The Church of Greece is recognized by the Greek Constitution as the prevailing religion in Greece,[9] the only country in the world where Eastern Orthodoxy is clearly recognized as a state religion.[10]
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The native name of the country in Modern Greek is Ελλάδα (Elládaⓘ, pronounced [eˈlaða]). The corresponding form in Ancient Greek and conservative formal Modern Greek (Katharevousa) is Ἑλλάς (Hellas, classical: [hel.lás], modern: [eˈlas]). This is the source of the English alternative name Hellas, which is mostly found in archaic or poetic contexts today. The Greek adjectival form ελληνικός (ellinikos, [eliniˈkos]) is sometimes also translated as Hellenic and is often rendered in this way in the formal names of Greek institutions, as in the official name of the Greek state, the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, [eliniˈciðimokraˈti.a]).[11]
The English names Greece and Greek are derived, via the Latin Graecia and Graecus, from the name of the Graeci (Γραικοί, Graikoí; singularΓραικός, Graikós), one of first ancient Greek tribes to settle Magna Graecia in southern Italy.
The Apidima Cave in Mani, in southern Greece, has been suggested to contain the oldest remains of early modern humans outside of Africa, dated to 200,000 years ago.[12] However others suggest the remains represent archaic humans.[13] All three stages of the Stone Age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave.[14]Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC,[15] are the oldest in Europe, as Greece lies on the route by which farming spread from the Near East to Europe.[16]
By 500 BC, the Persian Empire controlled the Greek city states in Asia Minor and Macedonia.[35] Attempts by Greek city-states of Asia Minor to overthrow Persian rule failed, and Persia invaded the states of mainland Greece in 492 BC, but was forced to withdraw after defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. In response, the Greek city-states formed the Hellenic League in 481 BC, led by Sparta, which was the first recorded union of Greek states since the mythical union of the Trojan War.[36][37] The second Persian invasion of Greece was decisively defeated in 480–479 BC, at Salamis and Plataea, marking the eventual withdrawal of the Persians from all their European territories. The Greek victories in the Greco-Persian Wars are a pivotal moment in history,[38] as the 50 years of peace afterwards are known as the Golden Age of Athens, a seminal period that laid many foundations of Western civilization. Lack of political unity resulted in frequent conflict between Greek states. The most devastating intra-Greek war was the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which marked the demise of the Athenian Empire and the emergence of Spartan and later Theban hegemony.[39] Weakened by constant wars among them during the 4th century BC, the Greek poleis were subjugated to the rising power of the kingdom of Macedon under king Philip II into an alliance known as the Hellenic League.[40]
After Philip's assassination in 336 BC, his son and king of Macedon, Alexander, set himself leader of a Panhelleniccampaign against the Persian Empire and abolished it. Undefeated in battle, he marched, until his untimely death in 323 BC, to the banks of the Indus.[41] Alexander's empire fragmented, inaugurating the Hellenistic period. After fierce conflict amongst themselves, the generals that succeeded Alexander and their successors founded large personal kingdoms in the areas he had conquered, such as that of the Ptolemies in Egypt and of the Seleucids in Syria, Mesopotamia and Iran.[42] The newly founded poleis of these kingdoms, such as Alexandria and Antioch, were settled by Greeks as members of a ruling minority. As a result, during the centuries that followed a vernacular form of Greek, known as koine, and Greek culture was spread, while the Greeks adopted Eastern deities and cults.[43] Greek science, technology, and mathematics reached their peak during the Hellenistic period.[44] Aspiring to maintain their autonomy and independence from the Antigonid kings of the Macedonians, many poleis of Greece united in koina or sympoliteiai i.e. federations, while after the establishment of economic relations with the East, a stratum of wealthy euergetai dominated their internal life.[45]
From about 200 BC the Roman Republic became increasingly involved in Greek affairs and engaged in a series of wars with Macedon.[46] Macedon's defeat at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC signalled the end of Antigonid power.[47] In 146 BC, Macedonia was annexed as a province by Rome, and the rest of Greece became a Roman protectorate.[46][48] The process was completed in 27 BC, when emperor Augustus annexed the rest of Greece and constituted it as the senatorial province of Achaea.[48] Despite their military superiority, the Romans admired and became heavily influenced by Greek culture.[49]
Greek-speaking communities of the Hellenised East were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries,[50] and Christianity's early leaders and writers were mostly Greek-speaking, though not from Greece itself.[51] The New Testament was written in Greek, and some sections attest to the importance of churches in Greece in early Christianity. Nevertheless, much of Greece clung to paganism, and ancient Greek religious practices were still in vogue in the late 4th century AD,[52] when they were outlawed by the Roman emperor Theodosius I in 391–392.[53] The last recorded Olympic games were held in 393,[54] and many temples were destroyed or damaged in the century that followed.[55][56] The closure of the Neoplatonic Academy of Athens by Emperor Justinian in 529 is considered the end of antiquity, although there is evidence that the academy continued.[55][57]
The Empire's Balkan territories, including Greece, suffered from the dislocation of barbarian invasions;[59] raids by Goths and Huns in the 4th and 5th centuries and the Slavic invasion in the 7th century resulted in a collapse in imperial authority in the Greek peninsula.[60] The imperial government retained control of only the islands and coastal areas, particularly the populated walled cities such as Athens, Corinth and Thessalonica.[60][61][62] However, the view that Greece underwent decline, fragmentation and depopulation is considered outdated, as cities show institutional continuity and prosperity between the 4th and 6th centuries. In the early 6th century, Greece had approximately 80 cities according to the Synekdemos chronicle, and the 4th to the 7th century is considered one of high prosperity.[63]
The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire after the death of Basil II in 1025
Until the 8th century almost all of modern Greece was under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Rome. Byzantine Emperor Leo III moved the border of the Patriarchate of Constantinople westward and northward in the 8th century.[64] The Byzantine recovery of lost provinces during the Arab–Byzantine wars began in the 8th century and most of the Greek peninsula came under imperial control again.[65][66] This process was facilitated by a large influx of Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor to the Greek peninsula, while many Slavs were captured and re-settled in Asia Minor.[61] During the 11th and 12th centuries the return of stability resulted in the Greek peninsula benefiting from economic growth.[65] The Greek Orthodox Church was instrumental in the spread of Greek ideas to the wider Orthodox world.[67][full citation needed]
Following the Fourth Crusade and fall of Constantinople to the "Latins" in 1204, mainland Greece was split between the Greek Despotate of Epirus and French rule[68] (the Frankokratia).[69] The re-establishment of the imperial capital in Constantinople in 1261 was accompanied by the empire's recovery of much of the Greek peninsula, while the islands remained under Genoese and Venetian control.[68] During the Paleologi dynasty (1261–1453) a new era of Greek patriotism emerged accompanied by a turning back to ancient Greece.[70][71][72][73][74]
In the 14th century much of the Greek peninsula was lost by the Byzantine Empire to the Serbs and then the Ottomans.[75] Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and by 1460, Ottoman conquest of mainland Greece was complete.[76]
Venetian possessions and Ottoman rule (15th century – 1821)
While most of mainland Greece and the Aegean islands was under Ottoman control by the end of the 15th century, Cyprus and Crete remained Venetian and did not fall to the Ottomans until 1571 and 1669 respectively and Venice maintained control of the Ionian Islands until 1797, after which they fell under first French, then British control.[77] While some Greeks in the Ionian islands and Constantinople lived in prosperity, and Greeks of Constantinople (Phanariots) achieved power within the Ottoman administration,[78] much of Greece suffered the economic consequences of Ottoman conquest. Heavy taxes were enforced, and in later years the Ottoman Empire enacted a policy of creation of hereditary estates, effectively turning the rural Greek populations into serfs,[79] while the Ottoman conquest had cut Greece off from European historical developments.[80]
The Greek Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople were considered by the Ottoman governments as the ruling authorities of the entire Orthodox Christian population of the Ottoman Empire, whether ethnically Greek or not. Although the Ottoman state did not force non-Muslims to convert to Islam, Christians faced discrimination. Discrimination, particularly when combined with harsh treatment by local Ottoman authorities, led to conversions to Islam, if only superficially. In the 19th century, many "crypto-Christians" returned to their old religious allegiance.[81]
The nature of Ottoman administration of Greece varied, though it was invariably arbitrary and often harsh.[81] Some cities had governors appointed by the Sultan, while others, like Athens, were self-governed municipalities. Mountainous regions in the interior and many islands remained effectively autonomous from the central Ottoman state for centuries.[82][pageneeded] The 16th and 17th centuries are regarded as a "dark age" in Greek history,[83] with the prospect of overthrowing Ottoman rule appearing remote.[citation needed] However, prior to the Greek Revolution of 1821, there had been wars which saw Greeks fight against the Ottomans, such as the Greek participation in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571,[83] the Morean War of 1684–1699, and the Russian-instigated Orlov Revolt in 1770.[citation needed] These uprisings were put down by the Ottomans with great bloodshed.[84][85] Many Greeks were conscripted as Ottoman subjects to serve in the Ottoman army and especially the navy, while the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, responsible for the Orthodox, remained in general loyal to the Empire.
