The Hellenic Navy (HN) (Greek: Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Greek Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence. During the periods of monarchy (1833–1924 and 1936–1973) it was known as the Royal Navy (Βασιλικόν Ναυτικόν, Vasilikón Naftikón, abbreviated ΒΝ).The total displacement of all the navy's vessels is approximately 150,000 tons.The motto of the Hellenic Navy is "Μέγα το της Θαλάσσης Κράτος" from Thucydides' account of Pericles' oration on the eve of the Peloponnesian War. This has been roughly translated as "Great is the country that controls the sea". The Hellenic Navy's emblem consists of an anchor in front of a crossed Christian cross and trident, with the cross symbolizing Greek Orthodoxy, and the trident symbolizing Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek mythology. Pericles' words are written across the top of the emblem. "The navy, as it represents a necessary weapon for Greece, should only be created for war and aim to victory."...............The Hellenic Merchant Marine refers to the Merchant Marine of Greece, engaged in commerce and transportation of goods and services universally. It consists of the merchant vessels owned by Greek civilians, flying either the Greek flag or a flag of convenience. Greece is a maritime nation by tradition, as shipping is arguably the oldest form of occupation of the Greeks and a key element of Greek economic activity since the ancient times. Nowadays, Greece has the largest merchant fleet in the world, which is the second largest contributor to the national economy after tourism and forms the backbone of world shipping. The Greek fleet flies a variety of flags, however some Greek shipowners gradually return to Greece following the changes to the legislative framework governing their operations and the improvement of infrastructure.

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This is a bilingual blog in English and / or Greek and you can translate any post to any language by pressing on the appropriate flag....Note that there is provided below a scrolling text with the 30 recent posts...Αυτό είναι ένα δίγλωσσο blog στα Αγγλικά η/και στα Ελληνικά και μπορείτε να μεταφράσετε οποιοδήποτε ποστ σε οποιαδήποτε γλώσσα κάνοντας κλικ στη σχετική σημαία. Σημειωτέον ότι παρακάτω παρέχεται και ένα κινούμενο κείμενο με τα 30 πρόσφατα ποστς....This is a bilingual blog in English and / or Greek and you can translate any post to any language by pressing on the appropriate flag....Note that there is provided below a scrolling text with the 30 recent posts...Αυτό είναι ένα δίγλωσσο blog στα Αγγλικά η/και στα Ελληνικά και μπορείτε να μεταφράσετε οποιοδήποτε ποστ σε οποιαδήποτε γλώσσα κάνοντας κλικ στη σχετική σημαία. Σημειωτέον ότι παρακάτω παρέχεται και ένα κινούμενο κείμενο με τα 30 πρόσφατα ποστς.........

Friday, April 30, 2010

Spain, 4.6 million people are out of work, [ 1120 ]

Spain unemployment tops 20 percent

Spanish job seekers line up outside an employment center.

Spanish job seekers line up outside an employment center.

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -April 30, 2010 6:01 a.m. EDT-
Unemployment in Spain has reached 20 percent, meaning 4.6 million people are out of work, the Spanish government announced Friday.
The figure, from the first quarter, is up from 19 percent and 4.3 million people in the previous quarter. It represents the second-highest unemployment rate in the European Union, after Latvia, according to figures Friday from Eurostat, the EU's statistics service.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told Parliament on Wednesday he believes the jobless rate has peaked and will now start to decline.
The first quarter of the year is traditionally poor for Spain because of a drop in labor-intensive activity like construction, agriculture and tourism.
This week, Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's long-term credit rating and said the outlook is negative.

"We now believe that the Spanish economy's shift away from credit-fuelled economic growth is likely to result in a more protracted period of sluggish activity than we previously assumed," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Marko Mrsnik said.

Gross domestic product growth in Spain is expected to average 0.7 percent annually through 2016, compared with previous expectations of 1 percent annually, he said.
Spain's economic problems are closely tied to the housing bust there, according to The Economist magazine. Many of the newly unemployed worked in construction, it said.

The recession revealed how dependent public finances were on housing-related tax revenues, it said.
Another problem in Spain is that wages are set centrally and most jobs are protected, making it hard to shift skilled workers from one industry to another, the magazine said.

Average unemployment for the 27-member European Union stayed stable in March at 9.6 percent, Eurostat said Friday. That percentage represents 23 million people, it said.

The lowest national unemployment rates were in the Netherlands and Austria, which had 4.1 and 4.9 percent respectively, Eurostat said.

-- CNN's Al Goodman contributed to this report.

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