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Countries of the World: Greek

POPULATION. There are in this country a number of foreign (Frank) or extraterritorial communities placed under the protection of resident diplomatic and consular agents. These include the richest Greek and English merchants. The representation of foreign powers in Turkey dates from the 16th century, and has been protected by treaty stipulations. Native Christian subjects are called rayahs, and chiefly belong to the Greek Church. The Mohammedans respect no laws except those sanctioned by the Koran. The Jews in this country are mostly descendants of refugees from Spanish persecution, and retain a Spanish dialect. Obliged to wear a distinctive costume, they are despised by the Turks and persecuted by the Greeks. Polygamy is one of the tenets of the Koran, and is extensively practised. Four wives are allowed, but the Sultan and other persons of rank and wealth may have unlimited numbers of concubines and female attendants. The poor classes cannot afford to maintain more than I wife, and except among the higher classes polygamy does not extensively obtain. The seclusion of females in the harem is rigidly enforced. The masses of orthodox Turkish woman wear thick veils and reveal only the eyes. Mohammedans are a minority in every European vilayet, except Prisrend and Scutari and the Metropolitan (or Constantinople) district. Approximately the races of European Turkey are: Turks proper (or Osmanlis), Turcomans, Greeks, Armenians, Slavs, Wallachs, Albanians, and Jews.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION. - The religion of the State is Mohammedan. The Koran is the supreme authority in religion, law, and all spheres of government and life. The Christians belong mostly to the Greek Church. The Turks proper (or Osmanlis) are wholly Mohammedan. The Armenian Church is confined mostly to the Armenian race. A portion of the Greeks and Armenians, Nestorians and Jacobites, have united with the Roman Catholic Church, but keep up separate organizations. It is estimated that there are 300,000 Roman Catholics in European Turkey. The Sultan recognizes these denominations as independent religious communities. It is estimated, according to the Treaty of Berlin (1878), that in the entire Ottoman Empire there are 16,000,000 Mohammedans and 5,000,000 Christians. Schools have been established in every commune of the empire, under a comparatively recent law, after the German model. There are also law, military, engineering, artillery, and naval institutions. The progress of education outside the capital is very slow-the Turkish mind having an innate aversion to effort. GOVERNMENT.-The precepts of the Koran form the basis of the fundamental laws of the empire. The Sultan's will is absolute, in so far as it is not in opposition to the accepted truths of the Mohammedan religion, as laid down in the sacred book of the Prophet. There is also a code formed of the supposed sayings and opinion of Mohammed, and the sentences and decisions of his immediate successors, called the Multeka. These are binding upon the Sultan as well as upon his subjects. The legislative and executive authority is exercised under the direction of the Sultan by a Prime Minister, or Grand Vizier, the head of the temporal government and the Sheik-ul-Islam, or head of the Church. The Grand Vizier is president of the divan, or ministerial council, which comprises 8 departments. The empire is divided into vilayets, or governments, under governors, and there are 4 of these in European Turkey, besides the district of Constantinople. The provincial governors hold the rank of Pasha, and rule very arbitrarily. They are generally conspicuous for their cruelty and venality.