In the 18th century, Greek merchants came to dominate trade within the Ottoman Empire, established communities throughout the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Europe,[86] and used their wealth to fund educational activities that brought younger generations into contact with Western ideas.[87] In the 18th century, an increase in learning during the Modern Greek Enlightenment led to the emergence among Westernized Greek-speaking elites of the notion of a Greek nation. A secret organization formed in this milieu was the Filiki Eteria, in 1814.[88] They engaged traditional strata of the Greek Orthodox world in their liberal nationalist cause.[89]
Despite the absolutism of Otto's reign, it proved instrumental in developing institutions which are still the bedrock of Greek administration and education.[100] Reforms were taken in education, maritime and postal communications, effective civil administration and the legal code.[101]Historical revisionism took the form of de-Byzantinification and de-Ottomanisation, in favour of promoting Ancient Greek heritage.[102] The capital was moved from Nafplio, where it had been since 1829, to Athens, then a smaller town.[103] The Church of Greece was established as Greece's national church and 25 March, the day of Annunciation, was chosen as the anniversary of the Greek War of Independence to reinforce the link between Greek identity and Orthodoxy.[102]
Otto was deposed in 1862 because of the Bavarian-dominated government, heavy taxation, and a failed attempt to annex Crete from the Ottomans.[98][100] He was replaced by Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain. A new Constitution in 1864 changed Greece's form of government from constitutional monarchy to the more democratic crowned republic.[104][105][106] In 1875 parliamentary majority as a requirement for government was introduced,[107] curbing the power of the monarchy to appoint minority governments. Corruption, coupled with increased spending to fund infrastructure like the Corinth Canal,[108] overtaxed the weak economy and forced the declaration of public insolvency in 1893.
The territorial evolution of the Kingdom of Greece from 1832 to 1947
Amidst dissatisfaction with the seeming inertia and unattainability of national aspirations, military officers organised a coup in 1909 and called on Cretan politician Eleftherios Venizelos, who conveyed a vision of national regeneration. After winning twoelections and becoming prime minister in 1910,[112] Venizelos initiated fiscal, social, and constitutional reforms, reorganised the military, made Greece a member of the Balkan League, and led it through the Balkan Wars. By 1913, Greece's territory and population had doubled, annexing Crete, Epirus, and Macedonia. The struggle between King Constantine I and charismatic Venizelos over foreign policy on the eve of First World War dominated politics and divided the country into two opposing groups. During parts of the war, Greece had two governments: A royalist pro-German one in Athens and a Venizelist pro-Entente one in Thessaloniki. They united in 1917, when Greece entered the war on the side of the Entente.
After the war, Greece attempted expansion into Asia Minor, a region with a large native Greek population, but was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), contributing to a flight of Asia Minor Greeks.[113][114] These events overlapped, happening during the Greek genocide (1914–22),[115][116][117][118][119] when Ottoman and Turkish officials contributed to the death of several hundred thousand Asia Minor Greeks, along with similar numbers of Assyrians and a larger number of Armenians. The resultant Greek exodus from Asia Minor was made permanent, and expanded, in an official population exchange between Greece and Turkey, as part of the Treaty of Lausanne which ended the war.[120] The following era was marked by instability, as over 1.5million propertyless Greek refugees from Turkey (some of whom could not speak Greek) had to be integrated into Greek society. The refugees made a dramatic population boost, as they were more than a quarter of Greece's prior population.[121]
An agreement between Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas and George II followed in 1936, which installed Metaxas as head of a dictatorship known as the 4th of August Regime, inaugurating authoritarian rule that would last until 1974.[123] Greece remained on good terms with Britain and was not allied with the Axis.
People in Athens celebrate the liberation from the Axis powers, October 1944. Postwar Greece would soon experience a civil war and political polarization.
In October 1940, Fascist Italy demanded the surrender of Greece, but it refused, and, in the Greco-Italian War, Greece repelled Italian forces into Albania.[124] French general Charles de Gaulle praised the fierceness of the Greek resistance, but the country fell to urgently dispatched German forces during the Battle of Greece. The Nazis proceeded to administer Athens and Thessaloniki, while other regions were given to Fascist Italy and Bulgaria. Over 100,000 civilians died of starvation during the winter of 1941–42, tens of thousands more died because of reprisals by Nazis and collaborators, the economy was ruined, and most Greek Jews (tens of thousands) were deported and murdered in Nazi concentration camps.[125][126] The Greek Resistance, one of the most effective resistance movements, fought against the Nazis. The German occupiers committed atrocities, mass executions, and wholesale slaughter of civilians and destruction of towns and villages in reprisals. Hundreds of villages were systematically torched and almost 1 million Greeks left homeless.[126] The Germans executed around 21,000 Greeks, the Bulgarians 40,000, and the Italians 9,000.[127]
Following liberation, Greece annexed the Dodecanese Islands from Italy and regained Western Thrace from Bulgaria. The country descended into a civil war between communist forces and the anti-communist Greek government, which lasted until 1949, with the latter's victory. The conflict, one of the earliest struggles of the Cold War,[128] resulted in further economic devastation, population displacement and political polarisation for the next thirty years.[129]
Although post-war was characterised by social strife and marginalisation of the left, Greece experienced rapid economic growth and recovery, propelled in part by the U.S. Marshall Plan.[130] In 1952, Greece joined NATO, reinforcing its membership in the Western Bloc of the Cold War.[131]
King Constantine II's dismissal of George Papandreou's centrist government in 1965 prompted political turbulence, which culminated in a coup in 1967 by the Greek junta, led by Georgios Papadopoulos. Civil rights were suspended, political repression intensified, and human rights abuses, including torture, were rampant. Economic growth remained rapid before plateauing in 1972. The brutal suppression of the Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 set in motion the fall of the regime, resulting in a counter-coup that established brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis as the new junta strongman. On 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded the island of Cyprus in response to a Greek-backed Cypriot coup, triggering a crisis in Greece that led to the regime's collapse and restoration of democracy through Metapolitefsi.[132]
The former prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited back from self-exile and the first multiparty elections since 1964 were held on the first anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising. A democratic and republican constitution was promulgated in 1975 following a referendum which chose not to restore the monarchy.
Meanwhile, Andreas Papandreou, George Papandreou's son, founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in response to Karamanlis's conservative New Democracy party, with the two political formations dominating government over the next four decades. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980.[c][133] Greece became the tenth member of the European Communities in 1981, ushering in sustained growth. Investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenue from tourism, shipping, and a fast-growing service sector raised the standard of living. In 1981, the election of Andreas Papandreou resulted in reforms over the 1980s. He recognised civil marriage, the dowry was abolished, while education and foreign policy doctrines changed. However, Papandreou's tenure has been associated with corruption, high inflation, stagnation and budget deficits that later caused problems.[134]
The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.[135] In 2010, Greece suffered from the Great Recession and related European sovereign debt crisis. Due to the adoption of the euro, Greece could no longer devalue its currency to regain competitiveness.[136] In the 2012 elections, there was major political change, with new parties emerging from the collapse of the two main parties, PASOK and New Democracy.[137] In 2015, Alexis Tsipras was elected as prime minister, the first outside the two main parties.[138] The Greek government-debt crisis, and subsequent austerity policies, resulted in social strife. The crisis ended around 2018, with the end of the bailout mechanisms and return of growth.[139] Simultaneously, Tsipras, and the leader of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, signed the Prespa Agreement, solving the naming dispute that had strained the relations and eased the latter's way to become a member of the EU and NATO.[140]
In 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis became Greece's new prime minister, after his centre-right New Democracy won the election.[141] In 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, as the first female President of Greece.[142] In February 2024, Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to recognise same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.[143]
Located in Southern[144] and Southeast Europe,[145] Greece consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into the sea at the southern end of the Balkans, ending at the Peloponnese peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth) and strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa.[d] Its highly indented coastline and numerous islands give Greece the 11th longest national coastline in the world, with 13,676km (8,498mi);[151] its land boundary is 1,160km (721mi). The country lies approximately between latitudes 34° and 42° N, and longitudes 19° and 30° E, with the extreme points being:[152] the village Ormenio in the North and the islands Gavdos (South), Strongyli near Kastellorizo/Megisti (East), and Othonoi (West). The island Gavdos is considered the southernmost island of Europe.[153][154]
Approximately 80% of Greece consists of mountains or hills, making the country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Mount Olympus, the mythical abode of the Greek Gods, culminates at Mytikas peak 2,918 metres (9,573ft),[155] the highest in the country. Western Greece contains a number of lakes and wetlands and is dominated by the Pindus mountain range. The Pindus, a continuation of the Dinaric Alps, reaches a maximum elevation of 2,637m (8,652ft) at Mt. Smolikas (the second-highest in Greece) and historically has been a significant barrier to east–west travel. Its extensions cross through the Peloponnese, ending in the island of Crete. The Vikos Gorge, part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park in the Pindus range, is listed by the Guinness book of World Records as the deepest gorge in the world.[156] Another notable formation are the Meteora rock pillars, atop which have been built medieval Greek Orthodox monasteries.[157]
Northeastern Greece features another high-altitude mountain range, the Rhodope range, spreading across the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace; this area is covered with vast, thick, ancient forests, including the famous Dadia Forest in the Evros regional unit, in the far northeast of the country.
