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Greece
EuropeSouthern Europe
132 Thousand km²
Quick Facts
Capital
Athens
Area
131,990 km²
Language
Greek
Currency
Euro (EUR)
Calling Code
+30
Drives On
Right
Internet
.gr
Timezone
EET (UTC+2 / UTC+3)
Script
Greek
Government
Unitary Parliamentary Republic
Independence
1829
Map tiles by CARTO. Data by OpenStreetMap.
Greece is the country that invented civilization and never lets you forget it. Democracy, philosophy, theater, the Olympic Games, trial by jury, the alphabet you're reading - all Greek. When Socrates was asking uncomfortable questions in the Athenian agora, most of Europe was living in huts. When Archimedes was calculating pi, Rome was still a small city-state. The Greeks didn't just build the foundations of Western culture - they built most of the walls and the roof too.
But Greece is far more than a museum. It's 6,000 islands scattered across the Aegean and Ionian seas, most of them uninhabited. Whitewashed villages spilling down volcanic cliffs in Santorini. Byzantine monasteries perched on impossible rock pillars at Meteora. Olive groves as old as Homer. Food so simple and perfect - grilled octopus, feta drizzled with honey, fresh fish by the harbor - that it makes complicated cuisine feel unnecessary. And the Greeks themselves are among the most hospitable people in Europe, with a word for it that they invented: philoxenia, love of strangers. They take it seriously.
Largest Cities in Greece
1
Athens
Capital and birthplace of democracy, where the Acropolis and Parthenon watch over a chaotic, vibrant, graffiti-covered modern city
3,200,000
2
Thessaloniki
Greece's second city and cultural capital of the north, a port city of Byzantine churches, Ottoman hammams, and the best food in Greece
1,100,000
3
Patras
Gateway to the Peloponnese and Greece's third largest city, famous for its enormous Carnival celebration
260,000
4
Heraklion
Capital of Crete and gateway to the Minoan palace of Knossos, Europe's oldest civilization dating to 2700 BC
210,000
5
Volos
Port city at the foot of Mount Pelion, legendary home of the Centaurs and gateway to the Sporades islands
145,000
6
Rhodes
Medieval walled city on the island where one of the Seven Wonders once stood, mixing Crusader castles with Greek beaches
115,000
Famous People from Greece
Socrates
ScienceFather of Western philosophy who taught by questioning everything, ultimately sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens
Aristotle
SciencePhilosopher who systematized logic, biology, ethics, and politics, tutored Alexander the Great, and influenced thinkers for 2,000 years
Homer
LiteratureAuthor of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature composed nearly 3,000 years ago
El Greco
ArtCrete-born painter whose elongated figures and dramatic lighting in works like View of Toledo bridged Byzantine and Western art
Nikos Kazantzakis
LiteratureAuthor of Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ, Greece's most translated modern writer
Maria Callas
MusicThe most famous opera soprano of the 20th century, whose dramatic interpretations and vocal range redefined the art form
Giannis Antetokounmpo
SportThe Greek Freak - NBA MVP, NBA champion, and Finals MVP, one of the greatest basketball players ever, son of Nigerian immigrants to Athens
Constantine P. Cavafy
LiteratureAlexandrian-Greek poet whose Ithaka and Waiting for the Barbarians became touchstones of modern world poetry
Traditional Cuisine of Greece
Moussaka
Layered casserole of eggplant, minced meat, and bechamel sauce baked until golden, the Greek comfort food standard
Souvlaki
Grilled meat skewers wrapped in pita with tomato, onion, and tzatziki, the undisputed king of Greek street food
Greek Salad
Tomato, cucumber, onion, olives, and a thick slab of feta drizzled with olive oil - never lettuce, and never chopped feta
Spanakopita
Crispy filo pastry filled with spinach and feta cheese, a savory pie found at every bakery and kitchen table
Tzatziki
Cool yogurt dip with cucumber, garlic, and olive oil that accompanies almost everything in Greek cuisine
Baklava
Layers of filo pastry filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios and soaked in honey syrup, the definitive Greek dessert
Pastitsio
Baked pasta with meat sauce and bechamel, essentially Greek lasagna with tubular pasta and a hint of cinnamon
Loukoumades
Fried dough balls drizzled with honey and cinnamon, the oldest known dessert in the world, served to Olympic victors in ancient Greece
Nature & Landmarks in Greece
Santorini
IslandVolcanic caldera island with iconic white and blue villages perched on 300-meter cliffs above the deep blue Aegean
Meteora
LandmarkUNESCO World Heritage Site of six monasteries built on impossible sandstone pillars reaching 400 meters into the sky
Mount Olympus
MountainHome of the twelve gods in Greek mythology at 2,917 meters, Greece's highest peak and a national park since 1938
Samaria Gorge
CanyonEurope's longest gorge at 16 kilometers through Crete's White Mountains, ending at the Libyan Sea
Zakynthos
IslandHome to Navagio Beach - the famous shipwreck cove with turquoise water - and a major nesting site for loggerhead sea turtles
Vikos Gorge
CanyonListed by Guinness as the deepest gorge in the world relative to width, cutting through the Pindus Mountains of Epirus
Delos
IslandSacred birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, an uninhabited UNESCO island that was the religious center of the ancient Greek world
Mani Peninsula
CoastWild, remote southern tip of the Peloponnese with stone tower villages, sea caves, and the mythological entrance to Hades
Sports in Greece
Basketball
Won the 1987 and 2005 EuroBasket championships, producing NBA stars including Giannis Antetokounmpo
Football
Shocked the world by winning Euro 2004 as massive underdogs, one of the greatest upsets in football history
Water Polo
Consistently among the best in the world, with the men's team winning the 2001 World Championship
Athletics
Birthplace of the Olympics in 776 BC, host of the first modern Olympics in 1896, and always the first team in the Olympic opening ceremony
Did You Know?
1
Greece has more archaeological museums than any other country in the world
2
The Greek national anthem has 158 verses, the longest in the world, though only the first two are ever sung
3
Greece has between 1,200 and 6,000 islands depending on definition, of which only about 200 are inhabited
4
The ancient Greeks invented democracy, theater, the Olympic Games, and trial by jury
5
Greeks consume more olive oil per capita than any other nation - about 20 liters per person per year
6
The word alphabet comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and beta
7
Athens has been continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world
8
No point in Greece is more than 137 kilometers from the sea
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