View source for Greece

{{redirect|Hellas|other uses of "Hellas" and "Greece"|Hellas (disambiguation)|and|Greece (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2013}}

{{Infobox country
|other_name = Republic of Greece
|conventional_long_name = Hellenic Republic
|native_name = {{lang|el|Ελληνική Δημοκρατία}}
|common_name = Greece
|image_flag = Flag of Greece.svg
|image_coat = Coat of arms of Greece.svg
|image_map = EU-Greece.svg
|map_caption = {{map_caption |location_color =dark green |region =Europe |region_color =dark grey | subregion =the [[European Union]] |subregion_color=green |legend =EU-Greece.svg}}
| national_motto = {{lang|el|Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος}}, "[[Eleftheria i thanatos|Freedom or Death]]" {{small |(traditional)}}
|national_anthem = {{lang|el|Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν}}, "[[Hymn to Liberty]]"
|official_languages = [[Greek language|Greek]]
|official_religion = [[Greek Orthodox]] (Christian)
|ethnic_groups = {{unbulleted list |94% [[Greeks|Greek]] |4% [[Albanians|Albanian]] |2% others}}
|ethnic_groups_year = 2010{{\}}2012<br>&nbsp;{{lower|0.4em|<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.eurfedling.org/Greece.htm |title= Demographics of Greece |publisher= European Union National Languages |accessdate= 18 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gr.html |title=Greece |work=[[The World Factbook]] |publisher= [[Central Intelligence Agency]] | accessdate = 16 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/A1602/Other/A1602_SAM07_TB_DC_00_2001_07_F_GR.pdf |title= Πίνακας 7: Αλλοδαποί κατά υπηκοότητα, φύλο και επίπεδο εκπαίδευσης – Σύνολο Ελλάδας και Νομοί |trans_title= Table 7: Foreigners by citizenship, gender and educational level –Whole of Greece and Prefectures | language= Greek | format = PDF | publisher = [[Hellenic Statistical Authority|Greek National Statistics Agency]] |accessdate=16 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | format = PDF | url = http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/population/documents/Tab/report.pdf | title = Demography Report |work= Eurostat Yearbook | year = 2010 |publisher= [[Eurostat]] | accessdate = 16 April 2011}}</ref>}}
|demonym = [[Greeks|Greek]]
|capital = [[Athens]]
|latd=37 |latm=58 |latNS=N |longd=23 |longm=43 |longEW=E
|largest_city = capital
|government_type = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[Constitutional republic|constitutional]] [[republic]]
|leader_title1 = [[President of Greece|President]]
|leader_name1 = [[Karolos Papoulias]]
|leader_title2 = [[Prime Minister of Greece|Prime Minister]]
|leader_name2 = [[Antonis Samaras]]
|leader_title3 = [[Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament|Speaker]]
|leader_name3 = [[Vangelis Meimarakis]]
|legislature = [[Hellenic Parliament|Parliament]]
|sovereignty_type = [[History of modern Greece|Formation]]
|established_event1 = [[Greek War of Independence|Independence declared]] {{nobold|from the [[Ottoman Empire]]}}
|established_date1 = 1 January 1822
|established_event2 = [[London Protocol (1830)|Recognized]]
|established_date2 = 3 February 1830
|established_event3 = {{nowrap|[[Constitution of Greece|Current constitution]]}}
|established_date3 = 11 June 1975
|area_rank = 97th
|area_magnitude = 1 E11
|area_km2 = 131,957
|area_footnote = <ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html?countryName=Greece&countryCode=gr&regionCode=eur&rank=97#gr |title= Country Comparison: Area | work =[[The World Factbook]] |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |accessdate= 7 January 2013}}</ref>
|area_sq_mi = 50,949 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|percent_water = 0.8669
|population_census =  10,815,197<ref>{{cite web|title=Announcement of the demographic and social characteristics of the Resident Population of Greece according to the 2011 Population - Housing Census.|url=http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/General/nws_SAM01_EN.PDF|publisher=Hellenic Statistical Authority|accessdate=24 August 2013|location=Piraeus|format=PDF|date=23 August 2013}}</ref>
|population_census_year = 2011
|population_census_rank = 78th
|population_estimate_year =
|population_density_km2 = 82<ref>{{cite web|title=Announcement of the results of the 2011 Population Census for the Resident Population|url=http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/A1602/PressReleases/A1602_SAM01_DT_DC_00_2011_02_F_EN.pdf|publisher=Hellenic Statistical Authority|accessdate=24 August 2013|location=Piraeus|format=PDF|date=28 December 2012}}</ref>
|population_density_sq_mi = 212 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|population_density_rank = 120th
|GDP_PPP = $286&nbsp;billion<ref name="WB">{{cite web|url= http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do?Step=12&id=4&CNO=2 World Development Indicators database |title= Greece| publisher= [[World Bank]] |accessdate=April 2013}}</ref>
|GDP_PPP_rank = 46th
|GDP_PPP_year = 2012
|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $25,331<ref name=WB/>
|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 36th
|GDP_nominal = $249,0991&nbsp;billion<ref name=WB/>
|GDP_nominal_rank = 41st
|GDP_nominal_year = 2012
|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $22,083<ref name=WB/>
|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 37th
|Gini_year = 2011
|Gini_change =  <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
|Gini = 33.5 <!--number only-->
|Gini_ref = <ref name=eurogini>{{cite web|title=Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income (source: SILC)|url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_di12|publisher=Eurostat Data Explorer|accessdate=13 August 2013}}</ref>
|Gini_rank =
|HDI_year = 2013
|HDI_change = decrease <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
|HDI = 0.860 <!--number only-->
|HDI_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2013/download/ |title=2013 Human Development Report | publisher = UNDP | date=14 March 2013 |accessdate=14 March 2013}}</ref>
|HDI_rank = 29th
|currency = [[Euro]] ([[Euro sign|€]])<sup>a</sup>
|currency_code = EUR
|country_code =
|time_zone = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
|utc_offset = +2
|time_zone_DST = [[EEST]]
|utc_offset_DST = +3
|drives_on = right
|date_format = dd/mm/yyyy
|calling_code = [[Telephone numbers in Greece|+30]]
|cctld = [[.gr]]<sup>b</sup>
|footnote_a = Before 2002, the [[Greek drachma]].
|footnote_b = The [[.eu]] domain is also used, as in other [[European Union]] member states.}}

'''Greece''' ({{lang-el |Ελλάδα}} [romanized as:''[[Romanization of Greek|{{transl|el|ISO|Elláda}}]]''] [IPA:{{IPA-el|eˈlaða||Ellada.ogg}}]), officially the '''Hellenic Republic''' ({{lang|el|Ελληνική Δημοκρατία}} {{IPA-el|eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a|}} ''{{transl|el|Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía}}'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gr.html|publisher = [[Central Intelligence Agency]] |date=15 March 2007 |accessdate=7 April 2007| work =World Factbook | title = Greece: Government}}</ref> and known since ancient times as '''Hellas''' ({{lang-el |Ἑλλάς}}), is a country in [[Southern Europe]].<ref>{{Citation | publisher = [[United Nations|UN]] | url = http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/23-gegn/wp/gegn23wp48.pdf | title = Stats | format = PDF}}</ref> According to the 2011 census, Greece's population is around 11 million. [[Athens]] is the nation's capital and largest city.

Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of [[Europe]], [[Western Asia]], and [[Africa]],<ref name="KolliasGünlük-ŞenesenGülay2003">{{cite book|author1=Chrēstos G. Kollias|author2=Gülay Günlük-Şenesen|author3=Gülden Ayman|title=Greece and Turkey in the 21st Century: Conflict Or Cooperation : a Political Economy Perspective|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=E_e4CT57tZYC&pg=PA10|accessdate=12 April 2013|year=2003|publisher=Nova Publishers|isbn=978-1-59033-753-0|page=10|quote=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 ...)}}</ref><ref name="PaulstonKiesling2012">{{cite book|author1=Christina Bratt Paulston|author2=Scott F. Kiesling|author3=Elizabeth S. Rangel|title=The Handbook of Intercultural Discourse and Communication|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L2_JtZV7ZIYC&pg=PA292|accessdate=12 April 2013|date=13 February 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-6272-2|page=292|quote=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 ...}}</ref><ref name="Focas2004">{{cite book|author=Caralampo Focas|title=Transport Issues And Problems In Southeastern Europe|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MO33_NB5sWcC&pg=PA114|accessdate=12 April 2013|year=2004|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-1970-3|page=114|quote=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}}</ref> and shares land borders with [[Albania]] to the northwest, the [[Republic of Macedonia]] and [[Bulgaria]] to the north and [[Turkey]] to the northeast. The country consists of nine [[geographic regions of Greece|geographic regions]]: [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], [[Central Greece]], the [[Peloponnese]], [[Thessaly]], [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]], the [[Aegean Islands]] (including the [[Dodecanese]] and [[Cyclades]]), [[western Thrace|Thrace]], [[Crete]], and the [[Ionian Islands]]. The [[Aegean Sea]] lies to the east of the [[Geography of Greece|mainland]], the [[Ionian Sea]] to the west, and the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the [[Mediterranean Basin]] and the [[list of countries by length of coastline|11th longest coastline in the world]] at {{convert|13676|km|0|abbr=on}} in length, featuring a vast number of [[List of islands of Greece|islands]] (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited). Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which [[Mount Olympus]] is the highest, at {{convert|2917|m|0|abbr=on}}.

Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of [[Ancient Greece]], which is considered the cradle of the [[Western culture|Western civilization]]. As such, it is the birthplace of [[Athenian democracy|democracy]],<ref>[[Moses I. Finley|Finley, Moses I.]] (1985).  ''Democracy Ancient and Modern''. 2d ed.  London: [[Hogarth Press]].</ref> [[Western philosophy]],<ref>[[Frederick Copleston|Copleston, Frederick]].  ''History of Philosophy, Volume 1''.</ref> the [[Olympic Games]], [[Western literature]] and [[historiography]], [[political science]], major scientific and [[Greek mathematics|mathematical]] principles,<ref name="Heath1981">{{cite book|author=Thomas Heath|title=A History of Greek Mathematics|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=drnY3Vjix3kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ancient+Greek+mathematicians&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oYYSUuWLDIXM2gXFp4CYCw&ved=0CDsQuwUwAA#v=onepage&q=ancient%20Greek%20mathematicians&f=false|accessdate=19 August 2013|year=1981|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-24073-2|page=1}}</ref> and [[Drama|Western drama]],<ref>Brockett, Oscar G. (1991) ''History of the Theatre'' (sixth edition).  Boston; London: [[Allyn & Bacon]].</ref> including both [[tragedy]] and [[comedy]]. The cultural and technological achievements of Greece greatly influenced the world, with many aspects of Greek civilization being imparted to the [[Eastern world|East]] through [[Alexander the Great]]'s campaigns, and to the [[Western world|West]] through the [[Roman Greece|Roman Empire]]. This rich legacy is partly reflected in the 17 [[List of World Heritage Sites in Europe#Greece|UNESCO World Heritage Sites]] located in Greece, ranking it [[Table of World Heritage Sites by country|7th in Europe and 13th in the world]]. The modern Greek state, which comprises much of the historical core of Greek civilization, was established in 1830 following the [[Greek War of Independence]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]].

Greece is a [[democracy|democratic]],<ref>http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2013/greece-0</ref> [[developed country]] with an advanced,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2013/01/weodata/groups.htm#ae|work=World Economic Outlook Database|month=April|year=2013|title=Groups and Aggregates Information|publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]]|accessdate=10 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-b.html|title=Appendix B: International Organizations and Groups|work=[[The World Factbook]]|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|accessdate=10 September 2013}}</ref> [[World Bank high-income economy|high-income economy]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups#OECD_members|title=Country and Lending Groups|publisher=[[World Bank]]|accessdate=10 September 2013}}</ref> a high [[standard of living]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Interactive Infographic of the World's Best Countries|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/08/15/interactive-infographic-of-the-worlds-best-countries.html|accessdate=10 September 2013|newspaper=[[Newsweek]]|date=15 August 2010|location=New York}}</ref><ref name="Economist2005">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf|title=The Economist Intelligence Unit's Quality-of-Life Index|year=2005|work=The Economist|accessdate=10 September 2013|format=PDF}}</ref> and a very high [[Human Development Index]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Development Index (HDI) - 2012 Rankings|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/|work=2013 Human Development Report|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]]|accessdate=10 September 2013|location=New York|year=2013}}</ref> Greece is a founding member of the [[United Nations]], has been a member of what is now the [[European Union]] since 1981 (and the [[eurozone]] since 2001),<ref name="europa.eu">{{cite web |url= http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/greece/index_en.htm |publisher=[[European Union]] | accessdate= 7 April 2007 | work = Member States of the EU | title = Greece}}</ref> and has been a member of [[NATO]] since 1952.{{Refn | group = lower-alpha | name = "integrated1974" | 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.}} Greece's economy is also the largest in the [[Balkans]], where Greece is an important regional investor and donor.

==Etymology==
{{Main|Name of Greece}}
The names for the nation of Greece and [[Names of the Greeks|the Greek people]] differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures.  Although the [[Greeks]] call the country ''{{transl|el|Hellas}}'' or ''{{transl |el|Hellada}}'' ({{lang-el|Ελλάς or Ελλάδα}}) and its official name is the Hellenic Republic, in English it is referred to as Greece, which comes from the [[Latin]] term ''{{lang|la|Graecia}}'' as used by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], which literally means 'the land of the Greeks', and derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] name ''[[:wikt:Γραικός|{{lang |el| nocat=true|Γραικός}}]]''.  However, the name ''{{transl |el|Hellas}}'' is sometimes used in English as well.

==History==
{{Main |History of Greece}}

===From the earliest settlements to the 3rd century BC===
{{Main |Ancient Greece}}
[[File:Akrotiri-fisherman.jpg|thumb|120px|left|Minoan fresco at Akrotiri of [[Santorini]].]]
[[File:Greek Colonization.png|thumb|240px|Greek territories and colonies during the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] period (750-550 BC).]]

The earliest evidence of human presence in the Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the [[Petralona cave]], in the northern Greek province of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]].<ref name="Borza">{{Citation | last = Borza | first = EN | title = In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon | page = 58 | url = http://books.google.fr/books?id=614pd07OtfQC&pg=PA58&dq=petralona+cave+oldest&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xAzmT-DRNNKXhQeSu8DdCQ&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=petralona%20cave%20oldest&f=false | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 1992}}</ref>  [[Neolithic]] settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC,<ref name="Borza"/> are the oldest in Europe by several centuries, as Greece lies on the route via which farming spread from the [[Near East]] to Europe.<ref>{{Citation | last = Perlès | first = Catherine | title = The Early Neolithic in Greece: The First Farming Communities in Europe | page = 1 | url = http://books.google.fr/books?id=LQQ3tx5_t7QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=perles+greece+farming+europe+neolithic&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6SrmT4rlDq620QXms7WACQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=sesklo&f=false | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2001}}</ref>

Greece is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is considered the birthplace of Western civilization,<ref name="Slomp2011">{{cite book| first =Hans | last = Slomp|title=Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics: An American Companion to European Politics|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=LmfAPmwE6YYC&pg=PA50 |accessdate=5 December 2012|date=30 September 2011 | publisher =ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-39182-8|page=50|quote= Greek Culture and Democracy.  As the cradle of European civilization, Greece long, long ago discovered the value and beauty of the individual human being; Greek gods were actually no more than super-humans.  Around 500 BC, Greece}}</ref><ref name = "Fullinwider1996">{{cite book| first =Robert K | last = Fullinwider|title=Public Education in a Multicultural Society: Policy, Theory, Critique|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VrXWLLwigTEC&pg=PA55|accessdate= 5 December 2012 | date =26 January 1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-49958-3|page= 55 | quote = Similarly obscured was the influence of Egypt on Greece, which European civilization honors as its fountainhead.}}</ref><ref name="BullietCrossley2007">{{cite book| first1 = Richard W | last1 = Bulliet | first2 = Pamela | last2 = Kyle Crossley| first3= Daniel R | last3 = Headrick| first4 = Lyman L | last4 = Johnson | first5 = Steven W | last5 = Hirsch|title=The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History to 1550|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=TM4cFlroi7AC&pg=PA95|accessdate=5 December 2012|date=21 February 2007 | publisher =Cengage |isbn=978-0-618-77150-9|page=95|quote= The emergence of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete and the Mycenaean civilization of Greece is another... was home to the first European civilization to have complex political and social structures and advanced technologies}}</ref><ref name = "Pomeroy1999">{{cite book| first =Sarah B | last = Pomeroy|title=Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=INUT5sZku1UC|accessdate=5 December 2012|year=1999 | publisher =Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-509742-9|quote=Written by four leading authorities on the classical world, here is a new history of ancient Greece that dynamically presents a generation of new scholarship on the birthplace of Western civilization.}}</ref><ref name="Frucht2004">{{cite book| first = Richard C | last = Frucht|title=Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=lVBB1a0rC70C&pg=PA847 |accessdate=5 December 2012|date=31 December 2004 | publisher =ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-800-6|page= 847|quote= People appear to have first entered Greece as hunter-gatherers from southwest Asia about 50,000 years... of Bronze Age culture and technology laid the foundations for the rise of Europe's first civilization, Minoan Crete}}</ref> beginning with the [[Cycladic civilization]] on the islands of the [[Aegean Sea]] at around 3200 BC,<ref>{{Citation | last = Sansone | first = David | title = Ancient Greek civilzation | page = 5 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=YJONdN0dNYQC&pg=PT27&dq=cycladic+civilization&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6i_qT77vBYOe0QXUmZhc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=cycladic%20civilization&f=false | publisher = Wiley | year = 2011}}</ref> the [[Minoan civilization]] in Crete (2700–1500 BC),<ref name="Frucht2004"/><ref name="World and Its Peoples">{{cite book| title= World and Its Peoples| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=b5vHRWp8yqEC&pg=PA1458|accessdate=5 December 2012| month = September | year = 2009|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7902-4|page= 1458|quote= Greece was home to the earliest European civilizations, the Minoan civilization of Crete, which developed around 2000 BCE, and the Mycenaean civilization on the Greek mainland, which emerged about 400 years later.  The ancient Minoan}}</ref> and then the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] civilization on the mainland (1900–1100 BC).<ref name = "World and Its Peoples"/>  These civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as [[Linear A]], and the Myceneans in [[Linear B]], an early form of [[Greek language|Greek]].  The Myceneans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC, during a time of regional upheaval known as the [[Bronze Age collapse]].<ref>{{Citation | last = Drews | first = Robert | title = The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 BC | page = 3 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=bFpK6aXEWN8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=greece+bronze+age+collapse&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jTDmT--vJsi70QXWp8T6CA&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=greece%20bronze%20age%20collapse&f=false | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 1995}}</ref>  This ushered in a period known as the [[Greek Dark Ages]], from which written records are absent.

