Greece

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For other uses, see Greece (disambiguation) and Hellas.

Hellenic Republic
Ελληνική Δημοκρατία
Ellinikí Dimokratía (Greek)

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto: «Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος»

Elefthería í Thánatos
"Freedom or Death"

Anthem: «Ύμνος εις την Ελευθερίαν»

Ýmnos eis tin Eleftherían
"Hymn to Liberty"

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 Location of Greece (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green) – [Legend]

Capital Athens
and largest city 37°58′N 23°43′E

Official language Greek

and national
language

Religion Eastern Orthodoxy

Demonym Greek

Government Unitary parliamentary republic

• President Prokopis Pavlopoulos

• Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
• President of the Nikos Voutsis
Parliament
• President of the Vasileios Peppas
Supreme Civil
Court

Legislature Hellenic Parliament

Formation
• Union of City 338 BC
States as Hellenic
League
• Independence 25 March 1821 (traditional starting date of
declared from the Greek War of Independence), 15 January
the Ottoman 1822 (official declaration in the First National
Empire Assembly at Epidaurus)
• Recognized 3 February 1830
• Current constitution 11 June 1975
 Area
• Total 131,957 km2(50,949 sq mi)[1](95th)
• Water (%) 0.8669

Population
• 2017 estimate 10,768,477
• 2011 census 10,816,286[2] (80th)
• Density 82[3]/km2(212.4/sq mi) (125th)

GDP (PPP) 2018 estimate

• Total $313.400 billion[4](57th)
• Per capita $29,090[5] (47th)

GDP (nominal) 2018 estimate

• Total $221.570 billion[6](52nd)
• Per capita $20,570[7] (38th)

Gini (2017) 33.4[8]

medium · 60th

HDI (2015) 0.866[9]

very high · 29th

Currency Euro (€) (EUR)

Time zone Eastern European Time (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST) Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Date format dd/mm/yyyy (AD)

Drives on the right

Calling code +30

ISO 3166 code GR

Internet TLD .gra

.ελ

a. The .eu domain is also used, as in other European Union member

states.

Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα, Elláda [eˈlaða]), officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική
Δημοκρατία, Ellinikí Dimokratía [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a]), historically also known as Hellas (Ancient
Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellás [heˈlas]), is a country located in Southern Europe,[10] with a population of
approximately 11 million as of 2016. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed
by Thessaloniki.
Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of
the Balkan Peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of
Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the
east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to
 the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest
coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a large number of islands, of
which 227 are inhabited. Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being
the highest peak at 2,918 metres (9,573 ft). The country consists of nine geographic
regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean
Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization,[a] being the birthplace
of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science,
major scientific and mathematicalprinciples, and Western drama,[14] as well as the Olympic
Games. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-
states, known as poleis (singular polis), which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and
the Black Sea. Philip of Macedonunited most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC,
with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, spreading Greek
culture and science from the eastern Mediterranean to India. Greece was annexed by Rome in
the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor,
the Byzantine Empire, wherein the Greek language and culture were dominant. The Greek
Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the
wider Orthodox World.[15] Falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the
modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greece's rich
historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe
and the world.[16]
Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a
high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations,
Greece was the tenth member to join the European Communities (precursor to the European
Union) and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other
international institutions, including the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE), and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie(OIF). Greece's unique
cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic
importance[b] classify it as a middle power. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an
important regional investor.

