Greece
- Capital:
- Athens
- Continent:
- Europe
- Region(s):
- Southern Europe
- Largest Cities:
- Athens, Thessaloniki, Patra
- Abbreviation:
- GRC
* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 7.7 minutes
1 death
Every 4.2 minutes
1 immigrant
Every 31.3 minutes
1 person
Every 13.1 minutes
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is located in southeastern Europe with the mainland at the south end of the Balkan Peninsula. Greece is bordered by Bulgaria, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, the Ionian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, and Turkey.
Millions of Greeks have migrated abroad to the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Canada, and Australia over the last century, which has led to a great Greek diaspora. Until the 1990s, most of the influx of migration into Greece was returning Greek migrants from Turkey, Georgia, Russia, and the Czech Republic.
According to the 2001 census, there were 762,000 people in Greece without Greek citizenship, or about 7% of the population. Of non-citizens, about 49,000 were EU nationals and 17,000 were Cypriots with privileged status. Most came from Eastern European countries, including Albania (56%), Bulgaria (5%) and Romania (3%).
The 2011 census found the population was comprised of Greek citizens (91%), Albanian citizens (4.5%), Bulgarian citizens (0.7%), Romanian citizens (0.4%), Pakistani citizens (0.3%) and Georgian citizens (0.25%).
Greece, as well as Spain and Italy, continue to face large numbers of illegal immigrants attempting to enter. Most illegal immigrants entering Greece do so from its border with Turkey.
Greece is now in its 8th straight year of recession, which is the longest on record for an advanced western economy. The country also has the highest unemployment rate in the Eurozone at almost 28%. The problem is so severe that many hospitals in Athens say social workers report growing numbers of uninsured migrant mothers who are fleeing the hospital at night with their babies and failing to register for fear of paying a delivery rate of about $600-$1,200 that most can’t afford.
The current median age of the population in Greece is 44.5 years of age with a life expectancy of 80.7. 8.1% of the national GDP is spent on healthcare, resulting in a fairly high physician and hospital bed density, the respective numbers are at 6.26 physicians per 1,000 residents and 4.3 beds per 1,000 individuals residing within Greece. 100% of the population has access to clean drinking water, and only 1% struggle with access to improved sanitation facilities. The literacy rate of the population at or over the age of 15 is 97.7. Greece ranks in at number 79 in the World Happiness Report, giving a rating of 5.3 on a scale of 0-10 for overall happiness.
The history of Greece goes back to ancient times, but the country didn’t gain its independence from the Ottoman Empire until the early 1800s. 100 years later in 1913, Greece gained additional territories from the Ottomans: Epirus, Macedonia, Crete, and the north Aegean Islands. Greece fell to the Germans during World War II and more than 100,000 died of starvation in 1941. Post-WWII, Greece became a parliamentary democracy and joined Nato.
A 1999 earthquake killed dozens and left thousands more homeless. A fire in 2007 left dozens more dead and destroyed forests across the country. Another fire in 2009 forced 10,000 to relocate. In the past decade, Greece has been struggling with crippling amounts of debt and unemployment.