The end of the [[Greek Dark Ages|Dark Ages]] is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the year of the first [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]].<ref>{{Citation | first = John R | last = Short | title = An Introduction to Urban Geography | page = 10 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=uGE9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA10&dq=greek+dark+ages+776+BC&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nTfmT_uSIOek0QXhtOzoCA&sqi=2&ved=0CFIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=greek%20dark%20ages%20776%20BC&f=false | publisher = Routledge | year = 1987}}</ref>  The ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'', the foundational texts of [[Western literature]], are believed to have been composed by [[Homer]] in the 8th or 7th centuries BC.<ref>Vidal-Naquet, Pierre.  ''Le monde d’Homère'' (The World of Homer), Perrin (2000), p. 19</ref><ref name="The Odyssey 2003">[[D.C.H. Rieu]]'s introduction to ''The Odyssey'' (Penguin, 2003), p. ''xi''.</ref>  With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and [[city-state]]s across the Greek peninsula, which spread to the shores of the [[Black Sea]], [[Magna Grecia|Southern Italy]] (''{{lang-la|Magna Graecia}}'', or ''Greater Greece'') and [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]].  These states and their colonies reached great levels of [[wealth|prosperity]] that resulted in an unprecedented cultural boom, that of [[classical Greece]], expressed in [[Architecture of ancient Greece|architecture]], [[Theatre of ancient Greece|drama]], [[Ancient Greece#Science and technology|science]], [[Greek mathematics|mathematics]] and [[Ancient Greek philosophy|philosophy]].  In 508 BC, [[Cleisthenes]] instituted the world's first [[Athenian democracy|democratic]] system of government in [[Athens]].<ref name="BKDunn1992">{{Citation | first = John | last = Dunn | title = Democracy: the unfinished journey 508 BC – 1993 AD | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1994 | ISBN = 0-19-827934-5}}</ref><ref name="BKRaaflaud2007">{{Citation | first1 = Kurt A | last1 = Raaflaub | first2 = Josiah | last2 = Ober | first3 = Robert W | last3 = Wallace | title = Origin of Democracy in Ancient Greece | publisher = University of California Press | year = 2007 | ISBN = 0-520-24562-8 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=6qaSHHMaGVkC}}</ref>

By 500 BC, the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] controlled territories ranging from their home Iran all the way to what is now northern Greece and Turkey, and posed a threat to the Greek states.  Attempts by the Greek city-states of [[Asia Minor]] to overthrow Persian rule failed, and Persia [[First Persian invasion of Greece|invaded the states of mainland Greece]] in 492 BC, but was forced to withdraw after a defeat at the [[Battle of Marathon]] in 490 BC.  A [[second Persian invasion of Greece|second invasion]] followed in 480 BC.  Despite a heroic resistance at [[Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]] by [[Sparta]]ns and other Greeks, Persian forces sacked Athens.

Following successive Greek victories in 480 and 479 BC at [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]], [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]] and [[Battle of Mycale|Mycale]], the Persians were forced to withdraw for a second time.  The military conflicts, known as the [[Greco-Persian Wars]], were led mostly by Athens and Sparta.  The fact that Greece was not a unified country meant that conflict between the Greek states was common.

[[File:Façana est del Partenó - Acròpoli d'Atenes.JPG|240px|thumb|The [[Parthenon]] on the [[Acropolis of Athens]] is one of the best known symbols of [[classical Greece]].]]

The most devastating intra-Greek war in classical antiquity was the [[Peloponnesian War]] (431–404 BC), which marked the demise of the [[Athenian Empire]] as the leading power in ancient Greece.  Both Athens and Sparta were later overshadowed by [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]] and eventually [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]], with the latter uniting the Greek world in the [[League of Corinth]] (also known as the ''Hellenic League'' or ''Greek League'') under the guidance of [[Phillip II of Macedon|Phillip II]], who was elected leader of the first unified Greek state in history.

Following the assassination of Phillip II, his son [[Alexander III of Macedon|Alexander III]] ("The Great") assumed the leadership of the League of Corinth and launched an invasion of the Persian Empire with the combined forces of all Greek states in 334 BC.  Following Greek victories in the battles of [[Battle of Granicus|Granicus]], [[Battle of Issus|Issus]] and [[Battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]], the Greeks marched on [[Susa]] and [[Persepolis]], the ceremonial capital of Persia, in 330 BC.  The Empire created by Alexander the Great stretched from Greece in the west and [[Pakistan]] in the east, and [[Egypt]] in the south.

Before his sudden death in 323 BC, Alexander was also planning an invasion of [[Arabia]].  His death marked the collapse of the vast empire, which was split into several kingdoms, the most famous of which were the [[Seleucid Empire]] and [[Ptolemaic Egypt]].  Other states founded by Greeks include the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] and the [[Indo-Greeks|Greco-Indian Kingdom]] in India.  Although the political unity of Alexander's empire could not be maintained, it brought about the dominance of [[Hellenistic civilization]] and the Greek language in the territories conquered by Alexander for at least two centuries, and, in the case of parts the Eastern Mediterranean, considerably longer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/260307/Hellenistic-Age |title=Hellenistic Age | publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica | work = Online | accessdate=29 April 2012}}</ref>

===Hellenistic and Roman periods (323 BC–4th century AD)===
{{Main |Hellenistic Greece|Roman Greece}}
{{see also|Roman Empire}}
[[File:NAMA Machine d'Anticythère 1.jpg|thumb|left|180px|The [[Antikythera mechanism]] (c. 100 BC) is believed to be the earliest mechanical analog computer ([[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]).]]
[[File:Facade of Philip II tomb Vergina Greece.jpg|220px|thumb|The purported tomb of [[Philip II of Macedon]] in [[Vergina]].]]
[[File:Ac.galerius2.jpg|220px|thumb|The Roman-era [[Arch of Galerius and Rotunda|Rotunda]] in [[Thessaloniki]].]]

After a [[Wars of the Diadochi|period of confusion]] following Alexander's death, the [[Antigonid dynasty]], descended from one of Alexander's generals, established its control over Macedon by 276 BC, as well as hegemony over most of the Greek city-states.<ref>{{cite book | last = Spielvogel | first = Jackson | title = Western Civilization | volume = I: To 1715 | publisher = Thomson Wadsworth | year = 2005 | pages = 89–90 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xcNIBlwrjMsC&pg=PA89&dq=Antigonid+dynasty#PPA90,M1 | isbn = 0-534-64603-4}}</ref>  From about 200 BC the [[Ancient Rome|Roman Republic]] became increasingly involved in Greek affairs and engaged in a [[Macedonian Wars|series of wars with Macedon]].<ref name= Flower>{{cite book |title= The Roman Republic | editor-last=Flower | editor-first=Harriet |year=2004 |isbn=0-521-00390-3 | pages=248, 258}}</ref>  Macedon's defeat at the [[Battle of Pydna]] in 168 BC signaled the end of Antigonid power in Greece.<ref>{{Citation | title = Britannica | contribution = Antigonid dynasty | year = 2008 | edition = online}}</ref>  In 146 BC Macedonia was annexed as a province by Rome, and the rest of Greece became a Roman protectorate.<ref name = Flower/><ref name=Ward>{{cite book |title=A history of the Roman people | last= Ward |first= Allen Mason | coauthors = et al |year=2003 |isbn= 978-0-13-038480-5 |page= 276}}</ref>

The process was completed in 27 BC when the Roman Emperor [[Augustus]] annexed the rest of Greece and constituted it as the [[senatorial province]] of [[Achaea (Roman province)|Achaea]].<ref name= Ward/>  Despite their military superiority, the Romans admired and became [[Greco-Roman world|heavily influenced]] by the achievements of Greek culture, hence [[Horace]]'s famous statement: ''Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit'' ("Greece, although captured, took its wild conqueror captive").<ref>{{cite book |title=Ancient Rome: An Introductory History |last=Zoch |first=Paul | year= 2000 | isbn = 978-0-8061-3287-7 |page=136 | url= http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=95bu0O3LLlsC&pg=PA136&dq=Graecia+capta+ferum+victorem+cepit&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VUudT7z-NsH80QWt4tmVDw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Graecia%20capta%20ferum%20victorem%20cepit&f=false | accessdate= 29 April 2012}}</ref>  Greek science, technology and mathematics are generally considered to have reached their peak during the Hellenistic period.<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Cynthia | last1 = Kosso | first2 = Anne | last2 = Scott | title = The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and Hygiene from Antiquity Through the Renaissance | publisher =
Brill | year = 2009 | page = 51 | url = http://books.google.fr/books?id=UTkXFLfmLTkC&pg=PA51&dq=hellenistic+mathematics+science+technology&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BxapUKriD-yM0wWvy4G4BQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=hellenistic%20mathematics%20science%20technology&f=false}}, 538 pp.</ref>

Greek-speaking communities of the Hellenized East were instrumental in the spread of early Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries,<ref>{{cite book | title= Backgrounds of Early Christianity | last = Ferguson | first = Everett | year = 2003 |isbn= 978-0-8028-2221-5 |pages= 617–18}}</ref> and Christianity's early leaders and writers (notably [[St Paul]]) were generally Greek-speaking,<ref>{{cite book | title= Ancient Rome | last = Dunstan | first = William | year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7425-6834-1 |page=500 | url= http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xkOhwFzz1AkC&pg=PA500&dq=early+christian+leaders+speak+greek&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rFydT6f-OYiQ0AWjhtDlDg&ved=0CFMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=early%20christian%20leaders%20speak%20greek&f=false | accessdate= 29 April 2012}}</ref> though none were from Greece.   Greece itself had a tendency to cling on to paganism and was not one of the influential centers of early Christianity: in fact, some ancient Greek religious practices remained in vogue until the end of the 4th century,<ref>{{cite book |title=Early Christian Art and Architecture |last = Milburn |first=Robert |year=1992 |page=158 |url= http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OcRTwsDq_Z4C&pg=PA158&dq=early+christianity+greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-1CdT5P_Dor68QPnnbzbDg&ved=0CG4Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=early%20christianity%20greece&f=false |accessdate= 29 April 2012}}</ref> with some areas such as the southeastern Peloponnese remaining pagan until well into the 10th century AD.<ref>{{cite book |title= Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches: A Concise History of the Religious Cultures of Greece from Antiquity to the Present |last=Makrides |first=Nikolaos |year=2009 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9568-2 |page=206 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=kKOY5NsekfkC&pg=PA17&dq=hellenic+polytheism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tQaeT4PAD8msjALr_rCTAQ&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAw#v=snippet&q=10th%20century&f=false |accessdate=29 April 2012}}</ref>

===Medieval period (4th century–1453)===
{{Main |Byzantine Greece|Frankokratia}}
{{see also|Byzantine Empire}}
[[File:Justinian555AD.png|thumb|240px|The [[Byzantine Empire]] at its greatest extent under [[Justinian I]], in 555 AD.]]

The Roman Empire in the east, following the [[Decline of the Roman Empire|fall of the Empire in the west]] in the 5th century, is conventionally known as the Byzantine Empire (but was simply called "Roman Empire" in its own time) and lasted until 1453.  With its capital in [[Constantinople]], its language and literary culture was Greek and its religion was predominantly [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christian]].<ref>{{cite book | title = The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies | editor-last= Jeffreys | editor-first= Elizabeth | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-19-925246-6 |page=4 | url= http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=liFKua_cWL8C&pg=PA4&dq=byzantine+predominantly+greek+culturally&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QOucT52cL8Sm0AXG3cX2Dg&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=byzantine%20predominantly%20greek%20culturally&f=false |accessdate= 29 April 2012}}</ref>

From the 4th century, the Empire's Balkan territories, including Greece, suffered from the dislocation of the ''[[Migration Period|Barbarian Invasions]]''.  The raids and devastation of the [[Goths]] and [[Huns]] in the 4th and 5th centuries and the [[South Slavs|Slavic]] invasion of Greece in the 7th century resulted in a dramatic collapse in imperial authority in the Greek peninsula.{{Sfn | Fine | 1991 | pp = 35–6}}  Following the Slavic invasion, the imperial government retained control of only the islands and coastal areas, particularly cities such as Athens, Corinth and Thessalonica, while some mountainous areas in the interior held out on their own and continued to recognize imperial authority.{{Sfn | Fine | 1991 | pp = 35–6}}  Outside of these areas, a limited amount of Slavic settlement is generally thought to have occurred, although on a much smaller scale than previously thought.{{Sfn | Fine | 1991 | pp = 63–6}}<ref>{{Citation | first = TE | last = Gregory | title = A History of Byzantium | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | year = 2010 | page = 169 | quote = 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.}}</ref>

[[File:Maltan knights castle in rh.jpg|thumb|left|240px|[[Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes]], remain of the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights]] period of the island.]]
[[File:Mystras palace.JPG|thumb|240px|[[Mystras]] Palace, remain of the [[Despotate of the Morea]].]]

The Byzantine recovery of lost provinces began toward the end of the 8th century and most of the Greek peninsula came under imperial control again, in stages, during the 9th century.<ref name= EB2>{{cite web | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244154/Greece/26387/Byzantine-recovery |title=Greece During the Byzantine Period: Byzantine recovery | publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica | work = Online | accessdate = 28 April 2012}}</ref>{{Sfn | Fine | 1991 | pp =79–83}}  This process was facilitated by a large influx of Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor to the Greek peninsula, while at the same time many Slavs were captured and re-settled in Asia Minor and those that remained were assimilated.{{Sfn | Fine | 1991 | pp = 63–6}}  During the 11th and 12th centuries the return of stability resulted in the Greek peninsula benefiting from strong economic growth – much stronger than that of the Anatolian territories of the Empire.<ref name = EB2/>

Following the [[Fourth Crusade]] and the fall of Constantinople to the "[[Latins#Middle Ages|Latins]]" in 1204 most of Greece quickly came under [[French people#Frankish Kingdom|Frankish]] rule <ref name = EB3>{{cite web | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244154/Greece/26389/Results-of-the-Fourth-Crusade |title= Greece During the Byzantine Period: Results of the Fourth Crusade | publisher = Encyclopaedia Britannica | work = Online |accessdate=28 April 2012}}</ref> (initiating the period known as the ''[[Frankokratia]]'') or [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] rule in the case of some of the islands.<ref name= EB3A>{{cite web | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244154/Greece/26395/The-islands |title=Greece During the Byzantine Period: The islands | publisher= Encyclopaedia Britannica | work = Online |accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref>  The re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople in 1261 was accompanied by the recovery of much of the Greek peninsula, although the Frankish [[Principality of Achaea]] in the Peloponnese remained an important regional power into the 14th century, while the islands remained largely under Genoese and Venetian control.<ref name = EB3/>

In the 14th century much of the Greek peninsula was lost by the Empire as first the [[Serbs]] and then the [[Ottomans]] seized imperial territory.<ref name = EB4>{{cite web |url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244154/Greece/26391/Thessaly-and-surrounding-regions |title = Greece During the Byzantine Period: Serbian and Ottoman advances | publisher= Encyclopaedia Britannica | work = Online | accessdate= 28 April 2012}}</ref>  By the beginning of the 15th century, the Ottoman advance meant that Byzantine territory in Greece was limited mainly to the [[Despotate of the Morea]] in the Peloponnese.<ref name= EB4/>  After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the Morea was the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to hold out against the Ottomans.  However, this, too, fell to the Ottomans in 1460, completing the Ottoman conquest of mainland Greece.<ref name= EB5>{{cite web |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244154/Greece/26391/Thessaly-and-surrounding-regions |title=Greece During the Byzantine Period: The Peloponnese advances |work = Encyclopaedia Britannica |accessdate=28 April 2012}}</ref>  With the Turkish conquest, many Byzantine Greek scholars, who up until then were largely responsible for preserving [[Classical Greece|Classical Greek]] knowledge, fled to the West, taking with them a large body of literature and thereby significantly contributing to the [[Renaissance]].<ref name= JJN>{{cite book |title= A Short History of Byzantium |last= Norwich |first= John Julius|year=1997 |publisher= Vintage Books |isbn=0-679-77269-3 |page = xxi}}</ref>

===Ottoman period (15th century–1821)===
{{Main |Ottoman Greece}}
[[File:Angelokastro (Corfu).jpg|200px|thumb|The Byzantine castle of [[Angelokastro (Corfu)|Angelokastro]] successfully repulsed the Ottomans during the first great siege of Corfu in 1537, the siege of 1571, and the second great siege of Corfu in 1716 causing them to abandon their plans to conquer Corfu.<ref name="Stamatopoulos1993">{{cite book|author=Nondas Stamatopoulos|title=Old Corfu: history and culture|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6m0-AQAAIAAJ|accessdate=6 April 2013|year=1993|publisher=N. Stamatopoulos|pages=164–165|quote=Again, during the first great siege of Corfu by the Turks in 1537, Angelocastro ... and After a siege lasting a year the invaders were finally driven away by the defenders of the fortress who were helped by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages.  In 1571, when they once more invaded Corfu, the Turks again unsuccessfully attacked, Angelocastro, where 4,000 people had taken refuge.  During the second great siege of the city by the Turks in 1716, Angelokastro once again served}}</ref>]]
[[File:Bílá věž, Thesalloniki.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[White Tower of Thessaloniki]], one of the best-known Ottoman structures remaining in Greece.]]

While most of mainland Greece and the Aegean islands was under Ottoman control by the end of the 15th century, [[Cyprus]] and [[Crete]] remained [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] territory and did not fall to the Ottomans until 1571 and 1670 respectively.  The only part of the Greek-speaking world that escaped long-term Ottoman rule was the [[Ionian Islands]], which remained Venetian until their capture by the [[First French Republic]] in 1797, then passed to the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in 1809 until their unification with Greece in 1864.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}

While Greeks in the Ionian Islands and [[Constantinople]] lived in prosperity, the latter achieving positions of power within the Ottoman administration,{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}} much of the population of mainland Greece suffered the economic consequences of the 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 [[serfdom|serfs]].<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Kourvetaris | first1 = George | last2 = Dobratz | first2 = Betty | title = A profile of modern Greece: in search of identity | page = 33 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ePwcAAAAYAAJ&q=Greece+chiflik+serfs&dq=Greece+chiflik+serfs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1bnkT-GfAcix0QXl9biBCQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ | publisher = Clarendon Press | year = 1987}}</ref>

The [[Greek Orthodox Church]] and the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] were considered by the Ottoman governments as the ruling authorities of the entire [[Orthodox Christianity|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 several types of discrimination intended to highlight their inferior status in the Ottoman Empire.  Discrimination against Christians, particularly when combined with harsh treatment by local Ottoman authorities, led to conversions to Islam, if only superficially.  In the nineteenth century, many "crypto-Christians" returned to their old religious allegiance.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}

The nature of Ottoman administration of Greece varied, though it was invariably arbitrary and often harsh.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}  Some cities had governors appointed by the [[Ottoman Sultan|Sultan]], while others (like Athens) were self-governed municipalities.  Mountains regions in the interior and many islands remained effectively autonomous from the central Ottoman state for many centuries.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}

When military conflicts broke out between the Ottoman Empire and other states, Greeks usually took arms against the Empire, with few exceptions.  Prior to the Greek revolution, there had been a number of wars which saw Greeks fight against the Ottomans, such as the Greek participation in the [[Battle of Lepanto]] in 1571, the [[Dionysius the Philosopher|Epirus peasants' revolts]] of 1600–1601, the [[Morean War]] of 1684–99, and the [[Russian Empire|Russian]]-instigated [[Orlov Revolt]] in 1770, which aimed at breaking up the Ottoman Empire in favor of Russian interests.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}  These uprisings were put down by the Ottomans with great bloodshed.<ref>{{Citation | first = Lyn | last = Harrington | title = Greece and the Greeks | page = 124 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=d7BAAAAAIAAJ&q=greece+revolts+ottoman+rule+bloodshed&dq=greece+revolts+ottoman+rule+bloodshed&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BI61T4PPBaWMiAKw79nQBg&ved=0CF8Q6AEwBg | publisher = T Nelson | year = 1968}}, 221 pp.</ref><ref>{{Citation | first1 = Jamie | last1 = Stokes | first2 = Anthony | last2 = Gorman | title = Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East | page = 256 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=stl97FdyRswC&pg=PA256&dq=greece+ottoman+rule+revolts+orlov&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XIi1T8O8J8nPiAKhwZiHBw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=greece%20ottoman%20rule%20revolts%20orlov&f=false | publisher = Infobase | year = 2010 | ISBN = 978-1‐4381‐2676‐0}}</ref>

The 16th and 17th centuries are regarded as something of a "dark age" in Greek history, with the prospect of overthrowing Ottoman rule appearing remote with only the Ionian islands remaining free of Turkish domination.  [[Corfu]] withstood three major sieges in [[Siege of Corfu (1537)|1537]], 1571 and [[Siege of Corfu (1716)#The Siege of Corfu|1716]] all of which resulted  in the repulsion of the Ottomans.  However in the 18th century, there arose through shipping a wealthy and dispersed Greek merchant class.  These merchants came to dominate trade within the Ottoman Empire, establishing communities throughout the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Western Europe.  Though the Ottoman conquest had cut Greece off from significant European intellectual movements such as the [[Reformation]] and the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], these ideas together with the ideals of the [[French Revolution]] and [[romantic nationalism]] began to penetrate the Greek world via the mercantile diaspora.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}  In the late 18th century, [[Rigas Feraios]], the first revolutionary to envision an independent Greek state, published a series of documents relating to Greek independence, including but not limited to a national anthem and the first detailed map of Greece, in [[Vienna]], and was murdered by Ottoman agents in 1798.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}<ref>{{Citation | first = Olga | last = Katsiaridi-Hering | contribution = La famiglia nell'economia europea, secc. XIII-XVIII | title = Atti della "quarantesima Settimana di studi," 6–10 Aprile 2008 | publisher = Istituto internazionale di storia economica F. Datini.  Simonetta Cavaciocchi.  Firenze University Press | year = 2009 | ISBN = 978-88‐8453‐910‐6 | page = 410 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=WsyHfHzeP_8C&pg=PA410&dq=rigas+feraios+murdered&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GHu1T_jTE-LjiAKuoeSUBw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=rigas%20feraios%20murdered&f=false}}</ref>

===Greek War of Independence (1821–1832)===
{{Main |Greek War of Independence}}
{{see also|First Hellenic Republic|Wikisource:Greek_Declaration_of_Independence|label 2=Greek Declaration of Independence}}
[[File:The sortie of Messologhi by Theodore Vryzakis.jpg|thumb|200px|''The sortie of Messolonghi'', during the [[Greek War of Independence|Greek War of Independence (1821–1830)]], by [[Theodoros Vryzakis]].]]

