Economic comparisons of First world countries and their GDP.

3. I would classify Italy as a first world country because of it’s fairly high GNP. Greece would be a developing nation because of it’s fairly high IMR and low GNP.

4. Social - In both Greece and Italy there is an importance and tradition up held with family. In Italy, for example, the family comes first. Historically families have ruled over Italy such as the Sforzas of Milan and the Gonzagas of Mantua. Even today, escpecially in Sicily and Palermo, feuds between families arupt and break into fights, hence the Mafia was formed which is controlled by superior families. Although, in Italy, modern life is starting to break up the family trait, it is still a great pleasure to congregate with other family relations for a large meal. Just like the Italians, Greeks also eat with their familes, usually extended by grandparents living with them.

Yet in Greece they tend to eat their lunch later than they do in Italy. In Greece a typical day would include waking up at 6:30, working / going to school from 8:00 until 2:30 when the family returns home to have lunch ( the main meal) together. Lunch finishes at 3:30 and then its time for at snooze until 5:00. At 5:30 Dad returns to work until 10:00. Whilst dad is working mother and children relax by watching television until 10:00 when father returns and dinner is had. After dinner the family relaxes until 11:00 when its time for bed.

Whereas in Italy the day starts at 7:30 and by 8:00 the family is off to work / school. By 1:30 the nation has stopped to return home and have lunch ( main meal ) which goes until 2:30. From 2:30 to 4:00 the mum and dad relax, whilst from 2:30 to 5:00 the kids are still at school. After the parents have finished resting they return to work and leave by 7:00. Dinner is at 8:30 and the family is in bed by 11:00. From this we can see that Greek and Italian are not all that different. This lifestyle trait is common amongst majority of europe and especially with countries on the mediterrenean. It is because of this break in the day for lunch that business trading hours and school are divided.

Italy’s 56.7 million inhabitants are not evenly distributed throughout the peninsula. Many are concentrated within the major cities of Milan , Naples, Rome, Genoa and Turin. The same story apllies to much of Greece with it’s total population of 10.5 million being distributed in Athens as 5,867 inhabitants per square kilometre, 54.8 per square kilomtre in Crete.

Modern Greece an ethnically homogeneus nation, with only 2% of the population Turkish , 0.7% Vlacks, 4.2% Albabanian and 3% Jews and Gypsies. Italy, unlike Greece, has atttracted different groups of people over it long history resulting in a large mix in heritage. This includes, French (Gaulles and Normans), Etrucscans, Phoenecians, Greeks and many more. Both nations have no migrant majorities in them.

16% of Italian schools are privately run, but the remaining 84% a run by the government. Unlike Greece with only 3% of school privately run. In both countries the school year starts in September and ends in mid June. Education is still a big priority in Greece and it boasts a 95 percent litercy rate, one of the highest in the world. All children from the ages of 6 to 12 must attend primary school. In Italy all children from 6 to 14 must attend school .

After that Greek students spend three years at a gymnasium, which is basically an institution for students aged 13 to 14. After that students head off to high school. In Italy, at the age of 11, students take an exam to gain entry to middle school, or secondry school, for three years. In Italy a student at the age of 14 sits an exam. After this they can leave school or continue their education. If they choose to continue they have an option of going to a Liceo,Technicalleo or Magistrale, all of which focus on different categories of learning e.g – languages and arts or agriculture and economy. In Greece after being sent to gymnasium they are sent to high school, also known as lyceum.

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Historical – In 1946 Italy is declared a Republic. 27 years later, in 1973, The monarchy in Greece is abolished and Greece is declared a Democratic Republic with Geogre Papadopoulos as President. One year later in Greece, a referendum is held on monarchy. There is a 69% vote for the republic. In 1970 the divorce bill becomes law in Italy. In 1982 Civil marriage is introduced in Greece. One year later riots in Reggio over the new capital of Calabria erupt in Italy. Later in 1978 Ex-premier Moro is kidnapped and then killed and a the Polish cardinal become pope. In 1981 Greece became the 10th member of the E.E.C. The E.E.C ( European Economic Community) is an organisation to help trade ties with european nations. In 1949 Italy joins N.A.T.O. In 1955 Italy enters the U.N. 1952 Greece becomes a member of the Atlantic Alliance. Two years before that in 1950 Italy joined the Atlantic Alliance. Unlike Italy, Greece has a lot of recent friction with neighbouring countries within the past 40 years. It all started during the fifteenth century when the Ottoman Empire, based in Turkey, expanded, Turks fled to Cyprus and tension rose between the Greek majority and the Turkish minority. British occupation in 1898 held the growing tension at bay until Cyprus got it’s independence from Britain in August 1960.Eventually fighting broke out in 1963 and the following year both parties approached the UN for help. Although the UN stationed itself on the island, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus and, in 1974, occupied to northern part of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots established a separate state recognized only by Turkey. Talks to intrgrate Cyrprus into the European Union began in 1996.

