MR Description III

Demography

• The citizens of the Monastic Republic are mainly Greeks. Most of them are descendants of refugees from Turkey. There is also a sizable population of Lebanese, refugees from Lebanon. There has been some immigration from other parts of Europe, but it is kept to a minimum. Non-citizens may not live in the Monastic Republic.
• The Orthodox monks of the Greek monasteries are virtually all Greeks, but the monks of the national monasteries have come from their respective countries.
• Monastic Republic nationality
  • A person whose father or mother is a citizen of the Monastic Republic at his birth is a citizen of the Monastic Republic by descent.
  • Merely being born in the territory of the Monastic Republic does not confer citizenship.
  • Every child who is found within the Monastic Republic and the whereabouts of whose parents are unknown is, until the parents of the child are traced, deemed to be a citizen of the Monastic Republic by descent.
  • Any man who enters the novitiate in any one of the twenty monasteries becomes a citizen of the Monastic Republic.
  • The acquisition of citizenship of the Monastic Republic by a foreign national is regulated by Law.
• Census of 2005
  • The census figures are obtained from the registers that are kept by the townships and the monasteries.
  • The name of every citizen and of every monk is recorded with the following details:
    • Register number
    • Date of birth or naturalization
    • Country of birth
    • Birthplace of parents
    • Complete address
    • Marital status and date of marriage
    • Occupation at time of census
    • If a farmer, crops they grow
    • Annual income
  • The census of 2005 recorded
    • 7,243 citizens in Prosforion, of whom 194 were naturalized,
    • 5,280 citizens in Aktí, of whom 449 were naturalized,
    • 984 citizens in Ammouliani.
    • 4,621 monks in the twenty monasteries.
  • Giving a grand total of 18,128 citizens.

Culture

• Public days of rest:
  • January 6 (January 7 if January 6 falls on a Sunday), the Epiphany;
  • February 2 (February 3 if February 2 falls on a Sunday), the Presentation of Christ;
  • Good Friday;
  • Easter Monday;
  • Ascension Thursday;
  • Pentecost Monday;
  • July 5 (July 6 if July 5 falls on a Sunday), Constitution Day;
  • August 15 (August 16 if August 15 falls on a Sunday), the Dormition;
  • the first Monday of September in election years;
  • September 8 (September 9 if September 8 falls on a Sunday), the Birth of the Virgin.
  • October 5 (October 6 if October 5 falls on a Sunday), Independence Day;
  • November 1 (November 2 if November 1 falls on a Sunday), All Saints Day;
  • December 8 (December 9 if December 8 falls on a Sunday), the Immaculate Conception;
  • December 24, Christmas Eve;
  • December 25, Christmas Day (December 26 if December 25 falls on a Sunday).

Religion

• The Autocephalous Orthodox Monastic Church of the Holy Mountain
  • The Orthodox faith is the national Church of the Monastic Republic.
  • The three towns each have an Orthodox church.
  • The village and the gendarmery post have an Orthodox chapel for the benefit of the lay workers.
• The Catholic Church
  • The three towns each have a Maronite Catholic Church.
  • The Catholic parishes are part of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch.
  • Three celibate diocesan priests are assigned to care for the Catholic citizens and the Catholic tourists.
  • Should one of the priest be incapacitated, one of the Maronite priests of St. Maroun will be asked to fill in.