. Farther south, the eastern part of Central Greece, the island of Euboea, and the northeastern part of the Peloponnesus are covered with mountain chains of Mesozoic limestone extending in curves from west to east. The crystalline rocks of the Cyclades form the mountains, comparatively low, of these islands. Severe earthquakes often originate among the mountains. Greece is not rich in minerals, though the argentiferous lead-mines of Laurion, near the southeastern extremity of Attica, yield about 16,000 tons of lead a year. There is no coal except the lignite found in Eubea and other parts. The lack of fuel prevents the large exploitation of the copper and iron fields, though important quantities of iron and zine ores are obtained. Paros and Pentelicus yield fine marble, and emery is obtained in Naxos and other islands. Sulphur (about 600 tons a year) is mined in Melos and Santorini.

AGRICULTURE. As cultivation depends largely upon irrigation, which is very unequally distributed, the tiled lands in most parts of the country resemble oases. Cereals occupy about half of the tilled lands, but wheat is among the imports, the home supply being inadequate. Rice is grown in the lowlands of Elis, and maize, barley, and oats are raised to some extent. The Greek currant (a small seedless grape), grown extensively on some of the Ionian Islands and near the gulfs of Patras and Corinth, is a large crop and the staple of agricultural exports. The

vine is of first importance in Greek agriculture, the area in vineyards having increased from 125,000 acres in 1860 to 173,000 acres in 1901. While currants are the chief crop, the production of wine has increased and the quality has in later times improved. Being rich in alcohol and color. Greek wines are bought by many French merchants to mix with home vintages. As the Greeks live largely on vegetables and fruits, gardening is a great industry, well-tilled gardens being very numerous near the towns and on the plains. Flax, hemp, tobacco, cotton, and the mulberry-tree supply the industries with raw material. The cultivation of flax and hemp has decreased on account of Russian competition, but tobacco, yielding excellent leaf, is an increasing crop, particularly on the plains of Argolis and around the Gulf of Corinth. Mulberry plantations abound in the Peloponnesus and Eubœa, where raw silk is produced, both for home industry and export. Cotton is raised in the Peloponnesus, but finds the most congenial soil and climate in Thessaly and Bootia. During the Turkish domination olive-growing steadily declined, as one method of punishing insurrection was to destroy the olive-trees. Since 1830, however, the planting has rapidly advanced, and olives are to-day one of the best resources of the Greek peasantry. The trees have increased from 2,000,000 to 13,000,000 since Greece won independence, and the output of olive oil for 1905 amounted to 147,503,000 pounds.

Fruit-trees and the Egean Archipelago, oranges, lemons, are important, above all in the Ionian Islands figs, and pomegranates leading in production. The most important domestic animals are sheep (2,900,000 in 1892) and goats, from whose milk butter and cheese are made. Goats are raised

Bee

everywhere, but the large flocks of sheep are found mostly on the plains of Thessaly. culture is important and the honey of Hymettus is famous. The country abounds with fragrant flowers that give to honey a particularly delightof the people, the prevailing poverty of the soil ful savor. While agriculture is the chief resource is a great drawback, and an undue proportion fields to the life of the sailor. The land is largely of the peasants are attracted from labor in the in the hands of peasant proprietors, though there Of the total area there are 5,560,000 acres cultiare some great estates, particularly in Thessaly. vated and fallow, 5,000,000 pasture, 2,025,000 forest, and 3,000,000 waste land.

MANUFACTURES. Most of the common articles used in Greece are the product of home industry. Cloths and carpets are woven by peasant women in their houses, and the metal and leather goods industries employ thousands of men in their small shops. The poorer classes derive most of their manufactured articles from the home industries. The development of large industries is discouraged by the fact that Greece has neither coal, wood, water-power, nor adequate capital. Since 1870, however, the industrial arts have made important progress, and the Government does all in its power to stimulate manufacturing. The cotton cloths now produced in the factories of the Piræus and other centres supply most of the home needs, and are even exported to Turkey. The Piræus is the largest industrial centre. It has a number of cotton, silk, and wool factories, many flour-mills; it builds ships and makes alimentary pastes. Larissa is also prominent in the

cotton and silk industries. Sparta and Athens weave cheap silks, and Patras spins much cotton yarn. The metallurgic industries are little developed, though some machinery is made at Syra and a few other towns. The principal industries are those which transform agricultural and animal products into manufactured commodities, such as soap-works, tanneries, distilleries, and refineries. Sponge fisheries are actively carried on in the Agean Sea and along the coasts of Tunis and Tripoli, and the preparation of sponges for market is a considerable industry. As the sea trade is largely developed, ships are built in all the ports, the industry being most active in Syra and the Piræus.

COMMERCE.