Economic – In Italy the agriculture relies on mainly wheat as Italy is second to France in Europe in wheat production. Italy’s other main sources for income include, Tomatoes, Olives and Olive oil, dairy products ( in particular cheese ), fuits, nuts and live stock. Whereas Greece’s agriculture is built on Tabacco, barley, rice, cotton, olives ( in particular kalamata olives ) and live stock ( in particular sheep / lamb ). Italy’s wheat has lead to a dramatic increase in Italy GDP.

Both Italy and Greece have a strong and propsperous tourism industry.

In developing its economy , Greece has had to import large quantities of machinery and equiptment for things like making clothes and fashion. Exports being mainly agricultural do not pay for these imports. Money earned for tourism, shipping and workers abroad help to pay for some of them. In future years Greece expects to be exporting many more industrial goods and minerals.

Italy must also import many raw materials needed for her major exports, such as machinery for fashion. It is with these machines that many of the new fashion trends are created with, making Milan and Italy fashion giants in the industry.

The Italian government publicizes it’s Green Plan for farmer’s credit, workers still drift to the industrial cities such as Genoa and Turin. Two and a half times as many people work un industry as on the land. 42.3 % of Italy’s work force works in variou industrial sectors, only 15.1% work in agriculture and 1.7% are in the military. Whereas in Greece agriculture still provides the majority of employment but, industry, services ( such as military ) and construction are gradually catching up thanks to Greece’s 3.5% economic growth. Officially 40.5% of the work force is in Agriculture, 33.9% in services, 17.8% mining and 7.8% in construction. Out of a total population of 10,500,000 in Greece; 4,284,000 are in the work force, compared to Italy’s worforce of 19,4600 and total population of 56,600,000 which equal 28% of Italy’s population works, compared to Greece’s 24.5%.

Environmental - Natural - Italy's instantly recognisable boot shape kicks its way into the Adriatic, Ionian, Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas - all of which form part of the Mediterranean Sea. From west to east, France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia form borders to the north. The islands of Elba, Sardinia, Ischia, Capri, the Aeolians and Sicily lie offshore.Greece lies at the southern extremity of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. To the north, it has borders with Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Bulgaria, and to the east it borders Turkey.

The peninsula, which constitutes mainland Greece, is surrounded by more than 1400 islands, of which 169 are inhabited.The islands are divided into six groups: the Cyclades, the Ionians, the Dodecanese, the islands of the North-Eastern Aegean, the Sporades and the Saronic Gulf islands. The two largest islands, Crete and Evia, do not belong to any group.In Italy mountains feature prominently in the topography, and cover it’s borders all the way from Genoa in the west to Trieste in the east. Italy's backbone is formed by the Apennines, extending from Genoa right down to the south ofCalabria. Roughly four-fifths of Greece is mountainous, with most land lying over 1500m (4920ft) above sea level.

The Po River Valley in Italy’s northeast forms the largest lowland area, and is heavily populated and industrialised as a result. Underground activity is evident from the country's three active volcanoes - Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands, Vesuvius near Naples and Etna on Sicily. Beautiful, yes, but these volcanoes have caused major devastation wrought by earthquakes and eruptions especially in 1980 and recently in 2001. Beauty abounds in Italy but, unfortunately, so does pollution, particularly in the big cities and along the coast.

In the countryside the locals' love of hunting, has extinguished many animal species once famous to Italy such as brown-eared rabbits. You might spot a brown bear or a lynx if you're lucky, and the Alpine regions are still home to wolves, marmots, chamois and deer. Mouflon sheep and wild boars and cats can be found on Sardinia, while in the skies falcons, hawks and golden eagles dodge the hunters' birdshot. Like the Italians, Greeks are overly fond of hunting and fishing, resulting in the serious depletion of marine and bird life in some places. The human population that shares their mountain habitats considers wolves and bears pests rather than endangered species. Watching dolphins and porpoises as they follow the boats is one of the pleasures of island hopping, and the waters around Zakynthos and Kefallonia are home to the last large colony of sea turtles in Europe.

Italy's climate varies from north to south and from lowland to mountain top. Winters are long and severe in the Alps, with snow falling as early as mid-September. The northern regions experience chilly winters and hot summers, while conditions become milder as you head south. The sirocco, the hot and humid African wind that affects regions south of Rome, produces at least a couple of stiflingly hot weeks in summer. Greece has mild wet winters and hot dry summers. Winter temperatures can be severe in the mountains, and even Athens can get viciously cold. Maximum temperatures on the islands hover around 30°C (87°F) in summer, but the heat is often tempered by the northerly wind known as the meltemi.

Political – Greece is a presidential republic as to is Italy. Although they have the same system much is different between the layout of their goverments. In Italy the public elects a Chamber of Deputies, which entailes 596 members for a 5 year term, who inturn elect the senate which is made up of 243 members for 6 years. With the senate and Chamber of deputies combined, Parliament is then formed. It is the president who is elected the position from parliament. He or she sits in the government, which has the Prime-minister and various ministries, and is also positied in the supreme court when necessery, which includes a court of appeals and various other courts. In Greece, however, they have devised a much easier form of government. This sees the public elect the national assembly ( which is the equavalent of the Italian Chamber of deputies and the senate ) who then form parliament. The public also elects a president who appoints a Prime-minister and his or her cabinet ministers. Together, the parliament, Prime-minister and cabinet ministers appoint a council of the constitution.

