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Crete has a well known folk dance tradition, which includes swift dances like syrtos, maleviziotikos, haniotikos, pentozali and laziotikos.

Greece is traditionally a seafaring nation and has built an impressive shipping industry based on its geographic location and the entrepreneurial ability of its ship owners. The Greek-owned fleet (all flags), one of the three largest worldwide, totalled 3,358 ships (134 million DWT) in 1998.

The subsequent biographical traditions of Pythagoras reflect this split: they portray him alternately as a down-to-earth political reformer, a pioneering scientist, or a wild shaman-figure. The truth no doubt lies somewhere in between.

Greeks elect members of the country's unicameral parliament (the Vouli ton Ellinon) by secret ballot for a maximum of four years, but elections can occur at more frequent intervals. Greece uses a complex reinforced proportional representation electoral system which discourages splinter parties and ensures that the party which leads in the national vote will win a majority of seats. A party must receive 3% of the total national vote to gain representation.

The low pitch of Greek rooves produced a flat triangular shape at each end of the building, the pediment, which was usually filled with sculptural decoration. Along the sides of the building, between the tops of the columns and the roof, was a row of blocks now known as the entablature, whose outward-facing surfaces also provided a space for sculptures, known as friezes, which consisted of alternating metopes and triglyphs. No surviving Greek building preserves these sculptures intact, but they can be seen on some modern imitations of Greek buildings, such as the Greek National Academy building in Athens