Contents
[hide]

 1Etymology
 2History
o 2.1Ancient and Classical periods
o 2.2Hellenistic and Roman periods (323 BC – 4th century AD)
o 2.3Medieval period (4th century – 1453)
o 2.4Early modern period: Venetian possessions and Ottoman rule (15th century – 1821)
o 2.5Modern period
 2.5.1Greek War of Independence (1821–1832)
 2.5.2Kingdom of Greece
 2.5.3Expansion, disaster, and reconstruction
 2.5.4Dictatorship, World War II, and reconstruction
 2.5.5Military regime (1967–74)
 2.5.6Third Hellenic Republic
 3Geography and climate
o 3.1Islands
o 3.2Climate
o 3.3Ecology
 4Politics
o 4.1Political parties
 o 4.2Foreign relations
o 4.3Law and justice
o 4.4Military
o 4.5Administrative divisions
 5Economy
o 5.1Introduction
o 5.2Debt crisis (2010–2015)
o 5.3Agriculture
o 5.4Energy
o 5.5Maritime industry
o 5.6Tourism
o 5.7Transport
o 5.8Telecommunications
o 5.9Science and technology
o 5.10Medical sector
 6Demographics
o 6.1Cities
o 6.2Functional urban areas
o 6.3Religion
o 6.4Languages
o 6.5Migration
o 6.6Education
o 6.7Healthcare system
 7Culture
o 7.1Visual arts
o 7.2Architecture
o 7.3Theatre
o 7.4Literature
o 7.5Philosophy
o 7.6Music and dances
o 7.7Cuisine
o 7.8Cinema
o 7.9Sports
o 7.10Mythology
o 7.11Public holidays and festivals
 8See also
 9Notes
 10References
o 10.1Specific
o 10.2Bibliography
 11External links
o 11.1Government
o 11.2General information

Etymology
Main article: Name of Greece
The names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other
languages, locations and cultures. The Greek name of the country is Hellas[26][27][28][29] (/ˈhɛləs/)
or Ellada (Greek: Ελλάς or Ελλάδα; in polytonic: Ἑλλάς ([eˈlas], Ancient Greek: [heˈlas]) or
Ἑλλάδα Elláda [eˈlaða]), and its official name is the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική
Δημοκρατία Ellinikí Dimokratía [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a]). In English, however, the country is usually
called Greece, which comes from Latin Graecia (as used by the Romans) and literally means 'the
land of the Greeks'.
History
Main article: History of Greece
Ancient and Classical periods
Main articles: Ancient Greece and Classical Greece

The entrance of the Treasury of Atreus (13th BC) in Mycenae

The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to
270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, in the Greek province of Macedonia.[30] All three
stages of the stone age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic) are represented in Greece, for
example in the Franchthi Cave.[31] Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium
BC,[30] are the oldest in Europe by several centuries, as Greece lies on the route via which
farming spread from the Near East to Europe.[32]

Fresco displaying the Minoan ritual of "bull leaping", found in Knossos

Greece is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is considered the birthplace of
Western civilization,[33][34][35][36] beginning with the Cycladic civilization on the islands of the Aegean
Sea at around 3200 BC,[37] the Minoan civilization in Crete (2700–1500 BC),[36][38] and then
the Mycenaean civilization on the mainland (1900–1100 BC).[38] These civilizations possessed
writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans
in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but
collapsed violently around 1200 BC, during a time of regional upheaval known as the Bronze Age
collapse.[39] This ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records
are absent.
Greek territories and colonies during the Archaic period (750–550 BC)

The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the year of the first Olympic
Games.[40] The Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to
have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC.[41][42] With the end of the Dark
Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, which
spread to the shores of the Black Sea, Southern Italy ("Magna Graecia") and Asia Minor. These
states and their colonies reached great levels of prosperitythat resulted in an unprecedented
cultural boom, that of classical Greece, expressed
in architecture, drama, science, mathematics and philosophy. In 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted
the world's first democratic system of government in Athens.[43][44]

The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, emblem of classical Greece.

By 500 BC, the Persian Empire controlled the Greek city states in Asia Minor
and Macedonia.[45] Attempts by some of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor to overthrow Persian
rule failed, and Persia invaded the states of mainland Greecein 492 BC, but was forced to
withdraw after a defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. A second invasion by the Persians
followed in 480 BC. Following decisive Greek victories in 480 and 479 BC at Salamis, Plataea,
and Mycale, the Persians were forced to withdraw for a second time, marking their eventual
withdrawal from all of the