Greece

Table of Contents

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief
  - Central Greece: the Píndos Mountains
  - Northeastern Greece: Makedonía and Thráki
  - Eastern Greece: Thessalía and Attikí
  - Southern Greece: the Pelopónnisos
  - Western Greece: Ípeiros and Akarnanía
  - The islands of Greece
- Drainage
- Soils
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
People
- Ethnic groups
- Languages
- Religion
- Settlement patterns
- Demographic trends
Economy
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
- Resources and power
- Manufacturing
- Finance
- Trade
- Services
- Labour and taxation
- Transportation and telecommunications
Government and society
- Constitutional framework
- Local government
- Justice
- Political process
- Security
- Health and welfare
- Housing
- Education
Cultural life
- Cultural milieu
- Daily life and social customs
- The arts
- Cultural institutions
- Sports and recreation
- Media and publishing
History
- Greece during the Byzantine period (c. 300 ce–c. 1453)
  - Late Roman administration
  - The evolution of Byzantine institutions
  - Byzantine recovery
  - Economy and society
  - Results of the Fourth Crusade
    - Despotate of Epirus
    - Thessaly and surrounding regions
    - Athens, Thebes, and Corinth
    - The Peloponnese
    - Serbian and Ottoman advances
    - The islands
    - Economic and social developments
  - Cultural continuity
    - The Slavs
    - The Albanians
    - The Aromani (Aromanians)
    - Emerging Greek identity
- Greece under Ottoman rule
  - The millet system
  - Disadvantages for non-Muslims
  - Resistance to Ottoman rule
  - