Greece

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hellenic Republic

Flag National emblem
Motto: Eleftheria i Thanatos, (Greek: "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος", "Freedom or Death") (traditional)
Anthem: Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν
Ýmnos eis tīn Eleftherían
Hymn to Liberty¹


Capital
(and largest city) Athens
23°43′E / 38°N 23.717°E / 38; 23.717
Official language(s) Greek
Demonym Greek
Government Parliamentary republic
 -  President Karolos Papoulias
 -  Prime Minister George Papandreou
Legislature Parliament
Modern statehood
 -  Independence from the Ottoman Empire 25 March 1821 
 -  Recognized 3 February 1830, in the London Protocol 
 -  Kingdom of Greece 7 May 1832, in the Convention of London 
 -  Current constitution 11 June 1975,
Third Hellenic Republic 
EU accession 1 January 1981
Area
 -  Total 131,990 km² (96^th)
50,944 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 0.8669
Population
 -  2010 estimate 11,306,183[1] (74^th)
 -  2001 census 10,964,020[2] 
 -  Density 85.3/km² (88^th)
221.0/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $341.688 billion[3] (33^rd)
 -  Per capita $30,681[3] (26^th)
GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $338.250 billion[3] (27^th)
 -  Per capita $30,304 [3] (27^th)
Gini (2005) 33² (low) (36^th)
HDI (2007) ▲ 0.942[4] (very high) (25^th)
Currency Euro (€)³ (EUR)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 -  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .gr⁴
Calling code 30
¹ Also the national anthem of Cyprus.
² CIA World Factbook.
³ Before 2001, the Greek drachma.
⁴ The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Greece (English: /ˈɡriːs/  ( listen); Greek: Ελλάδα, Elláda, IPA: [eˈlaða]  ( listen); Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellás, IPA: [helːás]), also known as Hellas and officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]),[5] is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. The country has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the tenth longest coastline in the world at 14,880 km (9,246.00 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1400, 227 of which are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570.21 ft).

Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of ancient Greece, generally considered to be the cradle of Western civilization. As such, it is the birthplace of democracy,[6] Western philosophy,[7] the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama,[8] including both tragedy and comedy. This legacy is partly reflected in the 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites that Greece is home to.

A developed country with a very high Human Development Index,[9][10][11][12] Greece has been a member of what is now the European Union since 1981 and its Economic and Monetary Union since 2001,[13] NATO since 1952,[14] and the European Space Agency since 2005.[15] It is also a founding member of the United Nations, the OECD,[16] and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization. Athens is the capital; other major cities include Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion and Larissa.

History

Greece was the first area in Europe where advanced early civilizations emerged, beginning with the Cycladic civilization of the Aegean Sea, the Minoan civilization in Crete and then the Mycenaean civilization on the mainland. Later, city-states emerged across the Greek peninsula and spread to the shores of the Black Sea, South Italy and Asia Minor, reaching great levels of prosperity that resulted in an unprecedented cultural boom, that of classical Greece, expressed in architecture, drama, science and philosophy, and nurtured in Athens under a democratic environment.

Athens and Sparta led the way in repelling the Persian Empire in a series of battles. Both were later overshadowed by Thebes and eventually Macedonia, with the latter under the guidance of Alexander the Great uniting and leading the Greek world to victory over the Persians.