Sunday, May 11, 2014

Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland

Happy Mothers' Day!


Gibraltar was previously heavily dependent on Britain, but the growth of tourism, offshore finance, and shipping have made the country self-sufficient; a constitution was put into place in 2007.  There is full religious freedom, but the largest growth is in non-religious beliefs; the largest growing religion is Muslim even though 80% of the population consider themselves Christian.




Though the EU's economy is failing, Greece's economy is holding strong thanks to its large fleet of merchant ships and strong export business.  Hostile relations with Turkey, a civil war, and two military dictatorships have left politics very shaky; the Orthodox Church is protected by the state, but the corruption of the church has led to an increase in Islam and non-religious beliefs.




The support of the Danish government and the growing fishing economy has helped Greenland increase in autonomy since 2009.  There is freedom of religion (for 60 years), but the Lutheran Church was the national church prior to that change.  While many consider themselves Christian, non-religious is growing rapidly.



All maps/photos are from worldatlas.com

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