Extensive plains are primarily located in the regions of Thessaly, Central Macedonia, and Thrace. They constitute key economic regions as they are among the few arable places in the country.
The Greek mainland and several small islands seen from Nydri, Lefkada
Greece features a vast number of islands—between 1,200 and 6,000, depending on the definition,[158] 227 of which are inhabited. Crete is the largest and most populous island; Euboea, separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, is the second largest, followed by Lesbos and Rhodes.
The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into the following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic gulf near Athens; the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea; the North Aegean islands, a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey; the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey; the Sporades, a small tight group off the coast of northeast Euboea; and the Ionian Islands, located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea.
The climate of Greece is primarily Mediterranean (Köppen: Csa),[159] featuring mild to cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers.[160] This climate occurs at most of the coastal locations, including Athens, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Crete, the Peloponnese, the Ionian Islands, and parts of mainland Greece. The Pindus mountain range strongly affects the climate of the country, as areas to the west of the range are considerably wetter on average (due to greater exposure to south-westerly systems bringing in moisture) than the areas lying to the east of the range (due to a rain shadow effect),[161] resulting to some coastal areas in the south falling to the hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh) category, such as parts of the Athens Riviera and some of the Cyclades, as well as some areas in the north featuring a cold equivalent climate (Köppen: BSk), such as the cities of Thessaloniki and Larissa.
The mountainous areas and the higher elevations of northwestern Greece (parts of Epirus, Central Greece, Thessaly, Western Macedonia) as well as in the mountainous central parts of Peloponnese– including parts of the regional units of Achaea, Arcadia, and Laconia– feature an Alpine climate (Köppen: D, E) with heavy snowfalls during the winter. Most of the inland parts of northern Greece, in Central Macedonia, the lower elevations of Western Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace feature a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with cold, damp winters and hot, moderately dry summers with occasional thunderstorms. Snowfalls occur every year in the mountains and northern areas, and brief periods of snowy weather are possible even in low-lying southern areas, such as Athens.[162]
Legislative powers are exercised by a 300-member unicameral Parliament.[166] According to the Constitution, executive power is exercised by the Government and the President of the Republic, who is the nominal head of state, is elected by the Parliament for a five-year term and promulgates statutes passed by Parliament.[166] However, the Constitutional amendment of 1986 rendered the President's office largely ceremonial; the most powerful officeholder is thus the prime minister, Greece's head of government.[169] The position is filled by the current leader of the political party that can obtain a vote of confidence by the Parliament. The president of the republic formally appoints the prime minister and, on their recommendation, appoints and dismisses the other members of the Cabinet.[166]
According to an OECD report, Greeks display a moderate level of civic participation compared to most other developed countries; voter turnout was 58% during recent elections, lower than the OECD average of 69%.[171]
Representation through: embassy embassy in another country general consulate no representation Greece
Foreign policy is conducted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its head, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, currently Nikos Dendias. The aims of the Ministry are to represent Greece before other states and international organizations; safeguard the interests of the state and its citizens abroad; promote Greek culture; foster closer relations with the Greek diaspora; and encourage international cooperation.[181] Greece is described as having a special relationship with Cyprus, Italy, France, Armenia, Australia, Israel, the US and the UK.[182][183][184][185][186][187]
Due to its geographical proximity to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Greece is of geostrategic importance, which it has leveraged to develop a regional policy to promote peace and stability in the Balkans, Mediterranean and the Middle East.[190] This has accorded the country middle power status.[191]
Moreover, Greece maintains the Hellenic Coast Guard for law enforcement at sea, search and rescue, and port operations. Though it can support the navy during wartime, it resides under the authority of the Ministry of Shipping.
Greek military personnel total 364,050, of whom 142,700 are active and 221,350 are reserve. Greece ranks 28th in the world in the number of citizens serving in the armed forces. Mandatory military service is generally one year for 19 to 45 year olds.[144] Additionally, Greek males between the ages of 18 and 60 who live in strategically sensitive areas may be required to serve part-time in the National Guard.
As a member of NATO, the Greek military participates in exercises and deployments under the auspices of the alliance, although its involvement in NATO missions is minimal.[193] Greece spends over US$7billion annually on its military, or 2.3% of GDP, the 24th-highest in the world in absolute terms, the seventh-highest on a per capita basis, and the second-highest in NATO after the United States. Moreover, Greece is one of only five NATO countries to meet or surpass the minimum defence spending target of 2% of GDP.
The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises three Supreme Courts: the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece, the Council of State and the Court of Audit. The judicial system is also composed of civil courts, which judge civil and penal cases and administrative courts, which judge disputes between citizens and the Greek administrative authorities.
Greece has the largest economy in the Balkans,[215][216][217] and an important regional investor.[215][216] It has been the number-two foreign investor of capital in Albania and most important trading partner and largest foreign investor of North Macedonia.[218][219] The Greek telecommunications company OTE has become a strong investor in other Balkan countries.[220]
Greece's debt percentage since 1977, compared to the average of the eurozone
Leading up to the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Greece had high structural deficits.[222] In 2009, it was revealed deficits had been considerably higher than official figures.[223] Banks had supplied cash in exchange for future payments by various governments; in turn the liabilities of the countries were "kept off the books", hiding borrowing levels.[224][225][226] This enabled Greece to spend beyond its means, while technically meeting the deficit target in the Maastricht Treaty.[227]
The crisis was triggered by the Great Recession, which caused Greece's GDP to contract 2.5% in 2009.[228] Simultaneously, deficits were revealed to have been allowed to reach 10% and 15% in 2008 and 2009. This caused Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio to increase to 127%.[229] As a eurozone member, Greece had no autonomous monetary policy flexibility. Greece's borrowing rates increased, causing a crisis of confidence in Greece's ability to pay back loans in early 2010.[230][231]
To avert a sovereign default, Greece, other eurozone members, and the International Monetary Fund agreed on a €110billion rescue package in May 2010.[232][233] Greece was required to adopt harsh austerity measures to bring its deficit down.[234] A second bail-out of €130billion was agreed in 2012, subject to financial reforms and further austerity.[235] A debt haircut was agreed.[235] Greece achieved a budget surplus in 2013 and returned to growth in 2014.[236][237]
Partly due to the imposed austerity,[223] Greece experienced a 25% drop in GDP between 2009 and 2015.[238] The debt ratio, jumped from 127% to about 170%, due to the shrinking economy.[239] In 2013, the IMF admitted it had underestimated the effects of tax hikes and budget cuts and issued an informal apology.[240][241][242] The policies have been blamed for worsening the crisis,[243][244] while others stressed the creditors' share in responsibility.[245][246][239] The bailouts ended in 2018.[139]
In 2024, the Greek economy is forecast to grow nearly 3%, meaning it approaches its pre-crisis size of 2009 and far outpacing the eurozone average economic growth of 0.8%.[247]
Greece is the European Union's largest producer of cotton[248] and pistachios (7,200 tons in 2021),[249][250] second in olives (3m tons in 2021), third in figs (8,400 tons in 2022) and watermelons (440,000 tons in 2022) and fourth in almonds (40,000 tons in 2022).[250] Agriculture contributes 3.8% of GDP and employs 12% of the labor force.
Greece is a major beneficiary of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. As a result of entry to the European Community, much of its agricultural infrastructure has been upgraded and output increased.
Electricity production is dominated by the state-owned Public Power Corporation (known by its acronym ΔΕΗ, transliterated as DEI), which supplied 75% of electricity in 2021.[251] Some of DEI's output is generated using lignite.[252]Renewable energy in Greece accounted for 46% of Greece's electricity in 2022,[253] a rise from the 11% in 2011.[254]Wind power accounts for 22%, solar power 14%, hydropower 9%, and natural gas 38%.[255] Independent companies' energy production has increased. Greece does not have any nuclear power plants.