In 1814, a secret organization called the [[Filiki Eteria]] was founded with the aim of liberating Greece.  The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolution in the [[Peloponnese]], the [[Danubian Principalities]] and [[Constantinople]].  The first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities under the leadership of [[Alexander Ypsilantis (1792–1828)|Alexandros Ypsilantis]], but it was soon put down by the Ottomans.  The events in the north spurred the Greeks of the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March 1821 the [[Maniots]] declared war on the Ottomans.<ref name="Brewer, D.  2001, pp. 235">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, ISBN 1-58567-172-X, pp. 235–36.</ref>

By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the Ottomans and by October 1821 the Greeks under [[Theodoros Kolokotronis]] had captured [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripolitsa]].  The Peloponnesian revolt was quickly followed by revolts in [[Crete]], [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] and [[Central Greece]], which would soon be suppressed.  Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the [[Aegean Sea]] and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea.  In 1822 and 1824 the Turks and Egyptians ravaged the islands, including [[Chios Massacre|Chios]] and [[Destruction of Psara|Psara]], committing wholesale massacres of the population.<ref name="Brewer, D.  2001, pp. 235"/>  This had the effect of galvanizing public opinion in western Europe in favor of the Greek rebels.{{Sfn | Clogg | 1992}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date = March 2013}}

Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars.  Meanwhile, the [[Ottoman Sultan]] negotiated with [[Mehmet Ali of Egypt]], who agreed to send his son [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain.  Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and had immediate success: by the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control, and the city of [[Missolonghi]]—put under siege by the Turks since April 1825—fell in April 1826.  Although Ibrahim was defeated in [[Mani Peninsula|Mani]], he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese and [[Athens]] had been retaken.

After years of negotiation, three Great Powers, [[Russian Empire|Russia]], the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Bourbon Restoration|France]], decided to intervene in the conflict and each nation sent a navy to Greece.  Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of [[Hydra, Saronic Islands|Hydra]], the allied fleet intercepted the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at [[Pylos|Navarino]].  After a week-long standoff, a [[Battle of Navarino|battle]] began which resulted in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet.  A [[Morea expedition|French expeditionary force]] was dispatched to supervise the evacuation of the Egyptian army from the Peloponnese, while the Greeks proceeded to the captured part of Central Greece by 1828.  As a result of years of negotiation, the [[First Hellenic Republic|nascent Greek state]] was finally recognized under the [[London Protocol (1830)|London Protocol]] in 1830.

===The 19th century===
{{see also|Kingdom of Greece}}
[[File:Otto's entry in Athens.jpg|thumb|right|240px|''The Entry of [[King Otto]] in Athens'', [[Peter von Hess]], 1839.]]

In 1827 [[Ioannis Kapodistrias]], from [[Corfu]], was chosen as the first governor of the new Republic.  However, following his assassination in 1831, the [[Great Power]]s installed a [[Kingdom of Greece|monarchy]] under [[Otto of Greece|Otto]], of the Bavarian [[House of Wittelsbach]].  In 1843 an uprising forced the king to grant a constitution and a representative assembly.

Due to his unimpaired authoritarian rule he was eventually dethroned in 1862 and a year later replaced by Prince Wilhelm (William) of Denmark, who took the name [[George I of Greece|George I]] and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain.  In 1877 [[Charilaos Trikoupis]], who is credited with significant improvement of the country's infrastructure, curbed the power of the monarchy to interfere in the assembly by issuing the rule of [[Motion of no confidence|vote of confidence]] to any potential prime minister.

Corruption and Trikoupis' increased spending to create necessary infrastructure like the [[Corinth Canal]] overtaxed the weak Greek economy, forcing the declaration of [[Sovereign default|public insolvency]] in 1893 and to accept the imposition of an International Financial Control authority to pay off the country's debtors.  Another political issue in 19th-century Greece was uniquely Greek: the language question.  The Greek people spoke a form of Greek called [[Modern Greek|Demotic]].  Many of the educated elite saw this as a peasant dialect and were determined to restore the glories of [[Ancient Greek]].

[[File:Greekhistory.GIF|thumb|260px|The territorial evolution of [[Kingdom of Greece]] until 1947.]]

Government documents and newspapers were consequently published in ''[[Katharevousa]]'' (purified) Greek, a form which few ordinary Greeks could read.  Liberals favoured recognising Demotic as the national language, but conservatives and the Orthodox Church resisted all such efforts, to the extent that, when the [[New Testament]] was translated into Demotic in 1901, riots erupted in Athens and the government fell (the ''Evangeliaka'').  This issue would continue to plague Greek politics until the 1970s.

All Greeks were united, however, in their determination to liberate the Greek-speaking provinces of the Ottoman Empire.  Especially in [[Crete]], a [[Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)|prolonged revolt in 1866–1869]] had raised nationalist fervour.  When war broke out between [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russia and the Ottomans in 1877]], Greek popular sentiment rallied to Russia's side, but Greece was too poor, and too concerned of British intervention, to officially enter the war.  Nevertheless, in 1881, [[Thessaly]] and small parts of [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] were ceded to Greece as part of the [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878|Treaty of Berlin]], while frustrating Greek hopes of receiving Crete.

Greeks in Crete continued to stage regular revolts, and in 1897, the Greek government under Theodoros Deligiannis, bowing to popular pressure, declared war on the Ottomans.  In the ensuing [[Greco-Turkish War (1897)|Greco-Turkish War of 1897]] the badly trained and equipped Greek army was defeated by the Ottomans.  Through the intervention of the Great Powers however, Greece lost only a little territory along the border to Turkey, while Crete was established as an [[Cretan State|autonomous state]] under [[Prince George of Greece]].

===The 20th century and beyond===
{{see also|Balkan Wars|National Schism|Asia Minor Campaign|4th of August Regime|Axis occupation of Greece|Greek Civil War|Greek military junta of 1967–74}}
[[File:Konstantine Venizelos 1913.jpg|thumb|200px|King [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]] with PM [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] (seated, with back to camera) in 1913, during the [[Balkan Wars]].]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-164-0389-23A, Athen, Hissen der Hakenkreuzflagge.jpg|thumb|200px|German soldiers raising the [[Reichskriegsflagge]] over the [[Acropolis]] of [[Athens]]. It would be taken down in one of the first acts of the [[Greek Resistance]].]]

At the end of the [[Balkan Wars]], the extent of Greece's territory and population had increased.  In the following years, the struggle between [[Constantine I of Greece|King Constantine I]] and charismatic Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] over the country's foreign policy on the eve of World War I dominated the country's political scene, and divided the country into [[National Schism|two opposing groups]].  During part of WWI, Greece had two governments; a royalist pro-German government in [[Athens]] and a Venizelist pro-Britain one in [[Thessaloniki]].  The two governments were united in 1917, when Greece officially entered the war on the side of the [[Triple Entente]].

In the aftermath of the First World War, Greece attempted further expansion into [[Asia Minor]], a region with a large Greek population at the time, but was defeated in the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922]], which resulted in a [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|massive population exchange between the two countries]] under the [[Treaty of Lausanne]].<ref>{{Citation | place = [[Germany|DE]] | url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,451140,00.html | title = The Diaspora Welcomes the Pope | newspaper = [[Der Spiegel]] | date = 28 November 2006}}</ref>  According to various sources,<ref>{{Citation | first = RJ | last = Rummel | author-link = R. J. Rummel | year = 1998 | title = The Holocaust in Comparative and Historical Perspective | journal = Idea Journal of Social Issues | volume = 3 | number = 2}}</ref> several hundred thousand [[Pontic Greeks]] died during this period, in what has sometimes been referred to as the [[Greek genocide|Pontic Greek Genocide]].<ref>{{Citation | author-link = Chris Hedges| last = Hedges | first = Chris | date = 17 September 2000 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/17/nyregion/a-few-words-in-greek-tell-of-a-homeland-lost.html | title = A Few Words in Greek Tell of a Homeland Lost | newspaper = [[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

The following era was marked by instability, overshadowed by the massive task of incorporating 1.5 million Greek refugees from Turkey into Greek society.  The Greek population in [[Istanbul]] dropped from 300,000 at the turn of the 20th century to around 3,000 in the city today.<ref name="minorities">Roudometof, Victor; Robertson, Roland (2001).  [http://books.google.com/books?id=I9p_m7oXQ00C&pg=PA186 ''Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy&nbsp;– The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans''].  [[Westport, Connecticut]]:  [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood]].  p. 186.  ISBN 978-0-313-31949-5.</ref>

Following the catastrophic events in Asia Minor, the monarchy was abolished [[Greek republic referendum, 1924|via a referendum]] in 1924 and the [[Second Hellenic Republic]] was declared.  Premier [[Georgios Kondylis]] took power in 1935 and effectively abolished the republic by bringing back the monarchy via [[Greek monarchy referendum, 1935|a referendum]] in 1935.  A [[coup d'état]] followed in 1936 and installed [[Ioannis Metaxas]] as the head of a dictatorial regime known as the [[4th of August Regime]].  Although a dictatorship, Greece remained on good terms with Britain and was not allied with the Axis.

On 28 October 1940 Fascist [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Italy]] demanded the surrender of Greece, but the Greek administration refused and in the following [[Greco-Italian War]], Greece repelled Italian forces into Albania, giving the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] their first victory over [[Axis powers|Axis]] forces on land.  The country would eventually fall to urgently dispatched German forces during the [[Battle of Greece]].  The German occupiers nevertheless met serious challenges from the [[Greek Resistance]].  Over 100,000 civilians died of  starvation during the winter of 1941–42, and the great majority of [[History of the Jews in Greece|Greek Jews]] were deported and murdered in [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244154/Greece/26430/Greek-history-since-World-War-IGreece | contribution = Greek history since World War I | title = [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref>

After liberation, Greece experienced a polarising [[Greek Civil War|civil war]] between communist and [[anticommunist]] forces, which led to economic devastation and severe social tensions between [[right-wing politics|rightists]] and largely communist [[left-wing politics|leftists]] for the next thirty years.<ref>[[Mark Mazower|Mazower, Mark]].  ''After the War was Over''.</ref>  The next twenty years were characterized by marginalisation of the left in the political and social spheres but also by [[Greek economic miracle|rapid economic growth]], propelled in part by the [[Marshall Plan]].

King [[Constantine II of Greece|Constantine II]]'s [[Apostasia of 1965|dismissal]] of [[George Papandreou (senior)|George Papandreou]]'s centrist government in  July 1965 prompted a prolonged period of political turbulence which culminated in a ''coup d'état'' on 21 April 1967 by the [[Greek military junta of 1967–1974|Regime of the Colonels]].  The brutal suppression of the [[Athens Polytechnic uprising]] on 17 November 1973 sent shockwaves through the regime, and a counter-coup established [[Brigadier]] [[Dimitrios Ioannidis]] as dictator.  On 20 July 1974, as [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus|Turkey invaded the island of Cyprus]], the regime collapsed.

The former prime minister [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]] was invited back from Paris where he had lived in self-exile since 1963, marking the beginning of the [[Metapolitefsi]] era.  The first multiparty [[Greek legislative election, 1974|elections]] since 1964 were held on the first anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising.  A democratic and republican [[Constitution of Greece|constitution]] was promulgated on 11 June 1975 following a [[Greek republic referendum, 1974|referendum]] which chose to not restore the monarchy.

[[File:Accession of Greece to the European Union.png|thumb|220px|left|Signing at [[Zappeion]] of the documents for the accession of Greece to the [[European Union|European Communities]] in 1979.]]

Meanwhile, [[Andreas Papandreou]] founded the [[Panhellenic Socialist Movement]] (PASOK) in response to Karamanlis's conservative [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] party, with the two political formations alternating in government ever since.  Greece rejoined NATO in 1980.<ref name="autogenerated2">History, Editorial Consultant: Adam Hart-Davis.   [[Dorling Kindersley]].  ISBN 978-1-85613-062-2.</ref>

Greece became the tenth member of the [[European Communities]] (subsequently subsumed by the [[European Union]]) on 1 January 1981, ushering in a period of sustained growth.  Widespread investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenues from tourism, shipping and a fast-growing service sector raised the country's standard of living to unprecedented levels.  Traditionally strained [[Greek–Turkish relations|relations with neighbouring Turkey]] [[Greek–Turkish earthquake diplomacy|improved when successive earthquakes hit both nations in 1999]], leading to the lifting of the Greek veto against Turkey's [[Accession of Turkey to the European Union|bid]] for EU membership.  The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the [[2004 Summer Olympics|2004 Summer Olympic Games]] in Athens.

More recently, Greece has suffered greatly from the [[late-2000s recession]] and has been central to the related [[European sovereign debt crisis]].  The [[Greek government debt crisis]], subsequent economic crisis and [[2010–2012 Greek protests|resultant protests]] have roiled domestic politics and have regularly threatened  European and global financial markets since the crisis began in 2010.

==Geography and climate==
{{Main|Geography of Greece}}
{| style="float:right; margin:10px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
|-
|<div style="position: relative">[[File:000 Greqia harta.PNG|center|border]]
<!----------------------------------- NATIONS/FLAGS -->
<div style="position:absolute;left:18px;top:38px;">[[File:Flag of Albania.svg|25px|border]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:11px;top:56px;">[[Albania|<span style="color: black;">Albania]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:74px;top:10px;">[[File:Flag of Macedonia.svg|25px|border]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:50px;top:22px;">[[Republic of Macedonia|<span style="color: black;">Rep. Macedonia]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:174px;top:2px;">[[File:Flag of Bulgaria.svg|25px|border]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:160px;top:16px;">[[Bulgaria|<span style="color: black;">Bulgaria]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:283px;top:135px;">[[File:Flag of Turkey.svg|25px|border]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:272px;top:150px;">[[Turkey|<span style="color: black;">Turkey]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:20px;top:254px;">[[File:Flag of Greece.svg|65px|border]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:27px;top:299px;"><big>'''<span style="color: black;">Greece'''</big></div>
<!------------------------------- TOWNS/ISLANDS -->
<div style="position:absolute;left:157px;top:172px;">[[Athens|ATHENS]]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:124px;top:71px;"><small>[[Thessaloniki]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:160px;top:42px;"><small>[[Kavala]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:184px;top:60px;"><small>[[Thasos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:228px;top:53px;"><small>[[Alexandroupoli]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:219px;top:70px;"><small>[[Samothrace]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:0;top:101px;"><small>[[Corfu]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:1px;top:117px;"><small>[[Igoumenitsa]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:113px;top:107px;"><small>[[Larissa]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:133px;top:118px;"><small>[[Volos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:90px;top:140px;"><small>[[Lamia]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:58px;top:108px;"><small>[[Ioannina]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:151px;top:156px;"><small>[[Chalcis]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:59px;top:173px;"><small>[[Patras]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:90px;top:180px;"><small>[[Corinth]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:80px;top:202px;"><small>[[Nafplion]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:75px;top:220px;"><small>[[Sparta]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:55px;top:225px;"><small>[[Kalamata]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:100px;top:236px;"><small>[[Areopoli]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:137px;top:186px;"><small>[[Piraeus]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:111px;top:172px;"><small>[[Eleusina]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:148px;top:200px;"><small>[[Laurium]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:204px;top:290px;"><small>[[Heraklion]]</small></div>
<!----------------------------------------- Locations -->
<div style="position:absolute;left:91px;top:54px;">''[[Macedonia (Greece)|<span style="color:#9f9788;">Macedonia]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:197px;top:43px;">''[[Western Thrace|<span style="color:#9f9788;">Thrace]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:41px;top:95px;">''[[Epirus (region)|<span style="color:#9f9788;">Epirus]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:72px;top:119px;">''[[Thessaly|<span style="color:#9f9788;">Thessaly]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:133px;top:142px;">''[[Euboea|<span style="color:#9f9788;">Euboea]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:57px;top:150px;">''[[Central Greece|<span style="color:#9f9788;">Central Greece]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:64px;top:191px;">''[[Peloponnese|<span style="color:#9f9788;">Peloponnese]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:57px;top:79px;"><small>[[Mount Olympus|Mt. Olympus]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:143px;"><small>[[Lefkada]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:8px;top:175px;"><small>[[Kefalonia]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:3px;top:190px;"><small>[[Zakynthos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:180px;top:88px;"><small>[[Lemnos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:213px;top:128px;"><small>[[Lesbos Island|Lesbos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:211px;top:162px;"><small>[[Chios]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:265px;top:185px;"><small>[[Samos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:180px;top:185px;"><small>[[Andros]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:189px;top:195px;"><small>[[Tinos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:205px;top:207px;"><small>[[Mykonos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:225px;top:191px;"><small>[[Icaria]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:254px;top:209px;"><small>[[Patmos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:220px;top:220px;"><small>[[Naxos Island|Naxos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:181px;top:234px;"><small>[[Milos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:165px;top:249px;"><small>[[Santorini]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:251px;top:233px;"><small>[[Kos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:269px;top:263px;"><small>[[Rhodes]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:277px;top:282px;"><small>[[Karpathos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:268px;top:300px;"><small>[[Kassos]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:105px;top:258px;"><small>[[Kythira]]</small></div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:170px;top:322px;"><small>[[Gavdos]]</small></div>
<!------------------------------------- SEAS -->
<div style="position:absolute;left:194px;top:140px;">[[Aegean Sea|<span style="color:#09d;">''Aegean'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:214px;top:177px;">[[Aegean Sea|<span style="color:#09d;">''Sea'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:185px;top:268px;">[[Sea of Crete|<span style="color:#09d;">''Sea of Crete'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:133px;top:228px;">[[Myrtoan Sea|<span style="color:#0088dd;">''Myrtoan'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:147px;top:237px;">[[Myrtoan Sea|<span style="color:#0088dd;">''Sea'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:09px;top:208px;">[[Ionian Sea|<span style="color:#0088dd;">''Ionian'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:14px;top:223px;">[[Ionian Sea|<span style="color:#0088dd;">''Sea'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:225px;top:319px;">[[Mediterranean Sea|<span style="color:#0088dd;">''Mediterranean'']]</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:238px;top:333px;">[[Mediterranean Sea|<span style="color:#0088dd;">''Sea'']]</div>
<!------------------------------------- ISLAND GROUPS -->
<div style="position:absolute;left:192px;top:305px;">''[[Crete|<span style="color:#999;">Crete]]'''''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:169px;top:105px;">''[[Aegean Islands|<span style="color:#999;">Aegean]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:180px;top:117px;">''[[Aegean Islands|<span style="color:#999;">Islands]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:143px;top:217px;">''[[Cyclades|<span style="color:#999;">Cyclades]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:229px;top:247px;">''[[Dodecanese|<span style="color:#999;">Dodecanese]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:02px;top:151px;">''[[Ionian Islands|<span style="color:#999;">Ionian]]''</div>
<div style="position:absolute;left:01px;top:161px;">''[[Ionian Islands|<span style="color:#999;">Islands]]''</div>
|}

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 [[Corinth Canal|canal]] of the [[Isthmus of Corinth]]).  Due to its highly indented coastline and numerous islands, Greece has the [[List of countries by length of coastline|11th longest coastline]] in the world with {{convert|13676|km|mi|0|abbr=on}};<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2060.html?countryName=Greece&countryCode=gr&regionCode=eu&#gr |title=The World Fact Book – Field Listing :: Coastline |accessdate=17 March 2011 |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]}}</ref> its land boundary is {{convert|1160|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}.  The country lies approximately between latitudes [[35th parallel north|34°]] and [[42nd parallel north|42° N]], and longitudes [[19th meridian east|19°]] and [[30th meridian east|30° E]].

Greece features a [[List of islands of Greece|vast number of islands]], between 1,200 and 6,000, depending on the definition,<ref>{{cite book |last=Marker, Sherry; Bowman, John; Kerasiotis, Peter; Sarna, Heidi |title= Frommer's Greek Islands |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2010  |page=12 |isbn= 978-0-470-52664-4 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=wvlP7D9C_7gC&pg=PA12}}</ref> 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 [[Rhodes]] and [[Lesbos]].

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.

Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains or hills, making the country one of the most mountainous in Europe.  [[Mount Olympus]], the mythical abode of the [[Twelve Olympians|Greek Gods]], culminates at Mytikas peak {{convert|2917|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, 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 {{convert|2637|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} at[[Smolikas|Mt. Smolikas]] (the second-highest in Greece) and historically has been a significant barrier to east-west travel.

[[File:Greece topo.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Topographical map of Greece.]]

The Pindus range continues through the central Peloponnese, crosses the islands of [[Kythera]] and Antikythera and finds its way into southwestern Aegean, in the island of Crete where it eventually ends.  The islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once constituted an extension of the mainland.  Pindus is characterized by its high, steep peaks, often dissected by numerous canyons and a variety of other karstic landscapes.  The spectacular [[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.<ref>{{cite book | title=Guinness World Records 2005: Special 50th Anniversary Edition | publisher=Guinness World Records | year=2004 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=D4wYAAAAIAAJ&dq=Vikos%2BGuines | isbn= 978-1-892051-22-6| page = 52}}</ref>  Another notable formation are the [[Meteora]] rock pillars, atop which have been built medieval Greek Orthodox monasteries.

Northeastern Greece features another high-altitude mountain range, the [[Rhodope Mountains|Rhodope]] range, spreading across the region of [[East Macedonia and Thrace]]; this area is covered with vast, thick, ancient forests, including the famous Dadia forest in the [[Evros (regional unit)|Evros regional unit]], in the far northeast of the country.

Extensive plains are primarily located in the regions of [[Thessaly]], [[Central Macedonia]] and [[Western Thrace|Thrace]].  They constitute key economic regions as they are among the few arable places in the country.  Rare marine species such as the Pinniped Seals and the [[Loggerhead Sea Turtle]] live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to the endangered [[brown bear]], the [[lynx]], the [[Roe Deer]] and the Wild Goat.

[[File:Navagio 01.jpg|220px|thumb|[[Navagio]] ([[MV Panagiotis|shipwreck]]) bay, [[Zakynthos]].]]
[[File:Mytikas.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Mount Olympus]].]]

The [[climate of Greece]] is primarily [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]], featuring mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.  This climate occurs at all coastal locations, including Athens, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Crete, the Peloponnese, the Ionian Islands and parts of the Central Continental Greece region.  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).

The mountainous areas of Northwestern Greece (parts of [[Epirus (region)|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]] with heavy snowfalls.  The inland parts of northern Greece, in Central Macedonia and [[East Macedonia and Thrace]] feature a [[temperate climate]] with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers with frequent thunderstorms.  Snowfalls occur every year in the mountains and northern areas, and brief snowfalls are not unknown even in low-lying southern areas, such as Athens.

[[Phytogeography|Phytogeographically]], Greece belongs to the [[Boreal Kingdom]] and is shared between the East Mediterranean province of the [[Mediterranean Region]] and the Illyrian province of the [[Circumboreal Region]].  According to the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] and the [[European Environment Agency]], the territory of Greece can be subdivided into six [[ecoregion]]s: the [[Illyrian deciduous forests]], [[Pindus Mountains mixed forests]], [[Balkan mixed forests]], Rhodope montane mixed forests, Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests and Crete Mediterranean forests.

==Politics==
{{Main |Politics of Greece|List of political parties in Greece}}
[[File:20090728 palamidi90.jpg|thumb|[[Nafplion]], first capital of modern Greece.]]
[[File:Hellenic Parliament from high above.jpg|thumb|The [[Hellenic Parliament]] in central [[Athens]].]]
Greece is a [[parliamentary republic]].<ref name="con51,53">{{cite web|url= http://www.parliament.gr/english/politeuma/syntagma.pdf |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070925181747/http://www.parliament.gr/english/politeuma/syntagma.pdf |archivedate=25 September 2007 |title= Syntagma |format= PDF|language= Greek | accessdate = 2 August 2009}}</ref>  The nominal [[head of state]] is the [[President of Greece|President of the Republic]], who is elected by the [[Hellenic Parliament|Parliament]] for a five-year term.<ref name="con51,53"/>  The current [[Constitution of Greece|Constitution]] was drawn up and adopted by the Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes and entered into force in 1975 after the fall of the [[Greek military junta of 1967–1974|military junta of 1967–74]].  It has been revised three times since, in [[Greek constitutional amendment of 1986|1986]], [[Greek Constitutional amendment of 2001|2001]] and [[Greek constitutional amendment of 2008|2008]].  The Constitution, which consists of 120 articles, provides for a [[separation of powers]] into [[executive branch|executive]], [[legislative branch|legislative]], and [[judicial branch]]es, and grants extensive specific guarantees (further reinforced in 2001) of [[civil liberties]] and [[social rights]].{{Sfn | Dagtoglou | 1991 | p = 21}}{{Sfn | Venizelos | 2002 | pp = 131–32, 165–72}}  [[Women's suffrage]] was guaranteed with an amendment to the 1952 Constitution.

According to the Constitution, executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and the [[Cabinet of Greece|Government]].<ref name="con51,53"/>  From the [[Greek Constitutional amendment of 1986|Constitutional amendment of 1986]] the President's duties were curtailed to a significant extent, and they are now largely ceremonial; most political power thus lies in the hands of the Prime Minister.<ref name="M477-478">{{Harvnb | Mavrias | 2002 | pp = 477–78, 486–87}}</ref>  The position of [[Prime Minister of Greece|Prime Minister]], Greece's [[head of government]], belongs to the [[List of Prime Ministers of Greece|current leader]] of the [[List of political parties in Greece|political party]] that can obtain a vote of confidence by the Parliament.  The President of the Republic formally appoints the Prime Minister and, on his recommendation, appoints and dismisses the other members of the Cabinet.<ref name="con51,53"/>

[[File:Kapodistrias2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Count Ioannis Kapodistrias]] (1776–1831), first head of state,  governor of independent Greece and founder of the modern Greek state.]]

Legislative powers are exercised by a 300-member elective [[unicameralism|unicameral Parliament]].<ref name = "con51,53"/>  Statutes passed by the Parliament are promulgated by the President of the Republic.<ref name = "con51,53"/>  [[Elections in Greece#Election of the legislature|Parliamentary elections]] are held every four years, but the President of the Republic is obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier on the proposal of the Cabinet, in view of dealing with a national issue of exceptional importance.<ref name="con51,53"/>  The President is also obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier, if the opposition manages to pass a [[motion of no confidence]].<ref name="con51,53"/>

The [[Judicial system of Greece|Judiciary]] is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises three Supreme Courts: the [[Court of Cassation (Greece)|Court of Cassation]] (Άρειος Πάγος), the [[Council of State (Greece)|Council of State]] (Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας) and the [[Chamber of Accounts (Greece)|Court of Auditors]] (Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο).  The Judiciary system is also composed of civil courts, which judge civil and penal cases and administrative courts, which judge disputes between the citizens and the Greek administrative authorities.

===Political parties===
{{update|date=September 2013}}
{{Main |Political parties of Greece}}
[[File:Karolos Papoulias .jpg|upright|thumb|[[Karolos Papoulias]], [[President of Greece|President of the Hellenic Republic]] since 2005.]]

Since the restoration of democracy, the Greek [[two-party system]] has been dominated by the liberal-conservative [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] (ND) and the social-democratic [[Panhellenic Socialist Movement]] (PASOK).{{Refn | group = lower-alpha | For a diachronic analysis of the Greek party system see {{Harvnb | Pappas | 2003 | pp = 90–114}}, 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).}}  Other significant parties include the [[Communist Party of Greece]] (KKE), the [[Coalition of the Radical Left]] (SYRIZA) the [[Popular Orthodox Rally]] (LAOS) and the [[Golden Dawn (Greece)|Popular Association – Golden Dawn]].

In 2010, two new parties split off from ND and SYRIZA, the centrist-liberal [[Democratic Alliance (Greece)|Democratic Alliance]] (DS) and the moderate leftist [[Democratic Left (Greece)|Democratic Left]] (DA).  [[George Papandreou (junior)|George Papandreou]], president of PASOK, won the [[Greek legislative election, 2009|parliamentary elections of October 2009]] with a majority in the Parliament of 160 out of 300 seats.  A new government was sworn in on 20 June 2011, and received a marginal vote of confidence on 22 June, with 155 votes for, 143 against, and two MPs absent.<ref name = "BBC confidence">{{cite news | title = Greek Government Survives Confidence Vote| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13869428 | publisher= BBC | work = News |accessdate = 5 August 2011 |date= 22 June 2011 | place = [[United Kingdom|UK]]}}</ref>

Since the beginning of the [[Greek government-debt crisis|government-debt crisis]] in 2009, the two major parties, New Democracy and PASOK, have seen a sharp decline in the share of votes in polls conducted, with recent polls showing support from 34% to 48% for the two major parties.<ref name = "Political Climate and Governance December 2011">{{cite news | place = GR | url = http://www.vprc.gr/uplds/File/teleytaia%20nea/Epikaira/Political%20Climate%20and%20Governance_December2011.pdf | format = PDF | title = Πολιτική Συγκυρία & Διακυβέρνηση | trans_title = Political climate & governance | date= 22 December 2011 | work = VPRC | accessdate = 22 December 2011}}</ref><ref name = "Political Climate and Governance January 2012">{{cite news | format = PDF | url = http://www.eklogika.gr/uploads/files/Dimoskopiseis/Political_Conjuncture_and_Governance_Jan2012.pdf | title = Πολιτική Συγκυρία & Διακυβέρνηση | trans_title = Political conjuncture & governance | place = GR | date = 26 January 2012 | work = VPRC | accessdate= 26 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="Panhellenic Research for ET3">{{cite news | format = PDF | url = http://www.eklogika.gr/uploads/files/Dimoskopiseis/ToThePoint-Ert3_30-1-12.pdf | title = Πανελλαδικη Ερευνα για την ET3 | date = 29 January 2012 | work = To The Point | accessdate = 29 January 2012 | place = GR}}</ref><ref name = "Research from Pulse RC for Pontiki">{{cite news | publisher = Ek logika | place = GR | url = http://www.eklogika.gr/uploads/files/Dimoskopiseis/PulseRC-ToPontiki_2-2-2012.pdf | title = Ερευνα της Pulse RC για το Ποντικι | date = 2 February 2012 | work =Pulse RC | accessdate = 2 February 2012 | format = PDF}}</ref><ref name="Varometro Feb 2011">{{cite news | format = PDF | url = http://www.eklogika.gr/uploads/files/Dimoskopiseis/varometro_2_12.pdf |title = Πολιτικό Βαρόμετρο 99 | trans_title = Political barometer | date = 7 February 2012 |work= Public Issue | publisher = Ek logika | place = GR | accessdate = 7 February 2011}}</ref>  Polls show support for PASOK ranging from 8%<ref name="Varometro Feb 2011"/> to 18%,<ref name = "Political Climate and Governance December 2011"/> while New Democracy is in the 18% to 30% range.<ref name = "Political Climate and Governance December 2011"/><ref name="Panhellenic Research for ET3"/>

In November 2011, the two major parties joined the smaller [[Popular Orthodox Rally]] in a [[grand coalition]], pledging their parliamentary support for a [[government of national unity]] headed by former [[European Central Bank]] vice-president [[Lucas Papademos]].<ref>{{cite web| title= Lucas Papademos named as new Greek prime minister | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15671354|publisher= BBC | work = News|accessdate= 10 November 2011 | date=10 November 2011 | location = UK}}</ref>

The coalition government led the country to the [[Greek legislative election, May 2012|parliamentary elections of May 2012]].  The power of the traditional Greek political parties, [[PASOK]] and [[New Democracy]], declined from 43% to 13% and from 33% to 18%, respectively, due to their support on the politics of [[Mnimonio]] and the austerity measures.  The leftist party of SYRIZA became the second major party, with an increase from 4% to 16%.  No party could form a sustainable government, which led to the [[Greek legislative election, June 2012|parliamentary elections of June 2012]].  The result of the second elections was the formation of a coalition government composed of [[New Democracy]] (29%), [[PASOK]] (12%) and [[Democratic Left (Greece)|Democratic Left]] (6%) parties.

===Administrative divisions===
{{Main |Administrative divisions of Greece}}
Since the [[Kallikratis programme]] reform entered into effect on 1 January 2011, Greece has consisted of thirteen [[modern regions of Greece|regions]] subdivided into a total of 325 [[Municipalities of Greece|municipalities]].  The 54 old [[Prefectures of Greece|prefectures and prefecture-level administrations]] have been largely retained as ''[[regional units of Greece|sub-units]]'' of the regions.  Seven decentralized administrations group one to three regions for administrative purposes on a regional basis.  There is also one [[autonomous area]], [[Mount Athos]] ({{lang-el|Agio Oros}}, "Holy Mountain"), which borders the region of [[Central Macedonia]].
{|
|-
|valign="middle"|
[[File:Peripheries of Greece numbered.svg|300px|left]]
||
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;"
|- style="font-size:100%; text-align:center;"
!No.!! [[modern regions of Greece|Region]]!! Capital!! Area (km²)!!  Area (sq. mi.)!!Population<ref name = "2011census">{{cite web | publisher = National Statistical Service | location = GR | format = PDF | date = 22 July 2011 | url = http://www.tovima.gr/files/1/2011/07/22/apografh22.pdf |title=Πίνακας 1: Προσωρινά αποτελέσματα του Μόνιμου Πληθυσμού της Ελλάδος}}</ref> !! GDP ([[1000000000 (number)|bn]])<ref name="Eurostat Regional GDP">{{cite web | url = http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/graph.do?tab=graph&plugin=1&pcode=tgs00003&language=en&toolbox=sort | title = Regional gross domestic product (million EUR), by NUTS 2 regions | year = 2008 | publisher = [[Eurostat]] |accessdate=25 October 2011}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1 || [[Attica (region)|Attica]] || [[Athens]] || style= "text-align:right"|3,808|| style = "text-align:right"|1,470|| style="text-align:right"|3,812,330 || style="text-align:right"|€103.334
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2 || [[Central Greece (region)|Central Greece]] || [[Lamia (city)|Lamia]] ||style="text-align:right"|15,549|| style="text-align:right"|6,004||style="text-align:right"|546,870 || style="text-align:right"|€12.530
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 3 || [[Central Macedonia]] || [[Thessaloniki]] ||style= "text-align:right"|18,811|| style = "text-align:right"|7,263|| style="text-align:right"|1,874,590 || style="text-align:right"|€34.458
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4 || [[Crete]] || [[Heraklion]] || style="text-align:right"|8,259||style="text-align:right"|3,189|| style="text-align:right"|621,340 || style="text-align:right"|€12.854
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5 || [[East Macedonia and Thrace]] || [[Komotini]] || style="text-align:right"|14,157||style="text-align:right"|5,466|| style="text-align:right"|606,170 || style="text-align:right"|€9.054
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6 || [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] || [[Ioannina]] ||style= "text-align:right"|9,203||style = "text-align:right"|3,553|| style="text-align:right"|336,650 || style="text-align:right"|€5.827
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7 || [[Ionian Islands (region)|Ionian Islands]] || [[Corfu (city)|Corfu]] ||style="text-align:right"|2,307|| style="text-align:right"|891||style="text-align:right"|206,470 || style="text-align:right"|€4.464
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8 || [[North Aegean]] || [[Mytilene]] || style="text-align:right"|3,836||style="text-align:right"|1,481|| style="text-align:right"|197,810 || style="text-align:right"|€3.579
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9 || [[Peloponnese (region)|Peloponnese]] || [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripoli]] ||style="text-align:right"|15,490|| style="text-align:right"|5,981||style="text-align:right"|581,980 || style="text-align:right"|€11.230
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10 || [[South Aegean]] || [[Ermoupoli]] || style="text-align:right"|5,286||style="text-align:right"|2,041|| style="text-align:right"|308,610 || style="text-align:right"|€7.816
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 11 || [[Thessaly]] || [[Larissa]] || style="text-align:right"|14,037||style="text-align:right"|5,420|| style="text-align:right"|730,730 || style="text-align:right"|€12.905
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 12 || [[West Greece]] || [[Patras]] || style="text-align:right"|11,350||style="text-align:right"|4,382|| style="text-align:right"|680,190 || style="text-align:right"|€12.122
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 13 || [[West Macedonia]] || [[Kozani]] || style="text-align:right"|9,451||style="text-align:right"|3,649|| style="text-align:right"|282,120 || style="text-align:right"|€5.564
|- style="font-size:100%; text-align:center;"
!No. !! Autonomous state !! Capital !! Area (km²)!!  Area (sq. mi.)!!Population<ref name = "2011census"/> !! GDP ([[1000000000 (number)|bn]])<ref name="Eurostat Regional GDP"/>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| (14) || [[Mount Athos]] || [[Karyes (Athos)|Karyes]] || style="text-align:right"|390||style="text-align:right"|151|| style="text-align:right"|1,830 || {{NA}}
|}
|}

===Foreign relations===
[[File:Foreign relations of Greece.svg|thumb|right|400px|Representation through:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/el-GR/Services/Directory/GreekAuthoritiesAbroad/#Β |title=Αρχές του Εξωτερικού (Missions Abroad) |work=Hellenic Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs |language=Greek |publisher=www.mfa.gr |accessdate=2 July 2011}}{{dead link|date=June 2013}}</ref> {{colorbox|#3771c8}} embassy – {{colorbox|#aaccff}} embassy in another country<br>{{colorbox|#ffaaaa}} general consulate – {{colorbox|#37c837}} liaison office – {{colorbox|#cccccc}} no representation – {{colorbox|black}} Greece]]
{{Main|Foreign relations of Greece}}
Greece's foreign policy is conducted through the [[Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Ministry for Foreign Affairs]] and its head, the [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]].  The current minister is [[Evangelos Venizelos]] of the [[Panhellenic Socialist Movement]](PA.SO.K.) party.  According to the official website, the main aims of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are to represent Greece before other states and international organizations;<ref name="MFA mission">{{cite web |url= http://www.mfa.gr/en/the-ministry/structure/mission-and-competences.html |title=Mission and Competences |publisher= [[Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Ministry for Foreign Affairs]] | accessdate= 23 February 2012}}</ref> safeguarding the interests of the Greek state and of its citizens abroad;<ref name="MFA mission"/> the promotion of Greek culture;<ref name="MFA mission"/> the fostering of closer relations with the [[Greek diaspora]];<ref name = "MFA mission"/> and the promotion of international cooperation.<ref name = "MFA mission"/>  Additionally, Greece has developed a regional policy to help promote peace and stability in the [[Balkans]], the [[Mediterranean]], and the [[Middle East]].<ref name="MFA regional policy">{{cite web |url= http://www.mfa.gr/en/foreign-policy/regional-policy/ | title= Regional Policy | publisher= [[Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Ministry for Foreign Affairs]] |accessdate=23 February 2012}}</ref>

The Ministry identifies three issues as of particular importance to the Greek state: [[Turkey|Turkish]] claims over what the Ministry defines as Greek [[sovereignty]] over the [[Aegean Sea]] and corresponding airspace;<ref name="MFA issues">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gr/en/foreign-policy-issues/ |title=Foreign Policy Issues | publisher =[[Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Ministry for Foreign Affairs]] |accessdate= 23 February 2012}}</ref> the legitimacy of the [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] on the island of [[Cyprus]];<ref name = "MFA issues"/> and the [[Macedonia naming dispute]]<ref name="MFA issues"/> with the small Balkan country which shares a name with Greece's largest and second-most-populous region, also called [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]].

Greece is a member of numerous international organizations, including the [[Council of Europe]], the [[European Union]], the [[Union for the Mediterranean]] and the [[United Nations]], of which it is a founding member.

==Military==
{{Main|Military of Greece}}
{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; border:1px #ddd solid;"
|+ '''Branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces'''
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="width:120px;"|[[File:Hellenic Army - LEO2A6HEL - 7231.jpg|border|x120px]]<br><small>Hellenic Army<br>Leopard 2A6 HEL</small>
| style="width:120px;"|[[File:HS Psara F454.jpg|border|x120px]]<br><small>Hellenic Navy<br>[[MEKO|MEKO-200 HN]]</small>
| style="width:120px;"|[[File:HAF F-16D Falcon.jpg|border|x120px]]<br><small>Hellenic Air Force<br>[[F-16 Fighting Falcon]]</small>
|}

The Hellenic Armed Forces are overseen by the [[Hellenic National Defense General Staff]] (Greek: Γενικό Επιτελείο Εθνικής Άμυνας – ΓΕΕΘΑ) and consists of three branches:
* [[Hellenic Army]]
* [[Hellenic Navy]]
* [[Hellenic Air Force]]

The civilian authority for the Greek military is the [[Ministry of National Defence (Greece)|Ministry of National Defence]].  Furthermore, Greece maintains the [[Hellenic Coast Guard]] for law enforcement in the sea and for search and rescue.

[[Conscription in Greece|Greece has universal compulsory military service]] for males, while females (who may serve in the military) are exempted from conscription.  {{As of|2009}}, Greece has mandatory military service of nine months for male citizens between the ages of 19 and 45.  However, as the armed forces had been gearing towards a complete professional army system, the government had promised that the mandatory military service would be cut or even abolished completely.

Greek males between the age of 18 and 60 who live in strategically sensitive areas may be required to serve part-time in the National Guard.  Service in the Guard is paid.  As a member of [[NATO]], the Greek military participates in exercises and deployments under the auspices of the alliance.

Greece spends over 7 billion USD every year on its military, or 2.3% of GDP, [[List of countries by military expenditures|ranked 24th in the world]].

==Economy==
{{Main |Economy of Greece}}
{{Main |List of Greek subdivisions by GDP}}

=== Introduction ===
[[File:Greece peripheries GDP per capita.svg|thumb|GDP per capita of the [[List of Greek subdivisions by GDP]] in 2008 according to Eurostat.]]
[[File:Greece GDP growth 1961-2010.svg|thumb|Greece's economic growth between 1961 and 2010, compared with Eurozone average from 1996.  Greece entered recession in 2009.]]

The economy of Greece is the [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|34th]] or [[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|42nd]] largest in the world at $299<ref name="World Bank GDP (nominal)">{{cite web|title= Gross domestic product 2011|url= http://databank.worldbank.org/databank/download/GDP.pdf| publisher= [[World Bank]] | accessdate = 20 July 2012|format=PDF|date=9 July 2012}}</ref> or $304<ref name="World Bank GDP (PPP)">{{cite web |title=Gross domestic product 2011, PPP|url= http://databank.worldbank.org/databank/download/GDP_PPP.pdf | publisher =World Bank|accessdate=20 July 2012|format=PDF|date=9 July 2012}}</ref> billion by [[nominal GDP|nominal]] [[gross domestic product]] or [[purchasing power parity]] (PPP) respectively, according to [[World Bank]] statistics for the year 2011.  Additionally, Greece is the 15th largest economy in the 27-member [[European Union]].<ref name="Eurostat GDP">{{cite web| title= Gross domestic product at market prices (tec00001) |url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/national_accounts/data/main_tables | publisher =[[Eurostat]] |accessdate= 22 February 2012}}</ref>  In terms of [[per capita income]], Greece is ranked [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|29th]] or [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|33rd]] in the world at $27,875 and $27,624 for nominal GDP and PPP respectively.

Greece is a [[developed country]] with high standards of living.  Its economy mainly comprises the [[service sector]] (85.0%) and [[industrial sector|industry]] (12.0%), while [[agriculture]] makes up 3.0% of the national economic output.<ref name="GDP by sector">{{cite web|title=Gross Added Value by Industry (A17; Years 2000–2011) | url = http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/PAGE-themes?p_param=A0702&r_param=SEL12&y_param=2011_00&mytabs=0 |publisher=Hellenic Statistical Authority|accessdate=22 March 2012 | location =Piraeus}}</ref>  Important Greek industries include [[Tourism in Greece|tourism]] (with 14.9 million<ref name="World Tourism Organization">{{cite web|title=UNWTO World Tourism Barometer | format = PDF | url = http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/barometer/UNWTO_Barom10_2_en.pdf |publisher=[[United Nations World Tourism Organization]] | accessdate= 22 February 2012}}</ref> international tourists in 2009, it is ranked as the 7th most visited country in the European Union<ref name="World Tourism Organization"/> and 16th in the world<ref name="World Tourism Organization"/> by the [[United Nations World Tourism Organization]]) and [[Greek Merchant Navy|merchant shipping]] (at 16.2%<ref name="UN Shipping report 2011"/> of the world's total capacity, the Greek merchant marine is the largest in the world<ref name="UN Shipping report 2011"/>), while the country is also a considerable agricultural producer (including fisheries) within the union.

With an economy larger than all the Balkan economies combined, Greece is the largest economy in the Balkans,<ref name = BalkanInsight>{{Citation | url = http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-businesses-seek-new-markets-as-greek-crisis-hits-home | newspaper = Balkan Insight | date = 11 Jul 12 | first1 = Besar | last1 = Likmeta | last2 = BIRN | first2 = Gjirokastra | title = Albania Eyes New Markets as Greek Crisis Hits Home Businesses affected by the economic downturn in Greece are seeking new markets in the West, hoping that a cheap and qualified labour force will draw fresh clients | quote = Greece is the Balkan region's largest economy and has been an important investor in Southeast Europe over the past decade}}</ref><ref name= Keridis>{{Citation | title = Greece and the Balkans: From Stabilization to Growth | first = Dimitris | last = Keridis | quote = Greece has a larger economy than all the Balkan countries combined.  Greece is also an important regional investor | type = lecture | publisher = Hellenic Studies Unit at Concordia University | place = Montreal, QC, [[Canada|CA]] | date = 3 March 2006}}</ref> and an important regional investor.<ref name= BalkanInsight/><ref name=Keridis/>  Greece is the number-two foreign investor of capital in Albania, the number-three foreign  investor in Bulgaria, at the top-three foreign investors in Romania and Serbia and the most important trading partner and largest foreign investor of the Republic of Macedonia.  Greek banks open a new branch somewhere in the Balkans on an almost weekly basis.<ref name="Bell2002"/><ref name="AydinIfantis2004">{{cite book|author1=Mustafa Aydin|author2=Kostas Ifantis|title=Turkish-Greek Relations: The Security Dilemma in the Aegean|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NuyWdJfQf4kC&pg=PA267|accessdate=27 May 2013|date=28 February 2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-50191-7|pages=266–267|quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="Thompson2012">{{cite book|author=Wayne C. Thompson|title=Western Europe 2012|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lKCMvYFQCCMC&pg=PA283|accessdate=27 May 2013|date=9 August 2012|publisher=Stryker Post|isbn=978-1-61048-898-3|page=283|quote=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.}}</ref>  The Greek telecommunications company [[OTE]] has become a strong investor in Yugoslavia and other Balkan countries.<ref name="Bell2002">{{cite book|author=Imogen Bell|title=Central and South-Eastern Europe: 2003|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4CrpzRJCbckC&pg=PA282|accessdate=27 May 2013|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-85743-136-0|page=282|quote=show that Greece has become the largest investor into Macedonia (FYRM), while Greek companies such as OTE have also developed strong presences in Yugoslavia and other Balkan countries.}}</ref>

The Greek economy is classified as advanced<ref name="Advanced economies">{{cite web| title= World Economic Outlook |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/02/pdf/text.pdf |publisher = [[International Monetary Fund]] | format = PDF | accessdate= 23 February 2012}}</ref> and [[high income economy|high-income]].<ref name="High income economies">{{cite web| work = Country classifications | title= Country and Lending Groups |url = http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups#High_income |publisher = [[World Bank]] |accessdate= 22 February 2012}}</ref>  Greece was a founding member of the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) and the [[Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation]] (BSEC).  In 1979 the accession of the country in the [[European Communities]] and the [[Internal Market (European Union)|single market]] was signed, and the process was completed in 1982.  In January 2001 Greece adopted the [[Euro]] as its currency, replacing the [[Greek drachma]] at an exchange rate of 340.75 drachma to the Euro.<ref name="Drachma exchange rate">{{cite web|title=Fixed Euro conversion rates | url =http://www.ecb.int/euro/intro/html/index.en.html|publisher=European Central Bank|accessdate=23 February 2012}}</ref>  Greece is also a member of the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the [[World Trade Organization]], and is ranked 31st on the KOF [[Globalization Index]] for 2010.

===Eurozone entry===
{{see also|Greek Financial Audit, 2004}}

Greece was accepted into the [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union]] by the [[European Council]] on 19 June 2000, based on a number of [[euro convergence criteria|criteria]] (inflation rate, budget deficit, public debt, long-term interest rates, exchange rate) using 1999 as the reference year.  After [[Greek Financial Audit, 2004|an audit]] commissioned by the incoming [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] government in 2004, [[Eurostat]] revealed that the statistics for the budget deficit had been under-reported.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/GREECE/EN/GREECE-EN.PDF| location = [[Europe|EU]] | title= The revision of the Greek government deficit & debt figures | type = report | format=PDF | publisher = Eurostat | date=22 November 2004}}</ref>

Most of the differences in the revised budget deficit numbers were due to a temporary change of accounting practices by the new government, i.e., recording expenses when military material was ordered rather than received.<ref>{{cite news | place = [[United Kingdom|UK]] | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2012/apr/26/greece-europe-north-south-divide?pagewanted=all | title = Greece did not Cause the Euro Crisis | publisher = Guardian | first1= Costa |last1= Simitis |first2= Yannis |last2= Stournaras | date= 26 April 2012 | accessdate = 2013-03-26}}</ref>  However, it was the retroactive application of ESA95 methodology (applied since 2000) by Eurostat, that finally raised the reference year (1999) budget deficit to 3.38% of GDP, thus exceeding the 3% limit.  This led to claims that Greece (similar claims have been made about other European countries like Italy{{Sfn | Story | Landon | Thomas | Schwartz | 2010}}<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cfr.org/italy/enron-italy-parallels-between-romes-efforts-qualify-euro-entry-financial-chicanery-texas/p4455 |title= Enron and Italy: Parallels between Rome's efforts to qualify for euro entry and the financial chicanery in Texas |publisher= Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | format = PDF | url= http://www.icmagroup.org/assets/documents/Derivatives%20and%20Public%20Debt%20Management.pdf |title= Derivatives and Public Debt Management |publisher = International Securities Market Association (ISMA) in cooperation with the Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref>) had not actually met all five accession criteria, and the common perception that Greece entered the Eurozone through "falsified" deficit numbers.

In the 2005 OECD report for Greece,<ref name="OECD Greece 2005">{{cite book |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=Wstn-8rGQZQC&printsec=frontcover&hl=el&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false |title = Economic Surveys | chapter = Greece | volume = 12 | month = September | year = 2005 | page = 47 | publisher = OECD |accessdate=25 September 2011}}</ref> it was clearly stated that “the impact of new accounting rules on the fiscal figures for the years 1997 to 1999 ranged from 0.7 to 1 percentage point of GDP; this retroactive change of methodology was responsible for the revised deficit exceeding 3% in 1999, the year of [Greece's] EMU membership qualification”.  The above led the Greek minister of finance to clarify that the 1999 budget deficit was below the prescribed 3% limit when calculated with the ESA79 methodology in force at the time of Greece's application, and thus the criteria had been met.<ref>{{cite web| publisher = HRI | url= http://www.hri.org/news/greek/ana/2004/04-12-08.ana.html#09 |title=Finmin says fiscal data saga has ended in wake of EU report | date =8 December 2004}}</ref>

The original accounting practice for military expenses was later restored in line with Eurostat recommendations, theoretically lowering even the ESA95-calculated 1999 Greek budget deficit to below 3% (an official Eurostat calculation is still pending for 1999).

A frequent error is the confusion of the discussion regarding Greece’s Eurozone entry with the controversy regarding usage of derivatives’ deals with US banks by Greece and other Eurozone countries to artificially reduce their reported budget deficits{{Citation needed | date = March 2013}}.  A currency swap arranged with [[Goldman Sachs]] allowed Greece to “hide” $1 billion of debt; however, this affected deficit values after 2001 (when Greece had already been admitted into the Eurozone) and is not related to Greece’s Eurozone entry.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2011/07/goldman-bet-against-its-european.html |title=Goldman bet against Entire European Nations|date=16 July 2011 |publisher = Washington’s Blog}}</ref>

Forensic accountants found that data submitted by Greece to Eurostat had a statistical distribution indicative of manipulation.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/171aaa36-d8f1-11e0-aff1-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1XWna9dha |title=Look out for No. 1 | first = Tim | last = Harford |date= 9 September 2011 |publisher= The Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Fact and Fiction in EU-Governmental Economic Data|last1= Rauch|first1= Bernhard|last2= Max| first2= Göttsche| last3= Brähler | first3 = Gernot | last4 = Engel | first4 = Stefan| journal= German Economic Review|volume= 12|issue= 3| pages = 244–54 | year = 2011}}</ref>

{{anchor|2010 debt crisis}} <!-- Linked from Greece and [[2010–2011 Greek protests]] -->

===Debt crisis (2010–)===
{{See also|Greek government-debt crisis}}

[[File:Greece public debt 1999-2010.svg|thumb|Greek public debt 1999–2010 compared with Eurozone average]]  

By the end of 2009, as a result of a combination of international and local factors the Greek economy faced [[2010 European sovereign debt crisis|its most-severe crisis]] since the restoration of democracy in 1974 as the Greek government revised its deficit from an estimated 6% to 12.7% of gross domestic product (GDP).<ref>Lynn, Matthew (2011).  ''Bust: Greece, the Euro and the Sovereign Debt Crisis''.  [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hobeken]], New Jersey:  [[Bloomberg Press]].  ISBN 978-0-470-97611-1.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = Greece's Sovereign-Debt Crunch: A Very European Crisis |work=The Economist |url = http://www.economist.com/node/15452594?story_id=15452594 | date =  4 February 2010| accessdate =2 May 2010 }}</ref>  

In early 2010, it was revealed that through the assistance of [[Goldman Sachs]], [[JPMorgan Chase]] and numerous other banks, financial products were developed which enabled the governments of Greece, Italy and many other European countries to hide their borrowing.<ref name=Rehn>{{cite web| title = Rehn: No Other State Will Need a Bail-Out| url = http://euobserver.com/19/30015 |publisher=[[EU Observer]]| accessdate =6 May 2010 }}</ref><ref name=Goldman>{{cite web| title = Greece Paid Goldman {{Nowrap|$300 Million}} To Help It Hide Its Ballooning Debts| url =http://web.archive.org/web/20100305175636/http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-greece-paid-goldman-300-million-to-help-it-hide-its-ballooning-debts-2010-2| publisher=[[Business Insider]] | accessdate =6 May 2010 }}</ref>  Dozens of similar agreements were concluded across Europe whereby banks supplied cash in advance in exchange for future payments by the governments involved; in turn, the liabilities of the involved countries were "kept off the books".<ref name=Goldman/><ref>{{cite news|title=Global Business: Wall St. Helped to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|date=February 13, 2010|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author=LOUISE STORY|author2=LANDON THOMAS Jr|author3=NELSON D. SCHWARTZ|quote=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.}}</ref><ref name=Bloomberg>{{cite web|title=Goldman Secret Greece Loan Shows Two Sinners as Client Unravels|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-06/goldman-secret-greece-loan-shows-two-sinners-as-client-unravels.html|date=March 5, 2012|publisher=Bloomberg|author=Nicholas Dunbar & Elisa Martinuzzi|quote=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.”}}</ref><ref name="The Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Did Goldman Sachs help Britain hide its debts too?|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/edmundconway/100003757/did-goldman-sachs-help-britain-hide-its-debts-too/|date=February 15, 2010|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|author=Edmund Conway Economics|quote=One of the more intriguing lines from that latter piece says: “Instruments developed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and a wide range of other banks enabled politicians to mask additional borrowing in Greece, Italy and possibly elsewhere.” So, the obvious question goes, what about the UK? Did Britain hide its debts? Was Goldman Sachs involved? Should we panic?}}</ref><ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news|title=Banks that inflated Greek debt should be investigated, EU urges|url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/16/greek-debt-goldman-sachs|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=16 February 2010|author=Elena Moya|quote="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.}}</ref><ref name="Der Spiegel">{{cite news|title=Greek Debt Crisis: How Goldman Sachs Helped Greece to Mask its True Debt|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/greek-debt-crisis-how-goldman-sachs-helped-greece-to-mask-its-true-debt-a-676634.html|accessdate=29 October 2013|newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]]|date=February 8, 2010|author=Beat Balzli|quote=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.}}</ref>  According to ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' credits given to European governments were disguised as "swaps" and consequently did not get registered as debt.  As Eurostat at the time ignored statistics involving financial derivatives, a  German derivatives dealer had commented to ''Der Spiegel'' that "The Maastricht rules can be circumvented quite legally through swaps," and "In previous years, Italy used a similar trick to mask its true debt with the help of a different US bank."<ref name="Der Spiegel"/>  These conditions had enabled Greek as well as many other European governments to spend beyond their means, while meeting the deficit targets of the European Union.<ref name=Goldman/><ref>{{Cite news| title = Wall St. Helped To Mask Debt Fueling Europe's Crisis |work=The New York Times | url =http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html?pagewanted=1&hp | date =  14 February 2010| accessdate =6 May 2010 | author=Story, Louise; Thomas Jr, Landon; Schwartz, Nelson D.}}</ref>  In May 2010, the Greek government deficit was again revised and estimated to be 13.6%<ref>{{cite web | title = Papandreou Faces Bond Rout as Budget Worsens, Workers Strike | url = http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aUi3XLUwIIVA |publisher=Bloomberg|date=22 April 2010|accessdate =2 May 2010 }}</ref> which was the second highest in the world relative to GDP with  [[Iceland]] in first place at 15.7% and [[Great Britain]] third with 12.6%.<ref>{{Cite news| author=Staff | title = Britain's Deficit Third Worst in the World, Table| url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/7269629/Britains-deficit-third-worst-in-the-world-table.html| date =  19 February 2010| accessdate =5 August 2011 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London }}</ref>  Public debt was forecast, according to some estimates, to hit 120% of GDP during 2010.<ref>{{Cite news| author=Melander, Ingrid; Papchristou, Harry | title = Greek Debt To Reach 120.8 Pct of GDP in '10&nbsp;– Draft| url =http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/05/greece-budget-debt-idUSATH00496420091105 |agency=Reuters  | date =  5 November 2009| accessdate =5 August 2011}}</ref>

As a consequence, there was a crisis in international confidence in Greece's ability to repay its sovereign debt.  To avert such a default, in May 2010 the other Eurozone countries, and the IMF, agreed to a rescue package which involved giving Greece an immediate €{{Nowrap|45 billion}} in loans, with more funds to follow, totaling €{{Nowrap|110 billion}}.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Thesing, Gabi; Krause-Jackson, Flavia |title= Greece Faces `Unprecedented' Cuts as $159B Rescue Nears |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-02/greece-faces-unprecedented-cuts-as-159b-rescue-nears.html | publisher=Bloomberg |date=3 May 2010 |accessdate=6 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Kerin Hope |title= EU Puts Positive Spin on Greek Rescue |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08a87e4e-55c4-11df-b835-00144feab49a.html |work=Financial Times  |date=2 May 2010 |accessdate=6 May 2010}}</ref>  To secure the funding, Greece was required to adopt harsh austerity measures to bring its deficit under control.<ref>{{cite news|last=Newman|first=Rick|title=Lessons for Congress From the Chaos in Greece|url=http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2011/11/03/lessons-for-congress-from-the-chaos-in-greece|accessdate=3 November 2011|newspaper=US News|date=3 November 2011}}</ref>

On 15 November 2010 the EU's statistics body Eurostat revised the public finance and debt figure for Greece following an excessive deficit procedure methodological mission in Athens, and put Greece's 2009 government deficit at 15.4% of GDP and public debt at 126.8% of GDP making it the biggest deficit (as a percentage of GDP) among the EU member nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europolitics.info/economy-monetary-affairs/deficits-increase-in-eurozone-and-eu-artb287086-50.html| publisher=[[Eurostat]] |title=Deficits Increase in Eurozone and EU | author=van Puyvelde, Eric |date= 15 November 2010 |accessdate=19 December 2010}}</ref>

In 2011 it became apparent that the bail-out would be insufficient and a second bail-out amounting to €{{Nowrap|130 billion}} (${{Nowrap|173 billion}}) was agreed in 2012, subject to strict conditions, including financial reforms and further austerity measures.<ref name= BBCQ&A>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13798000 |title= Q&A: Greek debt  |author= |date= |work= |publisher=BBC News Online |accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref>  As part of the deal, there was to be a 53% reduction in the Greek debt burden to private creditors and any profits made by eurozone central banks on their holdings of Greek debt are to be repatriated back to Greece.<ref name= BBCQ&A/>  A team of monitors will be based in Athens to ensure agreed reforms are put into place and three months worth of debt repayments are to be held in a special account.<ref name= BBCQ&A/>

===Maritime industry===
{{Main|Greek shipping|List of ports in Greece}}
{{See also|Economy of Greece#Maritime industry|label 1=Economy of Greece » Maritime industry}}
[[File:Greek tanker ship.png|250px|thumb|[[Greek Merchant Navy|Greece]] controls 16.2% of the world's total [[merchant fleet]], making it the largest in the world.  Greece is ranked in the top 5 for all kinds of ships, including first for tankers and bulk carriers.]]

