Greece

Why are Greeks so leftist?

Good question! I trust someone more knowledgable will reply (who actually lives there now).

Of course, not all Greeks are leftist, and as with much of the West, the nominal left-wing parties have drifted further and further to the centre (Panhellenic…

What language is spoken in Athens, Greece?

To add to the other answers, and to answer a slightly different question :) : between the 1300s and the 1800s, the region *around* Athens was substantially Albanian-speaking (Arvanitika). That’s why the map Brian Collins included in his answer has a patch…

What other languages influenced Greek?

In terms of the usual interpretation of the question (what languages did Greek borrow words from), at different times Greek has borrowed words from:

• Persian (a small number)
• Latin (a fair few)

How different are Cypriot names from their Turkish and Greek counterparts?

Greek Cypriot surnames are often patronymics, formed as the genitives of given names. Surnames are quite region-specific in Greek, so you can tell a Greek Cypriot surname: it’s the one *without* a…