The shipping industry has been a key element of economic activity since ancient times.[256] Shipping remains one of the country's most important industries, accounting for 5% of GDP and employing about 160,000 people (4% of the workforce).[257]
The Greek Merchant Navy is the largest in the world at 18% of global capacity.[213] The merchant fleet ranks first in tonnage (384million dwt), 2nd in number of ships (at 4,870),[213] first in tankers and dry bulk carriers, fourth in the number of containers, and fifth in other ships.[258] The number of ships flying a Greek flag (includes non-Greek fleets) is 1,517, or 5% of the world's tonnage (ranked fifth globally). Today's fleet is smaller than an all-time high of 5,000 ships in the late 1970s.[256] During the 1960s, the Greek fleet nearly doubled, through the investment undertaken by the shipping magnates, Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos.[259] The modern Greek maritime industry was formed after World War II when Greek shipping businessmen were able to amass surplus ships sold by the U.S. government through the Ship Sales Act of the 1940s.[259]
Greece has a significant shipbuilding and ship maintenance industry. The six shipyards around the port of Piraeus are among the largest in Europe.[260] Greece has become a leader in the construction and maintenance of luxury yachts.[261]
Santorini, a popular tourist destination, is ranked as the world's top island in many travel magazines and sites.
Tourism has been a key element of the economy and one of the most important sectors, contributing 21% of gross domestic product in 2018.[264] Greece was the 9th most visited country in the world in 2022, hosting 28 million visitors,[265] an increase from 18million tourists in 2007.[266]
Most visitors come from the European continent,[267] while the most from a single nationality are from the United Kingdom, followed by Germany. The most visited region of Greece is Central Macedonia.[268]
In 2011, Santorini was voted as "The World's Best Island" in Travel + Leisure.[269] Its neighboring island Mykonos, came in fifth in the European category.[269] There are 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Greece,[270] and Greece is ranked 17th in the world in total sites. Thirteen further sites are on the tentative list, awaiting nomination.[270]
The Rio–Antirrio bridge connects mainland Greece to the PeloponneseMap of Greece's motorway network as of 2022. Black=Completed routes, Blue=Under Construction, Grey=Planned routes
Since the 1980s, the road and rail network has been modernised. With a total length of about 2,320km (1,440mi) as of 2020, Greece's motorway network is the most extensive in Southeastern Europe and one of the most advanced in Europe,[271] including the east–west A2 (Egnatia Odos) in northern Greece, the north–south A1 (Athens–Thessaloniki–Evzonoi, AThE) along the mainland's eastern coastline and the A5 (Ionia Odos) along the western coastline, leading to the Rio–Antirrio bridge, the longest suspension cable bridge in Europe (2,250m (7,382ft) long), connecting Rio in the Peloponnese with Antirrio in western Greece. The Athens Metropolitan Area is served by the privately run Attiki Odos (A6/A62/A621/A64/A65) motorway network and the expanded Athens Metro system, while the Thessaloniki Metro is under construction.
Railway connections play a lesser role than in many other European countries, but have been expanded, with new suburban/commuter rail connections, serviced by Proastiakos around Athens, Thessaloniki, and Patras. A modern intercity rail connection between Athens and Thessaloniki has been established, while an upgrade to double lines in many parts of the 2,500km (1,600mi) network is underway; along with a new double track, standard gauge railway between Athens and Patras (replacing the old metre-gaugePiraeus–Patras railway) which is under construction and opening in stages.[272] International railway lines connect Greek cities with the rest of Europe, the Balkans and Turkey.
All major islands are served by ferries to the mainland. Piraeus, the port of Athens, was the third busiest passenger port in Europe as of 2021. 37 million passengers traveled by boat in Greece in 2019, the second-highest in Europe.[273] Greece has 39 active airports, 15 of which serve international destinations.[274]Athens International Airport served over 28 million passengers in 2023.[275] Most Greek islands and main cities are connected by air, by the two major airlines, Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines.
Modern digital information and communication networks reach all areas. There are over 35,000km (21,748mi) of fiber optics and an extensive open-wire network. Broadband internet availability is widespread in Greece: there were a total of 2,252,653 broadband connections as of early 2011[update], translating to 20% broadband penetration.[276] In 2017 around 82% of the population used the internet regularly.[277]
Internet cafés that provide net access, office applications and multiplayer gaming are a common sight, while mobile internet on 3G and 4G- LTE cellphone networks and Wi-Fi connections can be found almost everywhere.[278] As of July 2022, 5G service is accessible in most of major cities. The UN ranks Greece among the top 30 countries with a highly developed information and communications infrastructure.[279]
The General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness is responsible for designing, implementing and supervising national research and technological policy. In 2017, spending on research and development (R&D) reached an all-time high of €2billion, equal to 1.1% of GDP.[280]
Greece has one of the highest rates of tertiary enrollment in the world,[284] while Greeks are well represented in academia worldwide; leading Western universities employ a disproportionately high number of Greek faculty.[285] Greek scientific publications have grown significantly in terms of research impact, surpassing both the EU and global average from 2012 to 2016.[286]
Eurostat estimated the population at 10.6million in 2022.[287]
Greece population density, 2000
Greek society has changed over recent decades, coinciding with the wider European trend of declining fertility and aging. The birth rate in 2016 was 8.5 per 1,000, significantly lower than the rate of 14.5 in 1981. The mortality rate increased from 8.9 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 to 11.2 in 2016.[144]
The fertility rate of 1.4 children per woman is well below the replacement rate of 2.1, and one of the lowest in the world, considerably below the high of 5.5 children in 1900.[288] Greece's median age is 44.2 years, the seventh-highest in the world.[144] In 2001, 17% of the population were 65 years old and older, 68% between the ages of 15 and 64 years old, and 15% were 14 years old and younger.[289] By 2016, the proportion of the population age 65 and older had risen to 21%, while the proportion of those aged 14 and younger declined to slightly below 14%. Marriage rates began declining from almost 71 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 to 51 in 2004.[289] Divorce rates have seen an increase from 191 per 1,000 marriages in 1991 to 240 per 1,000 marriages in 2004.[289]
As a result of these trends, the average household is smaller and older than in previous generations. The economic crisis exacerbated this development, with 350,000–450,000 Greeks, predominantly young adults, emigrating since 2010.[290]
Almost two-thirds of the Greek people live in urban areas. Greece's largest and most influential metropolitan centres are Athens (population 3,744,059 according to 2021 census) and Thessaloniki (population 1,092,919 in 2021) that latter commonly referred to as the symprotévousa (συμπρωτεύουσα, lit.'co-capital').[291] Other prominent cities with populations above 100,000 inhabitants include Patras, Heraklion, Larissa, Volos, Rhodes, Ioannina, Agrinio, Chania, and Chalcis.[292]
The Greek Constitution recognises Eastern Orthodoxy as the 'prevailing' faith of the country, while guaranteeing freedom of religious belief for all.[166][298] The government does not keep statistics on religious groups and censuses do not ask for religious affiliation. According to the U.S. State Department, an estimated 97% of Greek citizens identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox, belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church,[299] which uses the Byzantine rite and the Greek language, the original language of the New Testament. The administration of the Greek territory is shared between the Church of Greece and the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
In a 2010 Eurostat–Eurobarometer poll, 79% of Greek citizens responded that they "believe there is a God".[300] According to other sources, 16% of Greeks describe themselves as "very religious", which is the highest among all European countries. The survey found just 3.5% never attend a church, compared to 5% in Poland and 59% in the Czech Republic.[301] Estimates of the recognised Muslim minority of Greece, mostly located in Thrace, range around 100,000,[299][302] about 1% of the population. Some of the Albanian immigrants to Greece come from a nominally Muslim background, though most are secular.[303] Following the 1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Greece and Turkey agreed to a population transfer based on cultural and religious identity. About 500,000 Muslims from Greece, predominantly those defined as Turks, but also Greek Muslims, were exchanged with approximately 1.5million Greeks from Turkey. However, many refugees who settled in former Ottoman Muslim villages in Central Macedonia, and were defined as Christian Orthodox Caucasus Greeks, arrived from the former Russian Transcaucasus province of Kars Oblast, after it had been retroceded to Turkey prior to the population exchange.[304]
Since 2017, Hellenic Polytheism, or Hellenism has been legally recognised as an actively practised religion,[311] with estimates of 2,000 active practitioners and an additional 100,000 "sympathisers".[312][313][314] Hellenism refers to religious movements that continue, revive, or reconstruct ancient Greek religious practices.
Regions with a traditional presence of languages other than Greek. Today, Greek is the dominant language throughout the country.
Greece is relatively homogeneous in linguistic terms, with a large majority of the native population using Greek as their first or only language. Among the Greek-speaking population, speakers of the distinctive Pontic dialect came to Greece from Asia Minor after the Greek genocide and constitute a sizable group. The Cappadocian dialect came due to the genocide as well, but is endangered and barely spoken. Indigenous Greek dialects include the archaic Greek spoken by the Sarakatsani, traditionally transhumant mountain shepherds of Greek Macedonia and other parts of Northern Greece. The Tsakonian language, a distinct Greek language derived from Doric Greek instead of Koine Greek, is still spoken in villages in the southeastern Peloponnese.
