Greece

Official name (in Greek)

Ελληνική Δημοκρατία

Official name (in Greek, Romanized)

Helliniki Dimokratia

Name etymology

the English name derives from the Roman (Latin) designation Graecia, meaning "Land of the Greeks"; the Greeks call their country Ellas or Ellada, which is probably derived from Hellas, the name of the mythical son of Deucalian

DesignMeaningHistory

The national flag of Greece consists of nine horizontal stripes of equal width – five blue and four white, which alternate. The upper hoist-side corner contains a blue canton that stretches along the first five stripes and contains a white cross.

As published in English

Title (in Greek)

Ύμνος εις την Ελευθερίαν

Title (in Greek, Romanized)

Ymnos eis tin Eleftherian

Title (in English, translated)

Hymn to Freedom

Lyrics

GreekRomanizedEnglish (poetic)

Σε γνωρίζω από την κόψη του σπαθιού την τρομερή, σε γνωρίζω από την όψη που με βιά μετράει την γη.

Απ’ τα κόκκαλα βγαλμένη των Ελλήνων τα ιερά, και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη, χαίρε, ω χαίρε, Ελευθεριά! και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη, χαίρε, ω χαίρε, Ελευθεριά! και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη, χαίρε, ω χαίρε, Ελευθεριά!

Land area

130,647 km²

Water area

1,310 km²

Bulgaria

472 km

North Macedonia

234 km

Albania

212 km

Turkey (Türkiye)

192 km

Avg. temperature

14.9 °C

Avg. daily range

10.9 to 19 °C

Annual precipitation

783 mm

Temperature °CMeanDaily range

°C°F

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Precipitation mm

Monthly climate normals

Month	Avg. high, °C	Mean, °C	Avg. low, °C	Precipitation, mm
January	9.2	5.8	2.7	90
February	10.5	6.9	3.3	85
March	13.4	9.4	5.5	82
April	17.1	13	8.7	61
May	21.9	17.6	13	54
June	26.5	22	17.1	35
July	29	24.4	19.5	27
August	29.2	24.5	19.7	22
September	25.1	20.5	16.2	48
October	20.2	16.1	12.2	73
November	15	11.3	8	96
December	10.4	7.2	4.2	109

Country-wide averages over 1991–2020.

Arable land

1,861,153 hectares (14.4%)

Permanent crops

1,034,813 hectares (8.0%)

Permanent meadows & pastures

2,476,073 hectares (19.2%)

Forest

4,762,800 hectares (36.9%)

Other land

2,747,921 hectares (21.3%)

Birth rate

6.8 per 1,000 population

Death rate

12.6 per 1,000 population

Net migration rate

+1.5 per 1,000 population

MaleAgeFemale

80+70-7960-6950-5940-4930-3920-2910-190-9

% of total population

Population by age group, % of total population

Age	Male	Female
80+	3.0%	4.7%
70-79	4.7%	5.8%
60-69	6.2%	7.2%
50-59	7.5%	8.0%
40-49	7.1%	7.1%
30-39	5.3%	5.1%
20-29	5.4%	4.9%
10-19	5.3%	5.0%
0-9	4.0%	3.8%

Share aged 65 and over

24.7%

Share aged under 18

15.8%

Total dependency ratio

59

Youth dependency ratio

20

Elderly dependency ratio

39

Sex ratio

0.94 male / female

The Constitution defines the form as "a parliamentary republic with a President as head of state"; the President is elected by Parliament (Arts. 1, 30).

The Constitution names the system as parliamentary in terms; the President appoints as Prime Minister the leader of the party holding an absolute majority of seats (Arts. 1, 37).

1. ThuJan 1New Year's Day
2. TueJan 6Epiphany
3. MonFeb 23Green Monday
4. WedMar 25Independence Day
5. FriApr 10Good Friday
6. MonApr 13Easter Monday
7. FriMay 1Labor Day
8. MonJun 1Pentecost Monday
9. SatAug 15Dormition of the Mother of God
10. WedOct 28Ohi Day
11. FriDec 25Christmas Day
12. SatDec 26Glorifying Mother of God

Nationwide public holidays only, excluding regional, bank and government-only days.

World average 42

highly corruptvery clean

Significant improverUp 14 points since 2012, when it scored 36.

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Confidence interval

Corruption index score by year

Year	Score	Lower bound	Upper bound
2012	36	30	42
2013	40	33	47
2014	43	34	52
2015	46	38	54
2016	44	40	48
2017	48	43	53
2018	45	41	49
2019	48	43.8	52.2
2020	50	47	53
2021	49	46.3	51.7
2022	52	48.5	55.5
2023	49	45.4	52.6
2024	49	45.8	52.2
2025	50	47.3	52.7

GDP per capita (nominal)

$29,413 (49th in the world)

The shape of the economy

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GDP by end use

Households

+69%

Government

+18.2%

Investment

+17.2%

Exports

+39.5%

Imports

−44%

Current account

6.6% of GDP, $20.1 billion deficit

Projected GDP growth

+0.7% a year over the next 10 years

By specializationBy volume

ProductSpecialization index

1. 1Raw milk of sheep89.3×
2. 2Kiwi fruit71.8×
3. 3Cherries37×
4. 4Peaches and nectarines25.7×
5. 5Raw milk of goats15.3×
6. 6Oranges12.1×
7. 7Strawberries11.7×
8. 8Grapes9.5×
9. 9Watermelons4.5×
10. 10Tangerines and mandarins (including clementines)4.2×

Median

€1,739 per month($1,965)

Men

€2,075 per month($2,345)

Women

€1,764 per month($1,994)