The shipping industry is a key element of Greek economic activity dating back to ancient times.<ref name="shipping">{{cite web|url=http://www.greece.org/poseidon/work/articles/polemis_one.html |title=The History of Greek Shipping |author=Polemis, Spyros M. |publisher=greece.org |accessdate=9 April 2007}}</ref>  Today, shipping is one of the country's most important industries.  It accounts for 4.5% of GDP, employs about 160,000 people (4% of the workforce), and represents 1/3 of the country's trade deficit.<ref name =nbg>{{cite web | author=Press release |url=http://www.nbg.gr/en/pr_release_resb.asp?P_ID=463 | publisher=[[National Bank of Greece]] |title=Greek Shipping Is Modernized To Remain a Global Leader and Expand Its Contribution to the Greek Economy |date=11 May 2006 |accessdate=8 April 2007| archiveurl =http://web.archive.org/web/20070831114031/http://www.nbg.gr/en/pr_release_resb.asp?P_ID=463|archivedate = 31 August 2007}}</ref>

During the 1960s, the size of the Greek fleet nearly doubled, primarily through the investment undertaken by the shipping magnates, [[Aristotle Onassis]] and [[Stavros Niarchos]].<ref name="slate">{{Cite news |url = http://www.slate.com/?id=2124542& |title = So Many Greek Shipping Magnates... | author=Engber, Daniel |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=17 August 2005 |accessdate =5 August 2011}}</ref>  The basis of the modern Greek maritime industry was formed after World War II when Greek shipping businessmen were able to amass surplus ships sold to them by the U.S. government through the [[Ship Sales Act]] of the 1940s.<ref name=slate/>

According to a [[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development]] report in 2011, the Greek merchant navy is the largest in the world at 16.2% of the world's total capacity,<ref name="UN Shipping report 2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2011_en.pdf |title=Review of Maritime Transport 2011 |publisher=United Nations |year=2011 |accessdate=17 February 2012}}</ref> up from 15.96% in 2010.<ref name="UN Shipping report">{{cite web |url=http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2010_en.pdf|title=Review of Maritime Transport 2010 |publisher=United Nations |year=2010|accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref>  This is a drop from the equivalent number in 2006, which was 18.2%.<ref name="UN Shipping report 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2006_en.pdf |title=Review of Maritime Transport 2006|publisher=United Nations |year=2006 |accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref>  The total tonnage of the country's merchant fleet is 202 million [[Deadweight tonnage|dwt]], ranked 1st in the world.<ref name="UN Shipping report 2011"/>

In terms of total number of ships, the [[Greek Merchant Navy]] stands at 4th worldwide, with 3,150 ships (741 of which are registered in Greece whereas the rest 2,409 in other ports).<ref name="UN Shipping report"/>  In terms of ship categories, Greece ranks first in both [[tanker (ship)|tankers]] and dry [[bulk carrier]]s, fourth in the number of [[container ship|containers]], and fifth in other ships.<ref name="BTS">{{cite web|url=http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/maritime_trade_and_transportation/2007/html/table_02_01.html|title=Top 15 Ranking of World Merchant Fleet by Country of Owner, Year-End 2006|publisher=U.S. [[Bureau of Transportation Statistics]] |year=2001 |accessdate=11 June 2013}}</ref>  However, today's fleet roster is smaller than an all-time high of 5,000 ships in the late 1970s.<ref name=shipping/>  Additionally, the total number of ships flying a Greek flag (includes non-Greek fleets) is 1,517, or 5.3% of the world's dwt (ranked 5th).<ref name="UN Shipping report"/>

===Tourism===
{{Main|Tourism in Greece}}
[[File:Corfu Town R02.jpg|thumb|center|900px|Panoramic view of parts of old [[Corfu City]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]], as seen from [[Old Fortress, Corfu|Palaio Frourio]]. The Bay of Garitsa is to the left and the port of [[Corfu]] is just visible on the top right of the picture. [[Spianada Square|Spianada]] is in the foreground.]]
[[File:Ia Santorini-2009-1.JPG|260px|thumb|right|Panorama of [[Santorini]].]]

An important percentage of Greece's national income comes from tourism.  Tourism funds 16% of the gross domestic products which also includes the Tourism Council and the London-Based World Travel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_24/07/2012_453521 |title=Greece's 5-month tourism receipts drop 12.5 percent |publisher=ekathimerini.com |date= |accessdate=26 March 2013}}</ref>  According to [[Eurostat]] statistics, Greece welcomed over 19.5 million tourists in 2009,<ref name="Eurostat Tourism table">{{cite web|url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/setupModifyTableLayout.do |title=Nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments – regional – annual data |year=2010|publisher=[[Eurostat]] |accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref> which is an increase from the 17.7 million tourists it welcomed in 2007.<ref name="Eurostat Tourism">{{cite web|url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-HA-10-001-11/EN/KS-HA-10-001-11-EN.PDF|title=Tourism |year=2010 |publisher=[[Eurostat]] |accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref>

The vast majority of visitors in Greece in 2007 came from the European continent, numbering 12.7 million,<ref name="A2001">{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/A2001/Other/A2001_STO03_TB_MM_12_2007_02_F_GR.pdf|title=02.  Αφίξεις αλλοδαπών από το εξωτερικό κατά υπηκοότητα και μέσο ταξιδίου ( Δεκέμβριος 2007 ) |trans_title=02.  Arrivals of foreigners from abroad by nationality and means of travel (December 2007) |date=December 2007 |publisher=Hellenic National Statistics Agency|language=Greek |accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref> while the most visitors from a single nationality were those from the United Kingdom, (2.6 million), followed closely by those from Germany (2.3 million).<ref name="A2001"/>  In 2010, the most visited [[modern regions of Greece|region]] of Greece was that of [[Central Macedonia]], with 18% of the country's total tourist flow (amounting to 3.6 million tourists), followed by [[Attica]] with 2.6 million and the [[Peloponnese]] with 1.8 million.<ref name="Eurostat Tourism table"/>  [[Northern Greece]] is the country's most-visited geographical region, with 6.5 million tourists, while Central Greece is second with 6.3 million.<ref name="Eurostat Tourism table"/>

In 2010, [[Lonely Planet]] ranked Greece's northern and second-largest city of [[Thessaloniki]] as the world's fifth-best party town worldwide, comparable to other cities such as [[Dubai]] and [[Montreal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/canada/travel-tips-and-articles/39339 |title=Ultimate party cities |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] |accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref>  In 2011, [[Santorini]] was voted as "The World's Best Island" in ''[[Travel + Leisure]]''.<ref name="Best Islands">{{cite web|url=http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2011/islands/europe-islands/242|title=World's Best Awards&nbsp;– Islands |publisher=[[Travel + Leisure]] |accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref>  Its neighboring island [[Mykonos]], came in fifth in the European category.<ref name="Best Islands"/>

===Transport===
{{Main|Transport in Greece}}
[[File:BrugPatras.JPG|240px|thumb|right|The [[Rio-Antirio bridge]] (''[[Charilaos Trikoupis]]'') connects mainland Greece to the [[Peloponnese]].]]

Since the 1980s, the road and rail network of Greece has been significantly modernized.  Important works include the [[Egnatia Odos (modern road)|A2 (Egnatia Odos)]] motorway, that connects northwestern Greece ([[Igoumenitsa]]) with northern and northeastern Greece ([[Kipoi, Evros|Kipoi]]); and the [[Rio–Antirrio bridge]], the longest suspension cable bridge in Europe ({{convert|2250|m|0|abbr=on}} long), connecting the Peloponnese from [[Rio, Greece|Rio]] ({{convert|7|km|0|abbr=on}} from [[Patras]]) with [[Antirrio]] in Central Greece.

Important projects that are currently underway include, the conversion of the [[Greek National Road 8A|GR-8A]], connecting Athens with Patras and further towards [[Pyrgos, Ilia|Pyrgos]] in the western Peloponnese, into a modernised motorway throughout its length (scheduled to be completed by 2014); upgrading unfinished sections of motorway on the [[Motorway 1 (Greece)|A1]], connecting Athens to [[Thessaloniki]]; and the construction of the [[Thessaloniki Metro]].

The Athens Metropolitan Area in particular is served by some of the most modern and efficient transport infrastructure in Europe, such as the [[Athens International Airport]], the privately run [[Attiki Odos]] motorway network and the expanded [[Athens Metro]] system.

Most of the Greek islands and many main cities of Greece are connected by air mainly from the two major Greek airlines, [[Olympic Air]] and [[Aegean Airlines]].  Maritime connections have been improved with modern high-speed craft, including [[hydrofoils]] and [[catamarans]].

Railway connections play a somewhat lesser role in Greece than in many other European countries, but they too have also been expanded, with new suburban/[[commuter rail]] connections, serviced by [[Proastiakos]] around Athens, towards its airport, [[Kiato]] and [[Chalcis|Chalkida]]; around Thessaloniki, towards the cities of [[Larissa]] and [[Edessa, Greece|Edessa]]; and around Patras.  A modern intercity rail connection between Athens and Thessaloniki has also been established, while an upgrade to double lines in many parts of the {{convert|2500|km|mi|abbr=on}} network is underway.  International railway lines connect Greek cities with the rest of Europe, the Balkans and Turkey, although {{as of|lc=y|2011}} they have been suspended, due to the financial crisis.

===Telecommunications===
{{Main|Telecommunications in Greece}}
[[File:Athens-Kiffisia-aerial.jpg|thumb|[[OTE]] headquarters in Athens.]]
[[File:NOESIS.jpg|220px|thumb|[[Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum]].]]

Modern digital information and communication networks reach all areas.  There are over {{convert|35000|km|0|abbr=on}} 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|2011|alt=as of early 2011}}, translating to 20% broadband penetration.<ref name="cnbc">{{clarify|date=August 2011|reason=article in greek.  at minimum, needs english translation of headline appended to "trans_title" parameter.}} {{cite news | date = 2 May 2011 | url=http://news.in.gr/science-technology/article/?aid=1231106170| title = ''Το 20% του πληθυσμού πλησιάζει η διείσδυση της ευρυζωνικότητας στην Ελλάδα'' | language = Greek | publisher=in.gr | accessdate =5 August 2011}}</ref>  According to 2012 [[Hellenic Statistical Authority|ELSTAT]] data, 53,6% of the households used the internet regularly and of which 94,8% of them had broadband connection<ref name="ELSTAT-Zougla.gr article">{{cite web|url=http://www.zougla.gr/greece/article/to-536-ton-nikokirion-dia8eti-sindesi-sto-diadiktio |title=Το 53,6% των νοικοκυριών διαθέτει σύνδεση στο διαδίκτυο |publisher=Zougla.gr |date= |accessdate=26 March 2013}}</ref>

[[Internet café]]s that provide net access, office applications and multiplayer gaming are also a common sight in the country, while mobile internet on [[3G]] cellphone networks and [[Wi-Fi]] connections can be found almost everywhere.<ref>{{cite web|title=Finding Free WiFi Internet in the Greek Islands|url=http://www.openjourney.com/blogs/josh/free-wifi-internet-greek-islands-47.html|publisher=Open Journey |accessdate=20 August 2011|date=29 June 2011}}</ref>  3G mobile internet usage has been on a sharp increase in recent years, with a 340% increase between August 2011 and August 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sharp increase 340% of mobile internet|url=http://www.tovima.gr/finance/article/?aid=474421|publisher=TA NEA |accessdate=12 September 2012|date=12 September 2012}}</ref>  The United Nations International Telecommunication Union ranks Greece among the top 30 countries with a highly developed information and communications infrastructure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/backgrounders/general/pdf/5.pdf |title= ICT Development Index (IDI), 2010 and 2008 |accessdate=22 July 2012|publisher=[[The United Nations Telecommunication Union|International Telecommunication Union]]}} p. 15.</ref>

===Science and technology===
<!-- {{main|Science and technology in Greece}} -->

The [https://web.archive.org/web/20110429194547/http://www.gsrt.gr/default.asp?V_LANG_ID=2, General Secretariat for Research and Technology] of the [http://www.ypan.gr/index_uk_c_cms.htmHellenic Ministry of Development] is responsible for designing, implementing and supervising national research and technological policy.  In 2003, public spending on [[research and development]] (R&D) was 456.37 million euros (12.6% increase from 2002).  Total R&D spending (both public and private) as a percentage of GDP had increased considerably since the beginning of the past decade, from 0.38% in 1989, to 0.65% in 2001.  R&D spending in Greece remained lower than the EU average of 1.93%, but, according to Research DC, based on OECD and Eurostat data, between 1990 and 1998, total R&D expenditure in Greece enjoyed the third-highest increase in Europe, after [[Finland]] and Ireland.  Because of its strategic location, qualified workforce and political and economic stability, many multinational companies such as [[Ericsson]], [[Siemens AG|Siemens]], [[Motorola]] and [[Coca-Cola]] have their regional research and development headquarters in Greece.

Greece's technology parks with incubator facilities include [http://www.stepc.gr/ the Science and Technology Park of Crete] (Heraklion), the [http://www.thestep.gr/ Thessaloniki Technology Park], the [http://www.ltp.ntua.gr/ Lavrio Technology Park] and the [http://www.psp.org.gr/index.php?lang=en Patras Science Park], the [http://www.step-epirus.gr/ Science and Technology Park of Epirus] (Ioannina).  Greece has been a member of the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA) since 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMWYQRMD6E_Benefits_0.html |title=
Greece becomes 16th ESA Member State |date=22 March 2005 |publisher=ESA |accessdate=15 May 2012}}</ref>  Cooperation between ESA and the Hellenic National Space Committee began in the early 1990s.  In 1994 Greece and ESA signed their first cooperation agreement.  Having formally applied for full membership in 2003, Greece became the ESA's sixteenth member on 16 March 2005.  As member of the ESA, Greece participates in the agency's telecommunication and technology activities, and the [[Global Monitoring for Environment and Security]] Initiative.

==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of Greece|Greeks}}
[[File:Brainsik-ermoupoli.jpg|thumb|340px|[[Hermoupolis]], on the island of [[Syros]], is the capital of the [[Cyclades]].]]

The official statistical body of Greece is the [[Hellenic Statistical Authority]] (ELSTAT), according to which Greece's total population in 2011 was 10,815,197.<ref name = "ELSTAT">{{cite web | url = http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/General/A1602_SAM01_DT_DC_00_2011_02_F_GR.pdf | title = 2011 Greek Census | format = PDF | publisher = [[Hellenic Statistical Authority]] |accessdate=10 August 2012}}</ref> Greek society is fairly homogenous, with 94 percent of the population being [[ethnic Greeks]] who speak the [[Greek language]]. The birth rate in 2003 stood 9.5 per 1,000 inhabitants, significantly lower than the rate of 14.5 per 1,000 in 1981. At the same time, the mortality rate increased slightly from 8.9 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 to 9.6 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2003. 

Greek society has rapidly changed over the last several decades. Its declining fertility rate has led to an increase in the median age, which coincides with the overall [[aging of Europe]]. In 2001, 16.71 percent of the population were 65 years old and older, 68.12 percent between the ages of 15 and 64 years old, and 15.18 percent were 14 years old and younger.<ref name="nssg">{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/hellas_in_numbers_eng.pdf|title=Greece in Numbers | publisher=[[Hellenic Statistical Authority]] |year=2006|accessdate=14 December 2007|format= PDF| archiveurl =http://web.archive.org/web/20071124142319/http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/hellas_in_numbers_eng.pdf|archivedate = 24 November 2007}}</ref> Marriage rates kept falling from almost 71 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 until 2002, only to increase slightly in 2003 to 61 per 1,000 and then fall again to 51 in 2004.<ref name=nssg/> Moreover, divorce rates have seen an increase – from 191.2 per 1,000 marriages in 1991 to 239.5 per 1,000 marriages in 2004.<ref name=nssg/> Subsequently, the average Greek family is smaller and older than in previous generations.

===Cities===
{{See also|List of cities in Greece}}
Almost two-thirds of the [[Greeks|Greek people]] live in urban areas. Greece's largest and most influential metropolitan centres are those of [[Athens]] and [[Thessaloniki]], with metropolitan populations of approximately 4 million and 1 million inhabitants respectively. Other prominent cities with urban populations above 100,000 inhabitants include those of [[Patras]], [[Heraklion]], [[Larissa]], [[Volos]], [[Rhodes (city)|Rhodes]], [[Ioannina]], [[Chania]] and [[Chalcis]].<ref name="cities">{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gr/Athena2001/Athena2001.ASP?wcu=$cmd=0$id=5200712142356520314915|title=Athena 2001 Census | publisher=[[National Statistical Service of Greece]]|accessdate=14 December 2007 | archiveurl =http://web.archive.org/web/20080117231653/http://www.statistics.gr/Athena2001/Athena2001.ASP?wcu=$cmd=0$id=5200712142356520314915| archivedate = 17 January 2008}}</ref>

The table below lists the largest cities in Greece, by population contained in their respective contiguous built up urban areas; which are either made up of many municipalities, evident in the cases of Athens and Thessaloniki, or are contained within a larger single municipality, case evident in most of the smaller cities of the country. The results come from the preliminary figures of the population census that took place in Greece in May 2011.