The Muslim minority in Thrace, approximately 0.95% of the population, consists of speakers of Turkish, Bulgarian (Pomaks)[320] and Romani. Romani is spoken by Christian Roma in other parts of the country. The Council of Europe has estimated that there are approximately 265,000 Romani people are living in Greece (2.47% of the population).[321] Other minority languages have traditionally been spoken by regional population groups in various areas. Their use decreased radically in the course of the 20th century through assimilation with the Greek-speaking majority. They are only maintained by the older generations and almost extinct. The same is true for the Arvanites, an Albanian-speaking group mostly located in rural areas around Athens, and for the Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians whose language is closely related to Romanian and who used to live scattered across areas of mountainous central Greece. Members of these groups usually identify ethnically as Greek[322] and are bilingual in Greek.
Near the northern Greek borders there are some Slavic–speaking groups, most of whom identify ethnically as Greeks. It is estimated that after the population exchanges of 1923, Macedonia had 200,000 to 400,000 Slavic speakers.[323] The Jewish community traditionally spoke Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), today maintained by a few thousand speakers. Other notable minority languages include Armenian, Georgian, and the Greco-Turkic dialect spoken by the Urums, a community of Caucasus Greeks from the Tsalka region of central Georgia and ethnic Greeks from southeastern Ukraine who arrived in Northern Greece as economic migrants in the 1990s.
A study from the Mediterranean Migration Observatory maintains that the 2001 census recorded 762,191 persons residing in Greece without Greek citizenship, constituting around 7% of the population. Of the non-citizen residents, 48,560 were EU or European Free Trade Association nationals and 17,426 were Cypriots with privileged status. The majority come from Eastern European countries: Albania (56%), Bulgaria (5%), and Romania (3%), while migrants from the former Soviet Union (Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, etc.) comprise 10% of the total.[325] Some immigrants from Albania are from the Greek minority in Albania centred on the region of Northern Epirus. The total Albanian national population which includes temporary migrants and undocumented persons is around 600,000.[326]
The 2011 census recorded 9,903,268 Greek citizens (92%), 480,824 Albanian citizens (4.4%), 75,915 Bulgarian citizens (0.7%), 46,523 Romanian citizenship (0.4%), 34,177 Pakistani citizens (0.3%), 27,400 Georgian citizens (0.25%) and 247,090 people had other or unidentified citizenship (2%).[327] 189,000 people of the total population of Albanian citizens were reported in 2008 as ethnic Greeks from Southern Albania, in the historical region of Northern Epirus.[324]
The greatest cluster of non-EU immigrant population are in the larger urban centers, especially Athens, with 132,000 immigrants comprising 17% of the local population, and then Thessaloniki, with 27,000 immigrants reaching 7% of the local population. There is a considerable number of co-ethnics that came from the Greek communities of Albania and former Soviet Union.[324]
Greece, together with Italy and Spain, is a major entry point for illegal immigrants trying to enter the EU. Illegal immigrants entering mostly do so from the border with Turkey at the Evros River and the islands of the eastern Aegean across from Turkey. In 2012, most illegal immigrants came from Afghanistan, followed by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.[328] In 2015, arrivals of refugees by sea had increased dramatically due to the Syrian civil war. There were 856,723 arrivals by sea in Greece, an almost fivefold increase to the same period of 2014, of which the Syrians represented almost 45%.[329] Most refugees and migrants use Greece as a transit country to Northern Europe.[330][331]
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: The description of the secondary, post-secondary and tertiary education does not reflect the current situation. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2024)
Greeks have a long tradition of valuing and investing in paideia (education), which was upheld as one of the highest societal values in the Greek and Hellenistic world. The first European institution described as a university was founded in fifth-century Constantinople and continued operating in various incarnations until the city's fall to the Ottomans in 1453.[332] The University of Constantinople was Christian Europe's first secular institution of higher learning,[333] and by some measures was the world's first university.[332]
Compulsory education in Greece comprises primary schools (Δημοτικό Σχολείο, Dimotikó Scholeio) and gymnasium (Γυμνάσιο). Nursery schools (Παιδικός σταθμός, Paidikós Stathmós) are popular but not compulsory. Kindergartens (Νηπιαγωγείο, Nipiagogeío) are compulsory for any child above four. Children start primary school aged six and remain there for six years. Attendance at gymnasia starts aged 12 and lasts for three years.
Greece's post-compulsory secondary education consists of two school types: unified upper secondary schools (Γενικό Λύκειο, Genikό Lykeiό) and technical–vocational educational schools (Τεχνικά και Επαγγελματικά Εκπαιδευτήρια, "TEE"). Post-compulsory secondary education also includes vocational training institutes (Ινστιτούτα Επαγγελματικής Κατάρτισης, "IEK") which provide a formal but unclassified level of education. As they can accept both Gymnasio (lower secondary school) and Lykeio (upper secondary school) graduates, these institutes are not classified as offering a particular level of education.
According to the Framework Law (3549/2007), Public higher education "Highest Educational Institutions" (Ανώτατα Εκπαιδευτικά Ιδρύματα, Anótata Ekpaideytiká Idrýmata, "ΑΕΙ") consists of two parallel sectors:the university sector (Universities, Polytechnics, Fine Arts Schools, the Open University) and the Technological sector (Technological Education Institutions (TEI) and the School of Pedagogic and Technological Education). There are State Non-University Tertiary Institutes offering vocationally oriented courses of shorter duration (2–3 years) which operate under the authority of other Ministries. Students are admitted to these Institutes according to their performance at national level examinations taking place after completion of the third grade of Lykeio. Students over 22 may be admitted to the Hellenic Open University through a lottery.
The education system provides special kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools for people with special needs or difficulties in learning. There are specialist gymnasia and high schools offering musical, theological, and physical education.
72% of adults aged 25–64 have completed upper secondary education, which is slightly less than the OECD average of 74%. The average Greek pupil scored 458 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD's 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This is lower than the OECD average of 486. Girls outperformed boys by 15 points, much more than the average OECD gap of 2.[334]
Greece has universal health care. The system is mixed, combining a national health service with social health insurance (SHI). Per a 2000 World Health Organization report, its health system ranked 14th in overall performance of 191 countries surveyed.[335] In a 2013 Save the Children report, Greece was ranked the 19th out of 176 countries for the state of mothers and newborn babies.[336]As of 2014[update], there were 124 public hospitals, of which 106 were general hospitals and 18 specialised hospitals, with a total capacity of about 30,000 beds.[337]
Greece's health care expenditures was 9.6% of GDP in 2007. By 2015, it declined to 8.4%, compared with the EU average of 9.5%. Nevertheless, the country maintains the highest doctor-to-population ratio of any OECD country[338] and the highest doctor-to-patient ratio in the EU.[339]
Life expectancy is among the highest in the world; life expectancy in 2015 was 81.1 years, slightly above the EU average of 80.6.[339] The island of Icaria has the highest percentage of nonagenarians in the world; 33% of islanders are 90 or older.[340] Icaria is subsequently classified as a "Blue Zone", a region where people allegedly live longer than average and have lower rates of cancer, heart disease, or other chronic illnesses.[341]
A 2011, OECD report showed Greece had the largest percentage of adult daily smokers of any of the 34 OECD members.[338] The obesity rate is 18%, above the OECD average of 15%.[338]
In 2008, infant mortality, with a rate of 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, was below the 2007 OECD average of 4.9.[338]
In ancient times, Greece was the birthplace of Western culture.[342][343] Modern democracies owe a debt to Greek beliefs in government by the people, trial by jury, and equality under the law. The ancient Greeks pioneered in many fields that rely on systematic thought, including logic, biology, geometry, government, geography, medicine, history,[344] philosophy,[345]physics, and mathematics.[346] They introduced important literary forms as epic and lyrical poetry, history, tragedy, comedy and drama. In their pursuit of order and proportion, the Greeks created an ideal of beauty that strongly influenced Western art.[347]
Close-up of the Charioteer of Delphi, a celebrated statue from the 5th century BC
Artistic production in Greece began in the prehistoric pre-Greek Cycladic and the Minoan civilizations, both of which were influenced by local traditions and the art of ancient Egypt.[348]
There were interconnected traditions of painting in ancient Greece. Due to technical differences, they underwent differentiated developments. Not all painting techniques are equally well represented in the archaeological record. The most respected form of art, according to Pliny or Pausanias, were individual, mobile paintings on wooden boards, described as panel paintings. Wall painting in Greece goes back at least to the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, with the lavish fresco decoration of sites like Knossos, Tiryns, and Mycenae.
Ancient Greek sculpture was composed almost entirely of workable and durable materials, marble or bronze, bronze becoming the favoured medium for major works by the early 5th century, while chryselephantine sculptures, made largely of gold and ivory and used for temple cult images and luxury works, were much rarer. It has been established that ancient Greek sculptures were painted[349] with a variety of colours, a feature known as polychromy.[350]
Art production continued during the Byzantine era. The most salient feature of this new aesthetic was its "abstract", or anti-naturalistic character. Classical art was marked by attempts to create representations that mimicked reality, Byzantine art favoured a more symbolic approach. Byzantine painting concentrated mainly on icons and hagiographies. The Macedonian art (Byzantine) was the artistic expression of Macedonian Renaissance, a label used to describe the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire (867–1056), which scholars have seen as a time of increased interest in classical scholarship and the assimilation of classical motifs into Christian artwork.