The following figures show the average volume of the special trade of Greece (that is, the commerce exclusive of the forwarding trade):

The chief imports in 1905 were: agricultural products, chiefly wheat, $8,522,000; cotton, wool, and other fabrics, $4,160,000; forest products, $2,345,000; raw metals and minerals, $2,190,000; manufactures of metals and minerals, $1,533,000; drugs and chemicals, $1,309,000; live stock, $1,051,000; animal products, $1,012,000; and fish $1,287,000. Currants are about one-fourth of the exports. The chief exports in 1905 were: agricultural products, mostly currants, $8,911,000; raw metals and minerals, $2,937,000; manufactures of metals and minerals, $516,000; wine and spirits, $1,382,000; oil, etc., $701,000; animal products, $709,000; and forest products, $516,000. Great Britain has the larger part both of the import and export trade, usually selling to Greece about one-fourth of her purchases (woven goods and yarns, coal, iron, and machinery), and buying from her about onefourth of her sales (mainly currants, besides lead, iron, zine and silver ores, raisins, sponges, and valonia). The convenient communications between South Russian and Greek ports give Russia an equal place with Great Britain as a consumer of Greek products; Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Germany, France, and Italy are the other important buyers and sellers. According to the official returns of the United States, which differ materially from those of Greece, the exports to Greece in 1905-6 were $239,700, and the imports from Greece $2,032,400.

BANKS. The Ionian Bank, established in 1839, with headquarters in London, and the National Bank, dating from 1841, with which was incorporated the Epiro-Thessalian Bank in 1900, are the chief institutions of their kind in the country; they issue notes. There are numerous private banks, and since 1899 an agricultural bank has been in operation at Patras with the object of freeing agriculturists from usurious moneylenders.

TRANSPORTATION. As the sea is the main highway, both in the domestic and foreign trade, the completion of the Corinth Canal across the Isthmus of Corinth, in 1893, was a most important addition to commercial facilities. This canal, 3.7 miles long, connects the Ionian and Egean seas, and gives a much shorter and smoother passage between Italy and Odessa and for all the

small vessels plying between the ports of Northern and Central Greece than that around the south end of the country. In 1905 the Greek merchant marine consisted of 198 steamers of 208,790 tons, and 880 sailing vessels of 167.243 tons. More than half the trade is carried through the port of Piræus. The Greek flag is more prominent than any other in the shipping trade of the eastern Mediterranean ports, and there are several thousands of small tradingcraft. The islands are the great centre of sea life. The little island of Syra, in the centre of the Cyclades, has long been the largest trader in the Ægean, though its importance has for some time been declining. A large part of the shipping of Greece belongs to the Ionian Islands. In 1904, 7032 vessels of 4,880,000 tons entered, and 6513 vessels of 4,952,000 tons cleared at the ports of Greece. The railroads are as yet very inadequate for the needs of the country, only 700 miles having been in operation in 1904. The railroad, only partly built, between Athens and northern Thessaly, will be the trunk line of the country, with extensions into the Peloponnesus. It is intended to extend the line from Larissa to Saloniki, and thus bring Greece into rail communication with the rest of Europe.

GOVERNMENT. Greece is a constitutional monarchy, the kingship being vested in the royal House of Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, of which the present head is the King of Denmark, whose second son, George I. (Georgios), ascended the Greek throne in 1863. The legislative power is vested in a Chamber of Deputies (the Boulé), which meets annually in Athens, the members being elected by popular vote for a term of four years. The suffrage is restricted to males, twenty-one years old or over. Members of the Boulé, and all officials, must be at least thirty years of age. The executive functions of the State are in the hands of the six heads of departments, who compose the Ministry. Military service is compulsory for two years in the active army, and for ten years in the reserve. The army on a peace footing numbers 23,781, including officers and men; in time of war it is in

tax.

creased to 82,125. The fleet consists of 67 vessels, manned by 4300 officers and men. Besides three small battle-ships of 5000 tons, the navy includes coast-defense vessels, gunboats, and 19 torpedo-boats, but most of these are obsolete and without present fighting value. The average annual revenue is over $20,000,000, derived from the customs, stamps, monopolies (salt, petroleum, matches, and playing-cards), and the tobacco The receipts much more than provide for the current expenses, but as the net proceeds of the monopolies and tobacco and stamp taxes are applied to diminishing the public debt, the budget usually shows a small deficit. The public debt in 1905 was $140,056,000, not including the paper money in circulation. The monetary unit is the draclima, equivalent to the franc. The gold coins of the leading countries are accepted, by royal decree, as legal tender. The metric system of weights and measures was introduced in 1898.

POPULATION AND PEOPLE. The population in 1896 was 2.433.806. Only one-third of the Greek people live in Greece. There are about 1.000.000 Greeks in Asia Minor, between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 in European Turkey, about 500,000 in the Ottoman islands, Cyprus, and Crete, and

considerable numbers in other parts of the Old World, while thousands have come to the United States. Over 200,000 non-Greeks reside in Greece, of whom the Albanians, the most numerous body, are becoming largely assimilated with the native population. The Greeks surpass all the other peoples of the Balkan Peninsula in homogeneity and national unity, and in this way, as well as in commerce and navigation, have shown themselves to be worthy successors of the old Hellenes in spite of the misrule and other misfortunes which for centuries tended to impoverish the soil and decimate the population. Most of the people, as well as their government, are poor. It is foreign capital that has to a large extent made public improvements and brought about some development in manufacturing.