{{Largest cities of Greece}}

===Migration===
{{Main|Greek Diaspora|Immigration to Greece}}

[[File:50 largest Greek diaspora.png|thumb|350px|A map of the top fifty countries with the largest [[Greek diaspora]] communities.]]
Throughout the 20th century, millions of Greeks migrated to the [[Greek American|United States]], [[Greek Britons|United Kingdom]], [[Greek Australian|Australia]], [[Greek Canadians|Canada]], and [[Greeks in Germany|Germany]], creating a thriving [[Greek diaspora]].  Net migration started to show positive numbers from the 1970s, but until the beginning of the 1990s, the main influx was that of returning Greek migrants.<ref name=eliamep>Triandafyllidou, Anna.  [http://www.idea6fp.uw.edu.pl/pliki/POES_Greece_PB_3.pdf "Migration and Migration Policy in Greece"].  ''Critical Review and Policy Recommendations''.  [[Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy]]. No. 3, April 2009</ref>

In 1986 legal and unauthorized immigrants totaled approximately 90,000.  A study from the [http://www.mmo.gr/ mmo.gr Mediterranean Migration Observatory] maintains that the 2001 census recorded 762,191 persons residing in Greece without Greek citizenship, constituting around 7% of total 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.<ref>Kasimis, Charalambos; Kassimi, Chryssa (June 2004).  [http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=228 "Greece: A History of Migration"].  Migration Information Source.</ref>

The greatest cluster of non-EU immigrant population are the larger urban centers, especially the Municipality of 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 also a considerable number of co-ethnics that came from the Greek communities of Albania and the former [[Soviet Union]].<ref name=eliamep/>

Greece, together with [[Italy]] and Spain, faces a large influx of illegal immigrants trying to enter the EU.  Illegal immigrants entering Greece mostly do so from the border with [[Turkey]] at the [[Evros River]].  In 2012, the majority of illegal immigrants entering Greece came from [[Afghanistan]], followed by [[Pakistan]]is and [[Bangladesh]]is.<ref>{{cite web|title=In crisis, Greece rounds up immigrants – Associated Press|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10403249|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=11 June 2013|date=22 August 2012}}</ref>  Since 2012, extensive day-to-day police operations (called "Xenios Zeus") take place in Athens and other major Greek cities for the detention of illegal immigrants.  So far more than 15,000 illegal immigrants have been detained and thousands have been checked for their country residence status.  Illegal immigrants are detained and then are sent back to their countries of origin.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

===Religion===
{{Main |Religion in Greece}}
[[File:Greece meteora monasteries.JPG|thumb|220px|Monasteries of [[Meteora]], [[Thessaly]].]]
[[File:Patmos monastery.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Monastery of Saint John the Theologian]], [[Patmos]].]]

The Greek Constitution recognizes the [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian faith]] as the "prevailing" faith of the country, while guaranteeing freedom of religious belief for all.<ref name="con51,53"/>  The Greek 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 [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]], belonging to the [[Greek Orthodox Church]].<ref name = "religion">{{cite web | url = http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90178.htm | work =International Religious Freedom Report 2007 | title = Greece | publisher =[[United States Department of State]], Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor | date=15 September 2006 |accessdate=14 April 2007}}</ref>

In a [[Eurostat]]&nbsp;– [[Eurobarometer]] 2010 poll, 79% of Greek citizens responded that they "believe there is a God".<ref name="eurostat">{{Citation |url = http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf |title=Special Eurobarometer, biotechnology | page = 204|date=Fieldwork: Jan–Feb 2010|format=PDF}}</ref>  According to other sources, 15.8% of Greeks describe themselves as "very religious", which is the highest among all European countries.  The survey also found that just 3.5% never attend a church, compared to 4.9% in Poland and 59.1% in the Czech Republic.<ref name = "forskning.no">{{clarify|date=August 2011|reason=source is in Norwegian.  At minimum, needs English translation of title appended to "trans_title" parameter}} {{cite web|url=http://www.forskning.no/artikler/2005/oktober/1128932447.69 |title= Dagens ESS: Religiøsitet og kirkebesøk | publisher= Forskning | language= Norwegian | date = 11 October 2005 |accessdate=11 September 2010}}</ref>

Estimates of the recognized [[Muslim minority of Greece|Greek Muslim minority]], which is mostly located in [[Thrace]], range from 98,000 to 140,000,<ref name=religion/><ref name=religion2/> (between 0.9% and 1.2%) while the immigrant Muslim community numbers between 200,000 and 300,000.  Albanian immigrants to Greece are usually associated with the Muslim religion, although most are secular in orientation.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71383.htm |title=Greece |publisher= [[United States Department of State]] |date=26 August 2005 |accessdate=6 January 2009}}</ref>  Following the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War]] and the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]], Greece and Turkey agreed to a [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|population transfer based on cultural and religious identity]].  About 500,000 Muslims from Greece, predominantly [[Turkish people|Turks]], but also other Muslims, were exchanged with approximately 1,500,000 Greeks from [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]] (now Turkey).<ref>{{Citation | title = Country studies | url = http://countrystudies.us/turkey/24.htm | contribution = Turkey – Population | place = US | publisher = [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>
{{Bar box
| title=Greece religiosity (2001)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gr.html |title= The World Factbook |publisher= CIA |accessdate=26 March 2013}}</ref><ref group = lower-alpha>The newest polls show about 20% Greek citizens being irreligious which is much more than 1%.  Ultimately, the statistics are disputed until the results of the [[Greek census 2011|new census]].</ref>
| titlebar=#ddd
| float=left
| bars=
{{Bar percent|Orthodoxy|blue|98}}
{{Bar percent|Islam|green|1.3}}
{{Bar percent|Others|grey|0.7}}
}}

{{bar box
|float=left
|title=Religiosity in Greece (2010)<ref name="eurostat"/>
|width=220px
|bars=
{{bar percent|Belief in God|navy|79}}
{{bar percent|Belief in spirit or life force|lightblue|16}}
{{bar percent|No belief|gold|4}}
}}

Judaism has [[History of the Jews in Greece|existed]] in Greece for more than 2,000 years.  [[Sephardi Jews]] used to have a large presence in the city of [[Thessaloniki]] (by 1900, some 80,000, or more than half of the population, were Jews),<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Greece.html | title = Greece | publisher = [[Jewish Virtual Library]]}}</ref> but nowadays the Greek-Jewish community who survived German occupation and [[the Holocaust]], during World War II, is estimated to number around 5,500 people.<ref name=religion/><ref name=religion2/>

Greek citizens who are [[Roman Catholic]] are estimated to be at around 50,000<ref name=religion/><ref name= religion2/> with the Roman Catholic immigrant community in the country approximately 200,000.<ref name= religion/>  [[Greek Old Calendarists|Old Calendarists]] account for 500,000 followers.<ref name="religion2">{{cite web|url= http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/aneval/religion_el.pdf |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070605013415/http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/aneval/religion_el.pdf | archivedate = 5 June 2007 | title = Executive Summary Discrimination on the Grounds of Religion and Belief Greece | publisher = [[European Commission]]| last1 =Ktistakis | first1 = Ioannis | last2 = Sitaropoulos | first2 = Nicholas |date=22 June 2004 |accessdate=14 April 2007|format= PDF}}</ref>  Protestants, including [[Greek Evangelical Church]] and [[Free Evangelical Churches]], stand at about 30,000.<ref name = religion/><ref name =religion2/>  [[Assemblies of God]], [[International Church of the Foursquare Gospel]] and other [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] churches of the [[Greek Synod of Apostolic Church]] have 12,000 members.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.pentecost.gr/English/history.htm | location = GR | title= Synod of Apostolic Church of Christ | publisher = Pentecost | accessdate = 22 March 2009}}</ref>  Independent [[Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost]] is the biggest Protestant denomination in Greece with 120 churches.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.christianity.gr/church/addresses.php |title=Church addresses | language = Greek | location = GR | publisher = Christianity | accessdate= 22 March 2009| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080421172048/http://www.christianity.gr/church/addresses.php |archivedate = 21 April 2008}}</ref>  There are not official statistics about Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost, but the Orthodox Church estimates the followers as 20,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egolpio.com/PENTECOSTAL/freechurpentecost.htm |title= Orthodox estimate | language = Greek |publisher= Egolpio |accessdate= 22 March 2009}}</ref>  The [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] report having 28,859 active members.<ref name=religion/><ref name=religion2/><ref>{{cite web| url = http://watchtower.org/e/statistics/worldwide_report.htm | year = 2009 | title = Report | work= [[The Watchtower]] | accessdate= 16 December 2010}}</ref>

[[Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism]] has also been reportedly practiced by thousands of Greeks.

===Languages===
{{Main |Greek language|Languages of Greece|Minorities in Greece}}

[[File:Greece linguistic minorities.svg|thumb|250px|Regions with a traditional presence of languages other than Greek.  Today, Greek is the dominant language throughout the country.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Summer institute of Linguistics | url = http://www.ethnologue.com/show_map.asp?name=GR&seq=10 |title=Languages of Greece | work = Ethnologue | accessdate =19 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | publisher = Euromosaic | title = Le (slavo)macédonien/bulgare en Grèce}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | publisher = Euromosaic | title = L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | publisher = Euromosaic | title = Le valaque/aromoune-aroumane en Grèce}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | publisher = Mercator-Education: European Network for Regional or Minority Languages and Education | title = The Turkish language in education in Greece}}</ref>{{Sfn | Trudgill | 2000}}]]

The first textual evidence of the Greek language dates back to 15th century BC and the [[Linear B]] script which is associated with the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Civilization]].  Greek was a widely spoken [[lingua franca]] in the Mediterranean world and beyond during [[Classical Antiquity]], and would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire.

During the 19th and 20th centuries there was a major dispute known as the [[Greek language question]], on whether the official language of Greece should be the archaic [[Katharevousa]], created in the 19th century and used as the state and scholarly language, or the [[Dimotiki]], the form of the [[Greek language]] which evolved naturally from [[Byzantine Greek language|Byzantine Greek]] and was the language of the people.  The dispute was finally resolved in 1976, when Dimotiki was made the only official variation of the Greek language, and Katharevousa fell to disuse.

Greece is today 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 Greek|Pontic]] dialect came to Greece from Asia Minor after the [[Greek genocide]] and constitute a sizable group.

The [[Muslim minority of Greece|Muslim minority]] in Thrace, which amounts to approximately 0.95% of the total population, consists of speakers of [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] ([[Pomaks]]){{Sfn | Trudgill | 2000}} and [[Romani language|Romani]].  Romani is also spoken by Christian [[Romani people|Roma]] in other parts of the country.  Further minority languages have traditionally been spoken by regional population groups in various parts of the country.  Their use has decreased radically in the course of the 20th century through assimilation with the Greek-speaking majority.  Today they are only maintained by the older generations and are on the verge of extinction.  This goes for the [[Arvanites]], an [[Albanian language|Albanian]]-speaking group mostly located in the rural areas around the capital Athens, and for the [[Aromanians]] and [[Megleno-Romanians|Moglenites]], also known as [[Vlachs]], whose language is closely related to [[Romanian language|Romanian]] and who used to live scattered across several areas of mountainous central Greece.  Members of these groups ethnically identify as Greeks<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.cilevics.eu/minelres/reports/greece/greece_NGO.htm | publisher = Greek Helsinki Monitor | title = Minority Rights Group, Greece, Report about Compliance with the Principles of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (along guidelines for state reports according to Article 25.1 of the Convention) | date = 8 September 1999}}</ref> and are today all at least bilingual in Greek.

Near the northern Greek borders there are also some [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]–speaking groups, locally known as ''Slavomacedonian''-speaking, most of whose members identify ethnically as Greeks.  Their dialects can be linguistically classified as forms of either [[Macedonian language|Macedonian Slavic]] or [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]].<ref name="Bulgarian language">{{verify credibility|date=August 2011|reason=what is this site?  no wikipedia article.  seems to be operated by an individual.  surely a more mainstream source can be substituted?}}{{cite web| url =http://www.omniglot.com/writing/bulgarian.htm | work = Writing | title = Bulgarian Language | publisher = Omniglot | accessdate = 17 October 2010 | ref = harv}}</ref><ref name = "The Bulgarian language">{{cite web | location = [[United Kingdom|UK]] | url = http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/language/about/bulgarian.html | title = The Bulgarian Language | work= Kwintessential| accessdate =17 October 2010 | ref = harv}}</ref>  It is estimated that in the aftermath of the population exchanges of 1923 there were somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 Slavic speakers in [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]].<ref name="minorities"/>  The Jewish community in Greece traditionally spoke [[Ladino language|Ladino]] (Judeo-Spanish), today maintained only by a small group of a few thousand speakers.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}

===Education===
{{Main |Education in Greece}}
[[File:Attica 06-13 Athens 28 Academy of Athens.jpg|thumb|The [[Academy of Athens (modern)|Academy of Athens]] is Greece's [[national academy]] and the highest research establishment in the country.]]
[[File:Ionian Academy in Daylight.JPG|thumb|The [[Ionian Academy]] in [[Corfu]], the first [[academic institution]] of modern Greece.]]

Compulsory education in Greece comprises primary schools (Δημοτικό Σχολείο, ''Dimotikó Scholeio'') and [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] (Γυμνάσιο).  Nursery schools (Παιδικός σταθμός, ''Paidikós Stathmós'') are popular but not compulsory.  [[Kindergarten]]s (Νηπιαγωγείο, ''Nipiagogeío'') are now compulsory for any child above 4 years of age.  Children start primary school aged 6 and remain there for six years.  Attendance at gymnasia starts at age 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 school|technical]]–[[vocational school|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 also State Non-University Tertiary Institutes offering vocationally oriented courses of shorter duration (2 to 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''.  Additionally, students over twenty-two years old may be admitted to the [[Hellenic Open University]] through a form of lottery.  The [[National and Capodistrian University of Athens|Capodistrian University of Athens]] is the oldest university in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Greek education system also provides special kindergartens, primary and secondary schools for people with special needs or difficulties in learning.  Specialist gymnasia and high schools offering musical, theological and physical education also exist.

===Health===
{{Main |Health care in Greece}}
Greece has [[universal health care]].  In a 2000 [[World Health Organization]] report, its [[health care system]] ranked 14th in overall performance of 191 countries surveyed.<ref name="WHO report">{{cite web |url= http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/whr00_en.pdf | format = PDF | title = Health Systems: Improving Performance |work=[[World Health Report]] | year = 2000 |publisher = [[World Health Organization]] | accessdate = 22 July 2011}}</ref>  In a 2013 [[Save the Children]] report, Greece was ranked the 19th best country (out of 176 countries surveyed) for the state of mothers and newborn babies.<ref name="Save the Childern report">{{cite web |url= http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8585863/k.9F31/State_of_the_Worlds_Mothers.htm | format = PDF | title = State of the World's Mothers 2013 |work=[[Save the Childern Report]] | year = 2013 |publisher = [[Save the Children]] | accessdate = 7 May 2013}}</ref>  In 2010, there were 138 hospitals with 31,000 beds in the country, but on 1 July 2011, the [[Ministry for Health and Social Solidarity (Greece)|Ministry for Health and Social Solidarity]] announced its plans to decrease the number to 77 hospitals with 36,035 beds, as a necessary reform to reduce expenses and further enhance healthcare standards.<ref name = "Health Reform">{{cite web|url = http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22768&subid=2&pubid=63299225 | title = Προταση Λειτουργικων Αναδιαταξεων Μοναδων Υγειασ Εσυ | language =Greek | format = PDF| date= 1 July 2011 | publisher = Ethnos | accessdate= 22 July 2011 | trans_title = Proposals for functional rearrangements of the NHS health units}}</ref>{{disputed-inline|text=What that article actually says is that they're merging their management bodies, i.e. existing hospitals will remain but some will become depts of new hospital 'bodies'.|date=April 2013}}  Greece's healthcare expenditures as a percentage of GDP were 9.6% in 2007 according to a 2011 [[OECD]] report, just above the OECD average of 9.5%.<ref name="OECD">{{cite web| url = http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/54/38979850.pdf | work = Health Data | year = 2011 | title = How Does Greece Compare | publisher = [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] | format = PDF |accessdate = 22 July 2011}}</ref>   The country has the largest number of doctors-to-population ratio of any OECD country.<ref name="OECD"/>

[[Life expectancy]] in Greece is 80.3 years, above the OECD average of 79.5,<ref name="OECD"/> and among the highest in the world.  The island of [[Icaria]] has the highest percentage of 90-year-olds in the world; approximately 33% of the islanders make it to 90 (and beyond).<ref name=NPR>{{cite news|title=The Island Where People Live Longer|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103744881|accessdate=6 April 2013|newspaper=NPR|date=2 May 2009<!-- 8:00 AM-->|quote=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.}}</ref>  ''[[Blue Zones]]'' author [[Dan Buettner]] wrote an article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' about the longevity of Icarians under the title "The Island Where People Forget to Die".<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=The Island Where People Forget to Die|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|accessdate=6 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 October 2012|author=DAN BUETTNER}}</ref>  The 2011 OECD report showed that Greece had the largest percentage of adult daily smokers of any of the 34 OECD members.<ref name="OECD"/>  The country's obesity rate is 18.1%, which is above the OECD average of 15.1%, but considerably lower than the [[USA|American]] rate of 27.7%.<ref name="OECD"/>  In 2008, Greece had the highest rate of perceived good health in the OECD, at 98.5%.<ref name="OECD Health Status">{{cite web|url = http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=HEALTH_STAT |title= Perceived Health Status | publisher = [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] | accessdate= 22 July 2011}}</ref>  Infant mortality is one of the lowest in the [[developed country|developed world]], with a rate of 3.1 deaths per 1,000 live births.<ref name="OECD"/>

==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of Greece|List of Greeks}}
[[File:Amphitheatre in Epidavros.jpg|thumb|The ancient theatre of [[Epidaurus]] continues to be used for staging ancient Greek plays.]]
The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in [[Mycenaean Greece]] and continuing most notably into [[Classical Greece]], through the influence of the [[Roman Empire]] and its [[Greek East]]ern continuation, the Eastern Roman or [[Byzantine Empire]].  Other cultures and nations, such as the [[Frankokratia|Latin and Frankish states]], the [[Ottoman Empire]], the [[Venetian Republic]], the [[Genoese Republic]], and the [[British Empire]] have also left their influence on modern Greek culture, although historians credit the [[Greek War of Independence]] with revitalising Greece and giving birth to a single, cohesive entity of its multi-faceted culture.

===Philosophy===
{{Main |Ancient Greek philosophy|Modern Greek Enlightenment}}
Most western philosophical traditions began in [[Ancient Greece]] in the 6th century BC.  The first philosophers are called "Presocratics," which designates that they came before [[Socrates]], whose contributions mark a turning point in western thought.  The Presocratics were from the western or the eastern colonies of Greece and only fragments of their original writings survive, in some cases merely a single sentence.

A new period of philosophy started with Socrates.  Like the [[Sophists]], he rejected entirely the physical speculations in which his predecessors had indulged, and made the thoughts and opinions of people his starting-point.  Aspects of Socrates were first united from [[Plato]], who also combined with them many of the principles established by earlier philosophers, and developed the whole of this material into the unity of a comprehensive system.

[[Aristotle]] of [[Stagira]], the most important disciple of Plato, shared with his teacher the title of the greatest philosopher of antiquity.  But while Plato had sought to elucidate and explain things from the supra-sensual standpoint of the forms, his pupil preferred to start from the facts given us by experience.  Except from these three most significant Greek philosophers other known schools of [[Greek philosophy]] from other founders during ancient times were [[Stoicism]], [[epicureanism]], [[Skepticism]] and [[Neoplatonism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/greekphi/|title=Ancient Greek Philosophy|work= Internet encyclopedia of philosophy}}</ref>

[[Byzantine philosophy]] refers to the distinctive philosophical ideas of the philosophers and scholars of the [[Byzantine Empire]], especially between the 8th and 15th centuries. It was characterised by a [[Christianity|Christian]] world-view, but one which could draw ideas directly from the Greek texts of [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and the [[Neoplatonists]].

In modern period, [[Modern Greek Enlightenment|Diafotismos]] (Greek: Διαφωτισμός, "enlightenment", "illumination") was the Greek expression of the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and its philosophical and political ideas. Some notable representatives were [[Adamantios Korais]], [[Rigas Feraios]] and [[Theophilos Kairis]].