Harbor of Ermoupolis, on the island Syros, first capital of independent Greece.
The architecture of ancient Greece was produced by the ancient Greeks (Hellenes), whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Aegean Islands and their colonies, from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BC. The formal vocabulary of ancient Greek architecture, in particular the division of architectural style into three defined orders: the Doric Order, the Ionic Order, and the Corinthian Order, was to have profound effect on Western architecture.
Byzantine architecture was dominant in the Greek speaking world and significantly influenced Medieval architecture throughout Europe and the Near East, becoming the primary progenitor of the Renaissance and Ottoman architectural traditions that followed the Byzantine Empire's collapse.
After Greek Independence, modern Greek architects combined traditional Greek and Byzantine elements and motives with the western European movements and styles. Patras was the first city of the modern Greek state to develop a city plan applying the orthogonal rule by Stamatis Voulgaris, a Greek engineer of the French army, in 1829.[351]
There is an emerging need to secure the long-term preservation of the archaeological sites and monuments against the growing threats of climate change.[355]
Theatre in its western form was born in Greece.[356]Tragedy (late 6th century BC), comedy (486 BC), and the satyr play were the three dramatic genres that emerged in the city-state of Classical Athens and were institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus. Of the hundreds of tragedies written and performed during the classical age, only a limited number of plays by three authors have survived: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The surviving plays by Aristophanes are a treasure trove of comic presentation.
During the Byzantine period, theatrical art declined, the only form that survived was folk theatre (Mimos and Pantomimos), despite the hostility of the state.[357] During the Ottoman period, the main theatrical folk art was the Karagiozis. The renaissance which led to the modern Greek theatre, took place in the Venetian Crete. Significal dramatists of the era include Vitsentzos Kornaros and Georgios Chortatzis.
Modern Greek theatre was born after independence, in the early 19th century, and initially was influenced by Heptanesean theatre and melodrama, such as the Italian opera. The Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù was the first theatre and opera house of modern Greece and the place where the first Greek opera, Spyridon Xyndas' The Parliamentary Candidate was performed. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the Athenian theatre scene was dominated by revues, musical comedies, operettas and nocturnes and notable playwrights included Spyridon Samaras, Dionysios Lavrangas, Theophrastos Sakellaridis.
Greek literature can be divided into three main categories: Ancient, Byzantine and modern Greek.[359] Athens is considered the birthplace of Western literature.[360] At the beginning of Greek literature stand the monumental works of Homer: the Iliad and the Odyssey, composed around 800BC or after. In the classical period many of the genres of western literature became more prominent. Lyrical poetry, odes, pastorals, elegies, epigrams; dramatic presentations of comedy and tragedy; historiography, rhetorical treatises, philosophical dialectics, and philosophical treatises all arose in this period. The two major lyrical poets were Sappho and Pindar. Herodotus and Thucydides are two of the most influential historians in this period.
Modern Greek literature refers to literature written in common Modern Greek, emerging from late Byzantine times in the 11th century. The Cretan Renaissance poem Erotokritos is considered the masterpiece of this period. It is a verse romance written around 1600 by Vitsentzos Kornaros (1553–1613). Later, during the period of Greek enlightenment (Diafotismos), writers such as Adamantios Korais and Rigas Feraios prepared with their works the Greek Revolution.
Greek vocal music extends back into ancient times where mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara. Music played an important role in education. Boys were taught music from the age of six. Later influences from the Roman Empire, Middle East, and the Byzantine Empire affected Greek music.
While the new technique of polyphony was developing in the West, the Eastern Orthodox Church resisted change. Therefore, Byzantine music remained monophonic and without any form of instrumental accompaniment. As a result, and despite certain attempts by certain Greek chanters, Byzantine music was deprived of elements which, in the West, encouraged an unimpeded development of art. Byzantium presented the monophonic Byzantine chant, a melodic music, with rhythmical variety and expressive power.[365]
Along with Byzantine chant and music, the Greeks cultivated the Greek folk song (Demotiko) which is divided into two cycles, the akritic and klephtic. The akritic was created between the 9th and 10th centuries and expressed the life and struggles of the akrites (frontier guards) of the Byzantine empire, the most well known associated with Digenes Akritas. The klephtic cycle came into being between the late Byzantine period and start of the Greek War of Independence. The klephtic cycle, together with historical songs, paraloghes (narrative song or ballad), love songs, mantinades, wedding songs, songs of exile and dirges express the life of the Greeks.
Mikis Theodorakis was one of the most popular and significant Greek composers.
The Heptaneseankantádhes (καντάδες 'serenades'; sing.: καντάδα) became the forerunners of the Greek modern urban popular song, influencing its development. For the first part of the next century, Greek composers continued to borrow elements from the Heptanesean style. The most successful songs during 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian serenades, and the songs performed on stage ('theatrical revue songs') in revues, operettas and nocturnes that dominated Athens' theater scene.[366]
It was through the Ionian islands (which were under western rule) that major advances of the western European classical music were introduced to mainland Greeks. The region is notable for the birth of the first school of modern Greek classical music (Heptanesean or Ionian School), established in 1815. Prominent representatives of this genre include Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas, Spyridon Samaras and Pavlos Carrer. Manolis Kalomiris is considered the founder of the Greek National School of Music.[366]
During the Greek junta of 1967–74, the music of Mikis Theodorakis was banned, the composer jailed, internally exiled, and put in a concentration camp,[370] before finally being allowed to leave Greece due to international reaction. Released during the junta years, Make Love, Stop the Gunfire, by pop group Poll is considered the first anti-war protest song in Greek rock.[371]
Greek cuisine is characteristic of the Mediterranean diet, which is epitomised by dishes of Crete.[374] Greek cuisine incorporates fresh ingredients into local dishes such as moussaka, pastitsio, classic Greek salad, fasolada, spanakopita and souvlaki. Some dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece like skordalia (a thick purée of walnuts, almonds, crushed garlic and olive oil), lentilsoup, retsina (white or rosé wine sealed with pine resin) and pasteli (candy bar with sesame seeds baked with honey). People often enjoy eating from small dishes such as meze with dips such as tzatziki, grilled octopus and small fish, feta cheese, dolmades (rice, currants and pine kernels wrapped in vine leaves), various pulses, olives and cheese. Olive oil is a widespread addition.[375]
Sweet desserts include melomakarona, diples and galaktoboureko, and drinks such as ouzo, metaxa and wines including retsina. Greek cuisine differs from different parts of the mainland and island to island. It uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines: oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill and bay laurel leaves. Other common herbs and spices include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Many recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use "sweet" spices in combination with meat, for example cinnamon and cloves in stews.[376][375]Koutoukia are an underground restaurant common in Greece.[377]
Cinema first appeared in Greece in 1896, but the first cine-theatre was opened in 1907 in Athens. In 1914, the Asty Films Company was founded and the production of long films began. Golfo, a well known traditional love story, is considered the first Greek feature film, although there were minor productions such as newscasts before. In 1931, Orestis Laskos directed Daphnis and Chloe, containing one of the first nude scene in European cinema;[378] it was the first Greek movie played abroad.[379] In 1944, Katina Paxinou was honoured with the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for For Whom the Bell Tolls.[380]
Cacoyannis directed Zorba the Greek with Anthony Quinn which received Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film nominations.[382]Finos Film contributed in this period with movies such as Λατέρνα, Φτώχεια και Φιλότιμο, Madalena, I theia ap' to Chicago, Το ξύλο βγήκε από τον Παράδεισο and many more.
Greece is the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games, first recorded in 776 BC in Olympia, and hosted the modern Olympic Games twice, the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics. During the parade of nations, Greece is always called first, as the founding nation of the ancient precursor of modern Olympics. The nation has competed at every Summer Olympic Games, one of only four countries to have done so. Having won a total of 121 medals (35 gold, 45 silver and 41 bronze), Greece is ranked 33rd by gold medals in the all-time Summer Olympic medal count. Their best ever performance was in the 1896 Summer Olympics, when Greece finished second in the medal table with 10 gold medals.
Procession in honor of the Assumption of Virgin Mary (15 August), a major holiday
According to Greek law, every Sunday of the year is a public holiday. Since the late '70s, Saturday also is a non-school and not working day. In addition, there are four mandatory official public holidays: 25 March (Greek Independence Day), Easter Monday, 15 August (Assumption or Dormition of the Holy Virgin), and 25 December (Christmas). 1 May (Labour Day) and 28 October (Ohi Day) are regulated by law as being optional but it is customary for employees to be given the day off. There are, however, more public holidays celebrated in Greece than announced by the Ministry of Labour each year as either obligatory or optional. The list of these non-fixed national holidays rarely changes and has not changed in recent decades, giving a total of eleven national holidays each year. In addition to the national holidays, there are public holidays that are not celebrated nationwide, but only by a specific professional group or a local community. For example, many municipalities have a "Patron Saint" parallel to "Name Days", or a "Liberation Day".[391] On such days it is customary for schools to take the day off.