Share of the average gross salary

53%

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GreeceWorld

Human Development Index by year

Year	Greece	World
1990	0.770	0.608
1991	0.780	0.611
1992	0.782	0.614
1993	0.784	0.617
1994	0.790	0.620
1995	0.792	0.625
1996	0.796	0.631
1997	0.803	0.636
1998	0.813	0.641
1999	0.816	0.646
2000	0.828	0.651
2001	0.837	0.657
2002	0.836	0.662
2003	0.842	0.669
2004	0.851	0.675
2005	0.863	0.681
2006	0.871	0.688
2007	0.866	0.694
2008	0.871	0.698
2009	0.874	0.701
2010	0.876	0.707
2011	0.874	0.713
2012	0.874	0.717
2013	0.879	0.721
2014	0.886	0.726
2015	0.888	0.731
2016	0.884	0.735
2017	0.887	0.739
2018	0.893	0.741
2019	0.896	0.745
2020	0.896	0.742
2021	0.897	0.742
2022	0.897	0.752
2023	0.908	0.756

Expected for a child today

20.8 years

Share of government spending

6.4%

Households with Internet access

84.6%

Fixed telephone lines

4,691,257

Fixed broadband

44.7 subscriptions per 100 people

Counts subscriptions, not people.

Debit-card ownership

83%

Account at a bank or mobile-money provider

95%

Made or received a digital payment

91%

Asylum seekers

30,154

Stateless persons

3,743

Internally displaced persons

17All due to disasters

Refugees from Greece abroad

101

Overnight arrivals by year2010 to 2022

Per resident

2.7 arrivals per resident

Same-day visitors

2 million arrivals

Visitor spending in the country

$26 billion(2024)

Share of GDP

7.3% tourism direct GDP(2024)

Domestic trips

6 million overnight trips by residents

Residents' trips abroad

5.1 million overnight trips

Residents' spending abroad

$5.3 billion(2024)

Hotel beds

880,624

Average hotel stay

4.8 nights

A tourist stays at least one night. Arrivals count trips, not people.

Site	Type
Acropolis, Athens	Cultural
Archaeological site of Delphi	Cultural
Meteora	Mixed
Medieval City of Rhodes	Cultural
Archaeological site of Olympia	Cultural
Archaeological site of Mycenae and Tiryns	Cultural
Old Town of Corfu	Cultural
Mount Athos	Mixed
Delos	Cultural
Archaeological Site of Philippi	Cultural
Minoan Palatial Centres	Cultural

The Factbook names 11 of the 20 sites.

Data reliability as rated by INFORM: Very high. Last updated Aug 31, 2026.

A low figure can also mean weak recording.

Persons held

10,242

Men

37.6%

Women

28.3%

World median

3.1%

CO₂ per capita

4.8 t per person

World Rank58thof 207

Share of global CO₂

0.13%

Methane (CH₄)

11.3 Mt CO₂-eq

Nitrous oxide (N₂O)

3.54 Mt CO₂-eq

Fluorinated gases

4.12 Mt CO₂-eq

All greenhouse gases

71.5 Mt CO₂-eq

WHO guideline

5 µg/m³

National standard

10 µg/m³

Life expectancy gain if the national standard were met

0.3 years

Treaty	Standing	Joined
Climate
Paris Agreement	in force	2016
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change	in force	1994
Kyoto Protocol	in force	2005
Ozone layer
Montreal Protocol	in force	1989
Vienna Convention (Ozone Layer)	in force	1989
Biodiversity
Convention on Biological Diversity	in force	1994
CITES	in force	1993
Convention on Migratory Species (Bonn)	in force	1999
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety	in force	2004
Nagoya Protocol	in force	2020
Land and heritage
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands	in force	1975
World Heritage Convention	in force	1981
UN Convention to Combat Desertification	in force	1997
Chemicals and waste
Basel Convention	in force	1994
Rotterdam Convention (PIC)	in force	2004
Stockholm Convention (POPs)	in force	2006
Minamata Convention on Mercury	in force	2020
Oceans
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea	in force	1995
High Seas Treaty (BBNJ)	in force	2026
MARPOL 73/78	in force	1983

Per person

6,569 m³ per year

Dependency ratio

15% originates outside the country

Annual water withdrawal

10 billion m³ per year

Withdrawn for agriculture

80%

Water stress

20% of available freshwater withdrawn

Men

27.7%

Women

26.9%

Per capita

108.1 GJ per person

Share of world total

0.17%

Supply

Deficitproduces 13% of what it consumes, 2024

OverviewBy source

Generation

54 TWh per year

Consumption

48 TWh per year

Imports

5.7 TWh per year

Exports

6 TWh per year

Net

+0.3 TWh per year

As an exception, the duration of the full military service is 9 instead of 12 months if conscripts, after the initial training, serve the entire remaining time in certain areas of the eastern borders, in Cyprus, or in certain military units.In July 2025, the Greek Government unveiled several defense reforms which went into effect on 1 January 2026, including abolishing mandatory military service for the Air Force and Navy, with exceptions only for specialized roles such as aircraft engineers and ship captains; all conscripts are to be classified exclusively into the Army; ground forces will also take over facility security duties previously managed by the other branches.As of 2025, women comprised about 17% of the military's full-time personnel.

Key milestones

1994

Signed first cooperation agreement with the ESA

2005

First satellite (Hellas-Sat) for a domestic telecommunications satellite network launched by US; joined ESA (became member state in 2011)

2017

First domestically manufactured communications satellite (UPSat) released from International Space Station

2019

Began participating in ESA’s quantum communications infrastructure (EuroQCI or “fiber in the sky”) and the US Gateway Lunar orbital/landing programs

2021

Launched ESA-assisted national program to develop, manufacture, launch, and operate small satellites

2024

Signed US-led Artemis Accords for space and Moon exploration

2025

Launched demonstrator/experimental RS cube satellite (DUTHSat-2) under ESA-assisted national small satellite program