Greece is divided into nine mainland regions and four island region. These thirteen regions are furthur divided into fifty-one departments run by elected prefects. The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( PASOK) and the New Democratic Party dominate Greek politics. PASOK controlled parliament from 1981, when Greece was inducted into the European Union, until 1989. In 1990 PASOK lost the election to the New Democratic Party but regained power in the 1993 election. Although , one political party has dominated most postwar governments in Italy, there are actually three major parties : the Christian Democrats, the dominant party in Italian government for many years; the Democratic Party of the Left, formerly the Communist Party; and the Socialist Party.

In 1949, Italy became a member of NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ). In 1955, Italy was atmitted into the United Nations and was also a founding member of the EEC ( European Economic Community) – now changed to EC ( European Community )

5. Since Italy joined the EC in 1955, there have been results of tremendous expansion in industry and commerce. Tourism, which has always been one of Italy’s great sources of income, has increased from a mere 2 million visitors per year in 1931 to 30.7 million in 1969 and has was increasing to 3.8.5 million in 1999. Greece’s tourism industry per year included 3.4 million in 1931 and then after being introduced into the EC in 1979, grew to 43.2 million by 1999. Unfortutanly for both countries, now that Septmeber 11 and threats of terrorism have arisen, internation flights to Italy and Greece have decreased by an average of 35.8% in the past 18 months and the tourism industry is in a slump.

Another factor that is helping both Italy and Greece is their age stucture. From the age / sex pyramids we can see that there were roughly 3,300,000 people aged from 20 to 39. Due to this there were more young people to biuld up a stronger future for Greece and get better jobs, go to university, etc, but by 2025 these brackets of people would have aged leaving a slump in the numbers of young people who work and earn a living, possibly resulting in less annual turnover for Greece by the year 2025. When looking closely it is clear that the exact same pattern is arrupting in Italy; in 2000 majority of the population are young people who work, and by 2025 these people will be in the 45 – 59 age range.

But the one major aspects that has contributed to Greece’s 2.6% Economic growth rate and Italy’s 3.6% Economic growth rate, is the European Union. It is with their help that both Italy and Greece have been able to extend their trading routes to furthur locations across Europe. Thanks to EU the Euro dollar has been in place. This means good news for Italy and Greece as now neither country looses money through exchange rates and importing and exporting is much much easier. This has contributed to Italy’s 14.8% increase in GNP since 1960 and Greece’s 25.3% GNP increase since 1973. Greece’s tabacco industry is slowly declining by 2.2% due to health issues in it’s major buyers; USA. Tabacco sales in America have been down by 14.2 % in the past 5 years, this is a worrying sign for the tabacco industry.

The Mediterranean monk seal is the rarest of all the seal species and one of the six most endangered mammals in the world. Numbers have declined drastically in the last 100 years and the present population is 400, about half of which live in Greece. This is caused by the large fishing industry that Greece holds.

6.a) Once terrorist and global tension ceases tourism will return to its flurishing state for both nations. Italy can look forward to producing the worlds best fashions making the GNP increase. With firm clientele in both Italy and all over the world it is no wonder that Italy has a huge propect in fashion, in both producing clothes and the textiles. Another major prospect for Italy is the car industry. Not only do the Italians supply the infamous ‘Ferrari’ cars to the F1 team, but supercars to the rich and famous in developed countries such as USA and UK. Apart from the luxurious Italy also manafuctures and sells up to 75,000 cars per year. For Greece the future is with it’s already non-fluxuating, graually increasing industry . With the decline in demand for tabacco Greece will have to replant the 3.5% of cultivated land that is set aside for tabacco. For Greece to future does look bright for one sector – the textile industry. With trade links now firmly set with much of western Europe, Greece’s textile industry has been increasing by 17.8% for the past 12 years. As western Europe is home to the worlds leading fashion, accessories and fashion designers, there is no shortage for demand of Greek fabrics.

b) For Greece I would suggest to plant mulberry plants in the north; possibly just north of Thessaloniki in Nigrita or Serrai. Here the land is fertile and ideal for planting mulberry plant for silkworms to eat. The silkworms then produce silk strands and can be later produced into silk, where it can be sold in Greece’s ever-growing textile industry. The silk can be used to sell at local markets for the local women to wear or can be exported overseas, increasing the GNP.

For Italy I would suggest a somewhat ‘revolution’ in the comic / cartoon industry by Italy producing and selling ideas, scripts and drawings to other countries such as France, who is the highest producers of cartoons in the world. Italy could write the show, employ people to create and draw the actual cartoons and sell their ideas to well renowned companies such as the ‘Carrerre Group’. This is very cost efficient and an untapped resource.

Another plan for Greece would be for her to increase it’s number of sheep, hence producing more meat and possibly able to sell leftovers, but primarily for the sheep’s ool, which Greek farmers and their wifes could shear and sell wool to Athens or Thessaloniki where they would manafacture it as wool. Then the wool companies could either sell it to colder European countries such as UK , Germany or Belgium, or make the wool into jumpers, jackets, scarves, etc. and then sell them the colder parts of Europe.

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