↑ On 14 August 1974 Greek forces withdrew from the integrated military structure of NATO in protest at the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus; Greece rejoined NATO in 1980.
↑ For a diachronic analysis of the Greek party system, see Pappas 2003, who distinguishes three distinct types of party system which developed in consecutive order, namely, a predominant-party system (from 1952 to 1963), a system of polarised pluralism (between 1963 and 1981), and a two-party system (since 1981).
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The Greeks or Hellenes are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Anatolia, parts of Italy and Egypt, and to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with many Greek communities established around the world.
Thessaly is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey.
Tourism in Greece has been a key element of the economic activity in the country, and is one of the country's most important sectors. Greece has been a major tourist destination and attraction in Europe since the 1970s for its rich culture and history, which is reflected in large part by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe and the world as well as for its long coastline, many islands, and beaches.
Kavala is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit.
Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of Western civilization.
Pieria is one of the regional units of Greece located in the southern part of the Region of Central Macedonia, within the historical province of Macedonia. Its capital is the town of Katerini. The name Pieria originates from the ancient Pieres tribe. In Pieria, there are many sites of archeological interest, such as Dion, Pydna, Leivithra and Platamonas. Pieria contains Mount Pierus, from which Hermes takes flight in order to visit Calypso, and is the home of Orpheus, the Muses, and contains the Pierian Spring. Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and throne of the ancient Greek gods, is located in the southern part of Pieria. Other ancient cities included Leibethra and Pimpleia.
Lamia is a city in central Greece. The city dates back to antiquity, and is today the capital of the regional unit of Phthiotis and of the Central Greece region. According to the 2021 census, the Municipality of Lamia has a population of 66,657 while Lamia itself has 47,529 inhabitants. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Othrys, near the river Spercheios. It serves as the agricultural center of a fertile rural and livestock area.
The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied throughout the ages and as a result, the history of Greece is similarly elastic in what it includes.
The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia, are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus.
Macedonia is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and second-most-populous geographic region in Greece, with a population of 2.36 million. It is highly mountainous, with major urban centres such as Thessaloniki and Kavala being concentrated on its southern coastline. Together with Thrace, along with Thessaly and Epirus occasionally, it is part of Northern Greece. Greek Macedonia encompasses entirely the southern part of the wider region of Macedonia, making up 51% of the total area of that region. Additionally, it widely constitutes Greece's borders with three countries: Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia to the north, and Bulgaria to the northeast.
The name Macedonia is used in a number of competing or overlapping meanings to describe geographical, political and historical areas, languages and peoples in a part of south-eastern Europe. It has been a major source of political controversy since the early 20th century. The situation is complicated because different ethnic groups use different terminology for the same entity, or the same terminology for different entities, with different political connotations.
Veria, officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located 511 kilometres north-northwest of the capital Athens and 73 km (45 mi) west-southwest of Thessaloniki.
Macedonians, also known as Greek Macedonians or Macedonian Greeks, are a regional and historical population group of ethnic Greeks, inhabiting or originating from the Greek region of Macedonia, in Northern Greece. Today, most Macedonians live in or around the regional capital city of Thessaloniki and other cities and towns in Macedonia (Greece), while many have spread across Greece and in the diaspora.
Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the South Aegean administrative region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is the city of Rhodes, which had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. In 2022, the island had a population of 125,113 people. It is located northeast of Crete and southeast of Athens. Rhodes has several nicknames, such as "Island of the Sun" due to its patron sun god Helios, "The Pearl Island", and "The Island of the Knights", named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who ruled the island from 1310 to 1522.
↑ Enyedi, Zsolt; Madeley, John T.S. (2 August 2004). Church and State in Contemporary Europe. Routledge. p.228. ISBN9781135761417. Both as a state church and as a national church, the Orthodox Church of Greece has a lot in common with Protestant state churches, and even with Catholicism in some countries.
↑ Marie-Antoinette de Lumley, Gaspard Guipert, Henry de Lumley, Natassa Protopapa, Théodoros Pitsios, Apidima 1 and Apidima 2: Two anteneandertal skulls in the Peloponnese, Greece, L'Anthropologie, Volume 124, Issue 1, 2020, 102743, ISSN 0003-5521, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2019.102743Archived 10 June 2024 at the Wayback Machine .
↑ Duchesne 2011, p.297: "The list of books which have celebrated Greece as the "cradle" of the West is endless; two more examples are Charles Freeman's The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World (1999) and Bruce Thornton's Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization (2000)".
↑ Bottici & Challand 2013, p.88: "The reason why even such a sophisticated historian as Pagden can do it is that the idea that Greece is the cradle of civilisation is so much rooted in western minds and school curricula as to be taken for granted.".
↑ Robin Waterfield (19 April 2018). Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens: A History of Ancient Greece. Oxford University Press. p.148. ISBN978-0-19-872788-0. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2018. They formed an alliance, which we call the Hellenic League, and bound themselves not just to repel the Persians, but to help one another whatever particular enemy threatened the freedom of the Greek cities. This was a real acknowledgment of a shared Greekness, and a first attempt to unify the Greek states under such a banner.
↑ John Van Antwerp Fine (1983). The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History. Harvard University Press. p.297. ISBN978-0-674-03314-6. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2018. This Hellenic League – the first union of Greek states since the mythical times of the Trojan War – was the instrument through which the Greeks organised their successful resistance to Persia.
↑ Dunstan, William (2011). Ancient Rome. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p.500. ISBN978-0-7425-6834-1. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
↑ Gerard Friell; Peabody Professor of North American Archaeology and Ethnography Emeritus Stephen Williams; Stephen Williams (8 August 2005). Theodosius: The Empire at Bay. Routledge. p.105. ISBN978-1-135-78262-7. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
↑ Gregory, TE (2010). A History of Byzantium. Wiley-Blackwell. p.169. It is now generally agreed that the people who lived in the Balkans after the Slavic "invasions" were probably for the most part the same as those who had lived there earlier, although the creation of new political groups and arrival of small immigrants caused people to look at themselves as distinct from their neighbors, including the Byzantines.
↑ "Greece during the Byzantine period (c. AD 300 – c. 1453), Population and languages, Emerging Greek identity". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Online Edition.
↑ Moles, Ian (1969). "Nationalism and Byzantine Greece". Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies: 102. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2020. Greek nationalism, in other words, was articulated as the boundaries of Byzantium shrank... the Palaeologian restoration that the two words are brought into definite and cognate relationship with 'nation' (Έθνος).
↑ Jane Perry Clark Carey; Andrew Galbraith Carey (1968). The Web of Modern Greek Politics. Columbia University Press. p.33. ISBN978-0231031707. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2018. By the end of the fourteenth century the Byzantine emperor was often called "Emperor of the Hellenes"
1 2 Brewer, D. The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Overlook Press, 2001, ISBN1-58567-172-X, pp. 235–36.
↑ Great Greek Encyclopedia, p.239, "Διὰ τοῦ Συντάγματος τοῦ 1864 καθιερώθει ὡς πολίτευμα διὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἡ κοινοβουλευτικὴ μοναρχία, ἣ, ὅπως ἄλλως ἐχαρακτηρίσθη, ἡ «βασιλευομένη δημοκρατία» ἣ «δημοκρατικὴ βασιλεία»" [Through the Constitution of 1864, constitutional monarchy, or, as it had been described, "crowned democracy", or "democratic monarchy", was consolidated as the form of government in Greece].
↑ "Constitutional History". hellenicparliament.gr. Hellenic Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2018. The revolt marked the end of constitutional monarchy and the beginning of a crowned democracy with George-Christian-Wilhelm of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Glücksburg dynasty as monarch.
↑ Immig, Nicole (2009). "The "New" Muslim Minorities in Greece: Between Emigration and Political Participation, 1881–1886". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 29 (4): 511–522. doi:10.1080/13602000903411408. S2CID143664377.
↑ Matthew J. Gibney, Randall Hansen. (2005). Immigration and Asylum: from 1900 to the Present, Volume 3. ABC-CLIO. p.377. ISBN978-1-57607-796-2. The total number of Christians who fled to Greece was probably in the region of I.2 million with the main wave occurring in 1922 before the signing of the convention. According to the official records of the Mixed Commission set up to monitor the movements, the Greeks who were transferred after 1923 numbered 189,916 and the number of Muslims expelled to Turkey was 355,635 (Ladas I932, 438–439), but using the same source Eddy 1931, 201 states that the post-1923 exchange involved 192,356 Greeks from Turkey and 354,647 Muslims from Greece.