===Literature===
{{Main |Greek Literature|Modern Greek literature}}
[[File:Adamantios Korais.jpg|thumb|left|160px|[[Adamantios Korais]], humanist scholar credited with laying the foundations of Modern Greek literature and a major figure in the [[Greek Enlightenment]].]]
[[File:Giorgos Seferis 1963.jpg|thumb|160px|[[Giorgos Seferis]], [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] (1963).]]

Greek literature can be divided into three main categories: Ancient, Byzantine and modern Greek literature.

At the beginning of Greek literature stand the two monumental works of [[Homer]]: the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]''.  Though dates of composition vary, these works were fixed around 800&nbsp;BC or after.  In the classical period many of the genres of western literature became more prominent.  [[Lyrical poetry]], [[ode]]s, [[pastorals]], [[elegy|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]].  The Classical era also saw the dawn of drama.

Of the hundreds of [[tragedies]] written and performed during the classical age, only a limited number of plays by three authors have survived: those of [[Aeschylus]], [[Sophocles]], and [[Euripides]].  The surviving plays by [[Aristophanes]] are also a treasure trove of comic presentation, while [[Herodotus]] and [[Thucydides]] are two of the most influential historians in this period.  The greatest prose achievement of the 4th century was in philosophy with the works of the three great philosophers.

[[Byzantine literature]] refers to literature of the Byzantine Empire written in [[Attic Greek|Atticizing]], [[Medieval]] and early [[Modern Greek]], and it is the expression of the intellectual life of the [[Byzantine Greeks]] during the Christian [[Middle Ages]].

[[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 undoubtedly the masterpiece of this period of Greek literature.  It is a verse [[Romance (heroic literature)|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 War of Independence|Greek Revolution]] (1821–30).

Leading literary figures of modern Greece include [[Dionysios Solomos]], [[Andreas Kalvos]], [[Angelos Sikelianos]], [[Emmanuel Rhoides]], [[Kostis Palamas]], [[Penelope Delta]], [[Yannis Ritsos]], [[Alexandros Papadiamantis]], [[Nikos Kazantzakis]], [[Andreas Embeirikos]], [[Kostas Karyotakis]], [[Gregorios Xenopoulos]], [[Constantine P. Cavafy]], and [[Demetrius Vikelas]].  Two Greek authors have been awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]: [[George Seferis]] in 1963 and [[Odysseas Elytis]] in 1979.

===Cinema===
{{Main |Greek cinema}}
[[File:Theodoros Angelopoulos Athens 26-4-2009-2.jpg|thumb|150px|Greek director [[Theodoros Angelopoulos]].]]
Cinema first appeared in Greece in 1896 but the first actual cine-theatre was opened in 1907.  In 1914 the ''Asty Films Company'' was founded and the production of long films began.  ''Golfo'' (Γκόλφω), a well known traditional love story, is considered the first Greek [[feature film]], although there were several minor productions such as newscasts before this.  In 1931 [[Orestis Laskos]] directed ''Daphnis and Chloe'' (''Δάφνις και Χλόη''), containing the first nude scene in the history of European cinema; it was also the first Greek movie which was played abroad.  In 1944 [[Katina Paxinou]] was honoured with the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for ''[[For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)|For Whom the Bell Tolls]]''.

The 1950s and early 1960s are considered by many to be  a golden age of Greek cinema.  Directors and actors of this era were recognized as important historical figures in Greece and some gained international acclaim: [[Irene Papas]], [[Melina Mercouri]], [[Mihalis Kakogiannis]], [[Alekos Sakellarios]], [[Nikos Tsiforos]], [[Iakovos Kambanelis]], [[Katina Paxinou]], [[Nikos Koundouros]], [[Ellie Lambeti]],  and others.  More than sixty films per year were made, with the majority having film noir elements.  Notable films were ''[[The Counterfeit Coin|Η κάλπικη λίρα]]'' (1955 directed by [[Giorgos Tzavellas]]), ''Πικρό Ψωμί'' (1951, directed by Grigoris Grigoriou), ''[[O Drakos]]'' (1956 directed by [[Nikos Koundouros]]), ''[[Stella (1955 film)|Stella]]'' (1955 directed by Cacoyannis and written by Kampanellis).

Cacoyannis also directed ''[[Zorba the Greek]]'' with Anthony Quinn which received Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film nominations.  [[Finos Film]] also contributed to this period with movies such as ''Λατέρνα, Φτώχεια και Φιλότιμο'', ''[[Madalena (film)|Madalena]]'', ''[[I theia ap' to Chicago|Η Θεία από το Σικάγο]]'', ''Το ξύλο βγήκε από τον Παράδεισο'' and many more.  During the 1970s and 1980s [[Theo Angelopoulos]] directed a series of notable and appreciated movies.  His film ''[[Eternity and a Day]]'' won the [[Palme d'Or]] and the [[Prize of the Ecumenical Jury]] at the [[1998 Cannes Film Festival]].

There were also internationally renowned filmmakers in the Greek diaspora,  such as the Greek-French [[Costa-Gavras]] and the Greek-Americans  [[John Cassavetes]] and [[Elia Kazan]].

===Cuisine===
{{Main |Greek cuisine}}
[[File:GreekSalad.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Greek salad]] with additional ingredients.]]
[[Greek cuisine]] is characteristic of the healthy [[Mediterranean diet]], which is epitomized by dishes of [[Cretan diet|Crete]] .<ref>{{cite book| first = Sari | last = Edelstein| title = Food, Cuisine, and Cultural Competency for Culinary, Hospitality, and Nutrition Professionals |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=lj0CeaIIETkC&pg=PA147 | accessdate =27 December 2011|date= 22 October 2010|publisher= Jones & Bartlett |isbn = 978-0-7637-5965-0 | pages=147–49}}</ref>  Greek cuisine incorporates fresh ingredients into a variety of local dishes such as [[moussaka]], [[stifado]], [[Greek salad]], [[fasolada]], [[spanakopita]] and [[souvlaki]].  Some dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece like [[skordalia]]{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} (a thick purée of walnuts, almonds, crushed garlic and olive oil), [[lentil]] [[soup]], [[retsina]] (white or rosé wine sealed with pine resin) and pasteli (candy bar with sesame seeds baked with honey).  Throughout Greece people often enjoy eating from small dishes such as [[meze]] with various dips such as [[tzatziki]], grilled octopus and small fish, [[feta cheese]], [[dolmades]] (rice, currants and pine kernels wrapped in vine leaves), various [[pulses]], [[olive]]s and cheese. [[Olive oil]] is added to almost every dish.

Sweet desserts such as [[galaktoboureko]], and drinks such as [[ouzo]], [[metaxa]] and a variety of wines including retsina.  Greek cuisine differs widely from different parts of the mainland and from island to island. It uses some flavorings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines: [[oregano]], [[Mentha|mint]], garlic, [[onion]], [[dill]] and [[bay laurel]] leaves. Other common herbs and spices include [[basil]], [[thyme]] and [[fennel]] seed. Many Greek recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use "sweet" spices in combination with meat, for example [[cinnamon]] and [[cloves]] in stews.

===Music===
{{Main|Music of Greece}}
[[File:Sfakia-dance.jpg|thumb|[[Cretan]] dancers of traditional music.]]
[[File:Rembetes Karaiskaki 1933.jpg|thumb|right|225px|upright=1.5|alt=Photo of Rebetes in Karaiskaki, Piraeus (1933)|[[Rebetes]] in Karaiskaki, [[Piraeus]] (1933). Left [[Markos Vamvakaris]] with bouzouki, middle [[Giorgos Batis]] with guitar.]]

Greek vocal music extends far back into ancient times where mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments during that period 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 the education system during ancient times.  Boys were taught music from the age of six. Later influences from the [[Roman Empire]], Middle East, and the [[Byzantine Empire]] also had effect on Greek music.

While the new technique of polyphony was developing in the West, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] resisted any type of change.  Therefore, [[Byzantine music]] remained monophonic and without any form of instrumental accompaniment. As a result, and despite certain attempts by certain Greek chanters (such as Manouel Gazis, Ioannis Plousiadinos or the Cypriot Ieronimos o Tragoudistis), Byzantine music was deprived of elements of which in the West encouraged an unimpeded development of art.  However, this method which kept music away from polyphony, along with centuries of continuous culture, enabled monophonic music to develop to the greatest heights of perfection. Byzantium presented the monophonic [[Byzantine chant]]; a melodic treasury of inestimable value for its rhythmical variety and expressive power.

Along with the Byzantine (Church) chant and music, the Greek people also cultivated the [[Greek folk music|Greek folk song]] which is divided into two cycles, the [[Acritic songs|akritic]] and [[klephtic song|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 being the stories associated with [[Digenis Acritas|Digenes Akritas]]. The klephtic cycle came into being between the late Byzantine period and the start of the [[Greek War of Independence]]. The klephtic cycle, together with historical songs, ''paraloghes'' (narrative song or ballad), love songs, [[mantinada|mantinades]], wedding songs, songs of exile and dirges express the life of the Greeks. There is a unity between the Greek people's struggles for freedom, their joys and sorrow and attitudes towards love and death.

[[File:KerkyraDimarheio.jpg|thumb|225px|[[Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù]], the first theatre and [[opera]] house of modern Greece and the place where the first Greek opera, [[Spyridon Xyndas]]' "The Parliamentary Candidate" based on an exclusively Greek [[libretto]] was performed.]]

The [[Heptanese]]an [[Greek folk music#Ionian Islands|kantádhes]] (καντάδες '[[serenade]]s'; sing.: καντάδα) became the forerunners of the Greek modern song, influencing its development to a considerable degree. For the first part of the next century, several Greek composers continued to borrow elements from the Heptanesean style. The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian serenades, and the songs performed on stage (επιθεωρησιακά τραγούδια 'theatrical revue songs') in [[revue]], [[operetta]]s and [[nocturne]]s that were dominating Athens' theater scene.

[[Rebetiko]], initially a music associated with the lower classes, later (and especially after the [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]]) reached greater general acceptance as the rough edges of its overt subcultural character were softened and polished, sometimes to the point of unrecognizability. It was the base of the later [[laïkó]] (song of the people). The leading performers of the genre include Apostolos Kaldaras, [[Grigoris Bithikotsis]], [[Stelios Kazantzidis]], [[George Dalaras]], [[Haris Alexiou]] and [[Glykeria]].

Regarding the classical music, it was through the [[Ionian islands]] (which were under western rule and influence) that all the 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 ([[Ionian School (music)|Heptanesean or Ionian School]], Greek: ''Επτανησιακή Σχολή''), 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.

In the 20th century, Greek composers have had a significant impact on the development of [[avant garde]] and modern [[classical music]], with figures such as [[Iannis Xenakis]], [[Nikos Skalkottas]], and [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]] achieving international prominence. At the same time, composers and musicians such as [[Mikis Theodorakis]], [[Manos Hatzidakis]], [[Eleni Karaindrou]], [[Vangelis]] and [[Demis Roussos]] garnered an international following for their music, which include famous [[film score]]s such as [[Zorba the Greek]], [[Serpico]], [[Never on Sunday]], [[America America]], [[Eternity and a Day]], [[Chariots of Fire]], among others. [[Greek American]] composers known for their film scores include [[Yanni]] and [[Basil Poledouris]]. Notable Greek [[opera|opera singers]] and [[classical music]]ians of the 20th and 21st century include [[Maria Callas]], [[Nana Mouskouri]], [[Mario Frangoulis]], [[Leonidas Kavakos]], [[Dimitris Sgouros]] and others.

===Sports===
[[File:Louis entering Kallimarmaron at the 1896 Athens Olympics.jpg|thumb|[[Spiridon Louis]] entering the [[Panathenaic Stadium]] at the end of the marathon; [[1896 Summer Olympics]].]]
{{Main |Sport in Greece}}

Greece is the birthplace of the [[Olympic Games]], first recorded in 776 BC.  The ancient [[Panathinaiko Stadium|Panathenaic Stadium]] in Athens, which was essentially rebuilt in 1895, hosted the first modern [[1896 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] in 1896.  It had also hosted Olympic Games in 1870 and 1875 (see [[Evangelis Zappas]]).  The Panathenaic stadium also hosted the Games in 1906 and was used to host events at the [[2004 Summer Olympics]].

The [[Greece national football team|Greek national football team]], ranked 14th in the [[FIFA World Rankings|world]] in 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html |title= World Rankings |publisher=[[FIFA]] |accessdate=23 July 2009 |month= July |year = 2009}}</ref> won the [[UEFA Euro 2004]] in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport and became one of only nine national teams to have won the [[UEFA European Championship|European Championship]] in football.<ref name = "Euro2004">{{Cite news |last= McNulty |first= Phil |title= Greece Win Euro 2004 | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3860105.stm |publisher= BBC | work = News |accessdate= 7 May 2007 |date= 4 July 2004}}</ref>  The [[Superleague Greece|Greek Super League]] is the highest professional football league in the country comprising eighteen teams.  The most successful are [[Olympiacos F.C.|Olympiacos]], [[Panathinaikos F.C.|Panathinaikos]] and [[AEK Athens F.C.|AEK Athens]].

The [[Greece national basketball team|Greek national basketball team]] has a decades-long tradition of excellence in the sport, being considered among the world's top basketball powers.  As of 2012, it ranked 4th in the [[FIBA World Rankings|world]] and 2nd in [[FIBA Europe|Europe]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/even/rank/rankMen.asp | title = Ranking Men after Olympic Games: Tournament Men (2008) |month=August | year=2008|accessdate= 24 August 2008 | publisher= [[International Basketball Federation]]}}</ref>  They have won the [[EuroBasket|European Championship]] twice in [[EuroBasket 1987|1987]] and [[EuroBasket 2005|2005]],<ref>{{Cite news |last= Wilkinson | first= Simon| url = http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2172612 | title= Greece Tops Germany for Euro Title | accessdate = 7 May 2007 |date= 26 September 2005 | publisher = [[ESPN]]}}</ref> and have reached the final four in two of the last four [[FIBA World Championship]]s, taking the second place in the world in [[2006 FIBA World Championship]], after a spectacular 101–95 win against [[United States men's national basketball team|Team USA]] in the tournament's semifinal.  The domestic top basketball league, [[A1 Ethniki]], is composed of fourteen teams.  The most successful Greek teams are [[Olympiacos B.C.|Olympiacos]], [[Panathinaikos BC|Panathinaikos]], [[Aris B.C.|Aris Thessaloniki]] and [[AEK Athens B.C.|AEK Athens]].  Greek basketball teams are the most successful in European basketball the last 25 years, having won 9 [[Euroleague Basketball|Euroleagues]] since the establishment of the modern era [[Euroleague Final Four]] format in 1988 (no other nation has won more than four Euroleague championships in this period).

After the [[FIBA EuroBasket 2005|2005 European Championship]] triumph of the Greek national basketball team, Greece became the reigning European Champion in both football and basketball.

[[Water polo]] and volleyball are also practiced widely in Greece while [[cricket]] and [[team handball|handball]] are relatively popular in [[Corfu]] and [[Veria]] respectively.

==See also==
{{portal |Geography|<!--Eurasia-->|Europe|<!--Southern Europe-->|European Union|NATO|Greece}}
* [[Outline of Greece]]
* [[Index of Greece-related articles]]
* [[Bibliography of Greece]]
* [[Greek mythology]]
* [[Name days in Greece]]
* [[International rankings of Greece]]
{{-}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist | group= "lower-alpha"}}

==References==
{{Reflist |32em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin |2}}
* "Minorities in Greece&nbsp;– Historical Issues and New Perspectives".  ''History and Culture of South Eastern Europe''.  An Annual Journal.  München (Slavica) 2003.
*{{Cite book | title = The Constitution of Greece | url = http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/f3c70a23-7696-49db-9148-f24dce6a27c8/001-156%20aggliko.pdf |accessdate=21 March 2011 |year=2008 | publisher = [[Hellenic Parliament]] |location=Athens|isbn= 978-960-560-073-0|format= PDF| others = Paparrigopoulos, Xenophon; Vassilouni, Stavroula (translators)}}
*{{Citation | last = Clogg | first = Richard | title = A Concise History of Greece | pages = 10–37 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1992 | edition = 1st | ISBN = 0-521-37228-3 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=H5pyUIY4THYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=richard+clogg+greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uurkT5nGNNKyhAfFkay9CQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=richard%20clogg%20greece&f=false}}, 257 pp.
*{{Citation | author-link = Richard Clogg| last = Clogg | first = Richard | title= A Concise History of Greece | edition = 2nd |location= Cambridge | publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]]| origyear = 1992 | year= 2002 | isbn = 978-0-521-00479-4}}.
*{{Cite book | last =Dagtoglou | first = PD | title = Constitutional Law – Individual Rights | volume = I | year = 1991 |publisher=Ant. N. Sakkoulas |location=Athens-Komotini |language=Greek |chapter=Protection of Individual Rights}}
*{{Citation | first = John Van Antwerp | last = Fine | title = The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century | publisher = University of Michigan Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-472-08149-3 | url=http://books.google.com/?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C}}, 376 pp.
*{{Citation | last = Kalaitzidis | first = Akis | year = 2010 | title = Europe's Greece: A Giant in the Making | publisher = [[Palgrave Macmillan]]}}, 219 pp.; $85.  The impact of European Union membership on Greek politics, economics, and society.
*{{Cite book |last= Mavrias | first= Kostas G |title= Constitutional Law |year= 2002| publisher= Ant. N. Sakkoulas | location =Athens |language=Greek |isbn=978-960-15-0663-0}}
*{{Cite journal | last =Pappas | first = Takis |year= 2003 | month= April | title= The Transformation of the Greek Party System Since 1951  |journal=[[West European Politics (WEP)|West European Politics]]| volume= 26 | issue = 2 | pages = 90–114| doi = 10.1080/01402380512331341121| url = http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/wep/2003/00000026/00000002/art00005 |accessdate=8 June 2008}}
*{{Citation | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html?pagewanted=all | title = Wall St. Helped to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis | publisher= The New York Times | first1 = Louise | last1 = Story | first2=Landon Jr |last2=Thomas |first3=Nelson D |last3=Schwartz |date= 14 February 2010 | accessdate = 2013-03-26}}.
*{{Citation | last = Trudgill | first = P | contribution = Greece and European Turkey: From Religious to Linguistic Identity | editor1-first = S | editor1-last = Barbour | editor2-first = C | editor2-last = Carmichael | year = 2000 | title = Language and Nationalism in Europe | place = [[Oxford]] | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]}}.
*{{Cite book | author-link = Evangelos Venizelos| last = Venizelos | first = Evangelos | title = The "Acquis" of the Constitutional Revision | year= 2002 | publisher= Ant. N. Sakkoulas |location= Athens | language = Greek | isbn = 978-960-15-0617-3 |chapter=The Contribution of the Revision of 2001}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Greece|voy =Greece}}

===Government===
* [http://www.presidency.gr/ President of the Hellenic Republic]
* [http://www.primeminister.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4762&Itemid=89Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic]
* [http://www.visitgreece.gr/ Greek National Tourism Organisation]
* [http://www.greeknewsagenda.gr/ Greek News Agenda Newsletter]

===General information===
*{{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244154/Greece | contribution = Greece | title = [[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]}}.
*{{Citation | contribution-url = http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/greece-guide/ | type = guide | contribution = Greece | title = [[National Geographic Traveler|Traveler]] | publisher = National Geographic}}.
*{{CIA_World_Factbook link|gr|Greece}}
*{{Citation | url = http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/greece.htm | contribution = Greece | title = UCB Libraries GovPubs | publisher = Colorado}}.
*{{dmoz |Regional/Europe/Greece}}
*{{Citation | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17372520 | title = Greece | type = profile | newspaper = [[BBC News]] | place = [[United Kingdom|UK]]}}.
*{{Citation | url = http://www.gcr.gr/ | title = Greek Council for Refugees}}.
*{{Citation | url = http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/en/ | title = Hellenic History | publisher = FHW | place = GR}}.
*{{Citation | url = http://www.hellenism.net/ | title = Hellenism}} – Everything about Greece.
* [http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Greece:_Primary_Documents History of Greece: Primary Documents]
* [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/default.asp The Greek Heritage]
*{{Wikiatlas |Greece}}
*{{osmrelation-inline |192307}}

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