Ελληνική Δημοκρατία | |||
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Flag |
National Emblem | ||
Location of Greece (green) - UIWN (light green) on the European continent (grey) | |||
Basic Information | |||
Motto | Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος (Freedom or Death) | ||
Anthem | Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν | ||
Capital | Constantinople | ||
Largest city | Constantinople | ||
Other cities | full list | ||
Demonym | Greek, Hellenic | ||
Government | Democratic nation-state | ||
President | Georgios Karatzaferis | ||
Area | 553,400 km² | ||
Population | 104,745,881 | ||
Established | 2570 BC (Sparta) | ||
Independence | 1944 (liberated from Italy) | ||
Predecessor | Ottoman Empire | ||
Currency | Greek drachma | ||
Time zone | CET, CEST (UTC+1, UTC+2) | ||
Internet TLD | .gr | ||
Calling code | 30 | ||
Languages | |||
Official language | Greek | ||
National language | Greek | ||
Regional languages | Turkish, Serbian, Romani | ||
Other languages | Albanian | ||
Ethnic groups | |||
Main ethnic groups | Greeks | ||
Other ethnic groups | Turks, Albanians, Serbs, Aromanians, Romani | ||
Religion | |||
State religion | Eastern Orthodoxy | ||
Main religion(s) | Eastern Orthodoxy (69%) | ||
Other religions | Sunni Islam (21%), Shia Islam (4%), Roman Catholicism (4%), Greek Catholicism (0.5%), 1.5% other |
Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα, Elláda, Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellás), also known as Hellas and officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía), is a country in southeastern Europe. Situated on the southern end of the Balkans, Greece has land borders with Serbia to the north, Albania to the northwest, Rumelian Republic to the northeast, and Kurdistan to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has a vast number of islands (approximately 1400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, the Cyprus, and the Ionian Islands among others. Large part of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Hasan is the highest at 3,253 m (9,570 ft).
Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilisation of ancient Greece, generally considered the cradle of Western civilization. As such, it is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, university education, and Western drama, including both tragedy and comedy. The modern Greek state was established in 1830, following a victorious uprising against Ottoman rule.
A developed country with an advanced, high-income economy, a very high Human Development Index and consistently high quality of life rankings, Greece is a founding member of the Union of Independent World Nations since 2012. Constantinople is the capital and the largest city of the country.