↑ Sofos, Spyros A.; Özkirimli, Umut (2008). Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey. C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd. pp.116–117. ISBN978-1-85065-899-3.
↑ Schaller, Dominik J; Zimmerer, Jürgen (2008). "Late Ottoman genocides: the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and Young Turkish population and extermination policies– introduction". Journal of Genocide Research. 10 (1): 7–14. doi:10.1080/14623520801950820. S2CID71515470.
↑ Hagen, Fleischer (2006). "Authoritarian Rule in Greece (1936–1974) and Its Heritage". Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes in Europe: Legacies and Lessons from the Twentieth Century. New York/Oxford: Berghahn. p.237.
↑ Baten, Jörg (2016). A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present. Cambridge University Press. p.51, Figure 2.3 "Numeracy in selected Balkan and Caucasus countries", based on data from Crayen and Baten (2010). ISBN978-1-107-50718-0.
↑ Chourchoulis, Dionysios; Kourkouvelas, Lykourgos (26 November 2012). "Greek perceptions of NATO during the Cold War". Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. 12 (4). Informa UK Limited: 497–514. doi:10.1080/14683857.2012.741848. ISSN1468-3857. S2CID153476225.
↑ Chrēstos G. Kollias; Gülay Günlük-Şenesen; Gülden Ayman (2003). Greece and Turkey in the 21st Century: Conflict Or Cooperation: a Political Economy Perspective. Nova Publishers. p.10. ISBN978-1-59033-753-0. Retrieved 12 April 2013. Greece's Strategic Position in the Balkans And Eastern Mediterranean Greece is located at the crossroads of three continents (Europe, Asia and Africa). It is an integral part of the Balkans (where it is the only country that is a member of the ...)
↑ Christina Bratt Paulston; Scott F. Kiesling; Elizabeth S. Rangel (13 February 2012). The Handbook of Intercultural Discourse and Communication. John Wiley & Sons. p.292. ISBN978-1-4051-6272-2. Retrieved 12 April 2013. Introduction Greece and Turkey are situated at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and their inhabitants have had a long history of cultural interaction even though their languages are neither genetically nor typologically ...
↑ Caralampo Focas (2004). Transport Issues And Problems in Southeastern Europe. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p.114. ISBN978-0-7546-1970-3. Retrieved 12 April 2013. Greece itself shows a special geopolitical importance as it is situated at the crossroads of three continents– Europe, Asia and Africa– and can be therefore considered as a natural bridge between Europe and the Middle East
↑ Glytsos, Nicholas P.; Katseli, Louka T. (2005). "10. Greek Migration: The Two Faces of Janus". In Zimmermann, Klaus F. (ed.). European Migration: What Do We Know?. Oxford University Press. p.337. ISBN978-0-19-925735-5. Introduction Migration movements from and to, or via Greece, are an age-old phenomenon. Situated at the crossroads of three continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa), Greece has been, at different historical times, both a labour...
↑ Sladjana Petkovic; Howard Williamson (21 July 2015). Youth policy in Greece: Council of Europe international review. Council of Europe. p.48. ISBN978-92-871-8181-7. As reports from the GSY (2007) show, young people have the opportunity to become acquainted with many diverse civilisations and cultures, through Greece's strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Accordingly, many ...
↑ "The Climate of Greece". Hellenic National Meteorological Service. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
↑ "Climate Atlas of Greece"(PDF). Hellenic National Meteorological Service. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
↑ "Πολιτικό Βαρόμετρο 99"[Political barometer](PDF). Public Issue. Ek logika. 7 February 2012. Archived(PDF) from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
↑ Αρχές του Εξωτερικού[Missions Abroad] (in Greek). Hellenic Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
1 2 Keridis, Dimitris (3 March 2006). "Greece and the Balkans: From Stabilization to Growth" (lecture). Montreal, QC, Canada: Hellenic Studies Unit at Concordia University. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014. Greece has a larger economy than all the Balkan countries combined. Greece is also an important regional investor
↑ Mustafa Aydin; Kostas Ifantis (28 February 2004). Turkish-Greek Relations: The Security Dilemma in the Aegean. Taylor & Francis. pp.266–267. ISBN978-0-203-50191-7. Retrieved 27 May 2013. second largest investor of foreign capital in Albania, and the third largest foreign investor in Bulgaria. Greece is the most important trading partner of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
↑ Wayne C. Thompson (9 August 2012). Western Europe 2012. Stryker Post. p.283. ISBN978-1-61048-898-3. Retrieved 27 May 2013. Greeks are already among the three largest investors in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, and overall Greek investment in the ... Its banking sector represents 16% of banking activities in the region, and Greek banks open a new branch in a Balkan country almost weekly.
↑ Imogen Bell (2002). Central and South-Eastern Europe: 2003. Routledge. p.282. ISBN978-1-85743-136-0. Retrieved 27 May 2013. show that Greece has become the largest investor into Macedonia (FYRM), while Greek companies such as OTE have also developed strong presences in countries of the former Yugoslavia and other Balkan countries.
↑ Louise Story; Landon Thomas Jr.; Nelson D. Schwartz (13 February 2010). "Wall St. Helped to Mask Debt Fueling Europe's Crisis". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2017. In dozens of deals across the Continent, banks provided cash upfront in return for government payments in the future, with those liabilities then left off the books. Greece, for example, traded away the rights to airport fees and lottery proceeds in years to come.
↑ Nicholas Dunbar; Elisa Martinuzzi (5 March 2012). "Goldman Secret Greece Loan Shows Two Sinners as Client Unravels". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2017. Greece actually executed the swap transactions to reduce its debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio because all member states were required by the Maastricht Treaty to show an improvement in their public finances," Laffan said in an e-mail. "The swaps were one of several techniques that many European governments used to meet the terms of the treaty."
↑ Elena Moya (16 February 2010). "Banks that inflated Greek debt should be investigated, EU urges". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2016. "These instruments were not invented by Greece, nor did investment banks discover them just for Greece," said Christophoros Sardelis, who was chief of Greece's debt management agency when the contracts were conducted with Goldman Sachs.Such contracts were also used by other European countries until Eurostat, the EU's statistic agency, stopped accepting them later in the decade. Eurostat has also asked Athens to clarify the contracts.
↑ Beat Balzli (8 February 2010). "Greek Debt Crisis: How Goldman Sachs Helped Greece to Mask its True Debt". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013. This credit disguised as a swap didn't show up in the Greek debt statistics. Eurostat's reporting rules don't comprehensively record transactions involving financial derivatives. "The Maastricht rules can be circumvented quite legally through swaps," says a German derivatives dealer. In previous years, Italy used a similar trick to mask its true debt with the help of a different US bank.
↑ "Country notes: Greece". Restoring public finances(PDF). OECD. 2011. p.119. Archived(PDF) from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
↑ Jill Dubois; Xenia Skoura; Olga Gratsaniti (2003). Greece. Marshall Cavendish. p.42. ISBN978-0-7614-1499-5. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2013. Greek ships make up 70 percent of the European Union's total merchant fleet. Greece has a large shipbuilding and ship refitting industry. Its six shipyards near Piraeus are among the biggest in Europe. As Greek ships primarily transport ...
↑ "ICT Development Index (IDI), 2010 and 2008"(PDF). The United Nations Telecommunication Union|International Telecommunication Union. Archived(PDF) from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2012. p. 15.
↑ "Dagens ESS: Religiøsitet og kirkebesøk"[Today ESS: Religiosity and church visits] (in Norwegian). Forskning. 11 October 2005. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
↑ Leustean, Lucian N. (2014). "Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century: an Overview" in Lucian N. Leustean (editor), Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century, pp. 1–20. New York: Routledge. ISBN978-0-415-68490-3, pp 8–9.
1 2 Economou C, Kaitelidou D, Karanikolos M, Maresso A. Greece: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2017; 19(5):1–192.
↑ "The Island Where People Live Longer". NPR. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2013. Buettner and a team of demographers work with census data to identify blue zones around the world. They found Icaria had the highest percentage of 90-year-olds anywhere on the planet— nearly 1 out of 3 people make it to their 90s.
↑ William J. Broad (2007). The Oracle: Ancient Delphi and the Science Behind Its Lost Secrets. Penguin Publishing Group. p.120. ISBN978-0-14-303859-7. In 1979, a friend of de Boer's invited him to join a team of scientists that was going to Greece to assess the suitability of the ... But the idea of learning more about Greece – the cradle of Western civilization, a fresh example of tectonic forces at ...
↑ Myres, John. Herodotus, Father of History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953. Web. 25 June 2012.
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Further reading
"Minorities in Greece– Historical Issues and New Perspectives". History and Culture of South Eastern Europe. An Annual Journal. München (Slavica) 2003.
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10,413,982 (1 January 2023) [4] (90th)
$436.757 billion [6] (54th)
31.8 [7] 