ETHNOLOGY. In racial characteristics the Greeks belong to the Mediterranean race, and are akin to the Iberian of Spain and the Ligurian of Italy. They are above the average in height (1.65 mm., or 5 feet 6 inches), dolichocephalic (index 75.7 to 83 according to mixture), with dark skin, hair, and eyes. The face is a long oval, and the features are most attractive. Where those of shorter skulls or lighter color have crept in, the effect is seen in the population. Slavs, Avars, Turks (Ural-Altaic), and Albanians (Adriatic or Dinaric race) have invaded Greece and added their racial characters to those of the older population. The Greeks of classic times were of the long-headed Mediterranean type, as the crania that have been recovered show, though their statuary, as is pointed out by Stephanos, is brachycephalic. In speaking of the ancient inhabitants two names stand out prominently for recognition, that of the Hellenes and that of the

Pelasgians. Relying chiefly on the testimony of Herodotus, Sergi places the Pelasgians in the great Mediterranean family, where, before Greece was Hellenized, they completed the circle formed else by Iberians, Ligurians, and Libyans. This aboriginal Pelasgian stock was Hellenized afterwards, just as the inhabitants of Gaul and Spain were Latinized. Behind the classic age lay the age of bronze and the age of stone. But the scarcity of osteological material renders it impossible to form opinions on the race of the men who peopled them.

In Etolia, Acarnania, Thessaly, the greater part of the Peloponnesus, and most of the islands, the descendants of the old Greeks are still predominant; but a very large admixture of Albanians (see ALBANIA) prevails in Attica, Boeotia, Phocis, and Argolis, with the islands of Spezzia, Salamis, Hydra, and Andros. The true Greek is easily recognized by his tall stature, slim body, aquiline nose, oval face, and mus tache, the beard being worn only in mourning. The Greeks are temperate in both eating and drinking; flesh is seldom eaten, so that the diet is principally vegetable. The Greeks are devotedly attached to their fatherland, and their love of liberty and independence is strong. Though they are loyal to a good ruler, they are easily roused to resistance by the infringement of their rights. Commercial bargains are the delight of the Greeks. Early marriages are common, and the Greek matrons take pride in large families. Two peculiar branches of the Greek race are the Mainotes of the Peloponnesus and the Palikars of the northern highlands. The former, who boast to be the descendants of the ancient Spartans,

inhabit principally the mountain fastnesses of Taygetus, where for centuries they defied the power of the Turks. In recent times education, intermixture with other races, and commerce have to a great extent removed their distinctive peculiarities. The red cap, the white shirt, and the golden jacket mark out the Palikars even to the casual observer as a separate class. They go about armed, and attended by armed followers; their houses are fortresses, and their servants form a little army. The islanders are almost all seamen or traders; they wear the red cap, a short jacket, and wide Turkish trousers. The Albanians are a strong, hardy race, and engage in agriculture or other severe labor. The Wallachs, of whom there are a considerable number in the region of the Pendus, are a nomad and pastoral race; they sleep on the hillsides with their flocks, which are guarded by ferocious dogs. There are large numbers of Maltese at Athens, and especially the Piræus. The settlers from Western Europe are not numerous. There is a consider

able Turkish element in Thessaly.

RELIGION. The predominant religious faith is Orthodox Greek, which is the State religion, though the fullest liberty is given to all sects. The ecclesiastical authority of the Greek Church is no longer vested in the Patriarch at Constantinople, but in a council known as the Holy Synod, under the presidency of the Metropolitan of Athens. The Christian sects, other than Greek, number about 25,000; Jews, 6000; and Mohammedans, 25,000. See GREEK RELIGION (ancient); and GREEK CHURCH,

EDUCATION. During the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. the education of the Greek boy was (1) Gymnastics divided into three branches. (vatik), including all forms of physical training, wrestling, running, leaping, etc., taught (2) by a trainer (raidorpiẞns), at a palestra. Grammar (ypauparikh), including reading, writing, and the elements of numbers. In this school the boy learned by heart many of the ancient (3) poets, and studied carefully their works. Music (ovokh), an essential part of a Greek liberal education, including singing and playing on the lyre. This training lasted from about the sixth to the eighteenth year. Further training in philosophy and rhetoric was in the hands of the Sophists (q.v.). The boy was accompanied to and from school, and in his exercise, by a pedagogue, who was not a teacher, but merely a slave, who had general oversight over the boy and could In later times other punish him if necessary. branches, notably geometry, were added to the usual training, and in some places schools were provided by the city for boys and even girls. For the education of the youth by the State, see EPHEBUS.

In modern days education from the humblest school to the university is free to all. Ignorance, however, is rife in the rural districts, where the law requiring all children to attend school is not well enforced. Education is upon a somewhat higher plane among the islands than on the mainland. The school system is only partly supported by the Government, being largely dependent upon private contributions. Fifteen per cent. of the army recruits can only read, and 30 per cent. are totally illiterate. The University of Athens, with 2600 students in 1905, attracts over 800 students from Turkey and other Medi