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Hellenic Republic | |
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Motto: Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος Elefthería í Thánatos (English: "Freedom or Death") | |
Anthem: Ύμνος εις την Ελευθερίαν Ímnos is tin Eleftherían (English: "Hymn to Liberty") | |
Capital and largest city | Athens 37°58′N 23°43′E / 37.967°N 23.717°E |
Official language and national language | Greek |
Religion (2017) |
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Demonym(s) |
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Government | Unitary parliamentary republic |
Katerina Sakellaropoulou | |
Kyriakos Mitsotakis | |
Konstantinos Tasoulas | |
Legislature | Hellenic Parliament |
Establishment history | |
• Independence declared from the Ottoman Empire | 25 March 1821 (traditional starting date of the Greek War of Independence), 15 January 1822 (official declaration) |
3 February 1830 | |
24 July 1974 | |
11 June 1975 | |
Area | |
• Total | 131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi)[2] (95th) |
• Water (%) | 1.51 (2015)[3] |
Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 10,413,982 (1 January 2023)[4] (90th) |
• 2021 census | 10,432,481[5] |
• Density | 78.9/km2 (204.4/sq mi) (105th) |
GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $416.969 billion[6] (54th) |
• Per capita | $39,864[6] (52nd) |
GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $242.385 billion[6] (53rd) |
• Per capita | $23,173[6] (44th) |
Gini (2022) | 31.4[7] medium |
HDI (2021) | 0.887[8] very high (33rd) |
Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
Date format | dd.mm.yyyy (AD)b |
Driving side | right |
Calling code | +30 |
ISO 3166 code | GR |
Internet TLD | |
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Greece,[a] officially the Hellenic Republic,[b] is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring thousands of islands. The country comprises nine traditional geographic regions, and has a population of nearly 10.4 million.[4] Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre, and the Olympic Games. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states known as poleis (singular polis) that spanned the Mediterranean and Black seas. Philip II of Macedon united most of present-day Greece in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the known ancient world from the eastern Mediterranean to northwestern India. The subsequent Hellenistic period saw the height of Greek culture and influence in antiquity. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its continuation, the Byzantine Empire, which was predominately Greek in culture and language. The Greek Orthodox Church, which emerged in the first century AD, helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox world. After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Latin possessions were temporarily established in parts of the Greek peninsula, but most of the area fell under Ottoman rule in the mid-15th century.
Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830 following a protracted war of independence, which started in 1821. The Kingdom of Greece achieved substantial territorial expansion, mainly realized in the early 20th century during the Balkan Wars up until its defeat in the Asia Minor Campaign in 1922. A short-lived republic was established in 1924 but was replaced by a royalist dictatorship in 1936, which later collapsed after the Italian and German invasion during World War II. The subsequent military occupation gave way to civil war and military dictatorship. Greece nonetheless achieved record economic growth from 1950 through the 1970s, and democracy was restored in 1975, leading to the current parliamentary republic.
Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, the second largest in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join what is today European Union and has been part of the eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Council of Europe, NATO, the OECD, the WTO, and the OSCE. Greece has a unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, and prominent shipping sector. The country's rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Both as a state church and as a national church, the Orthodox Church of Greece has a lot in common with Protestant state churches, and even with Catholicism in some countries.
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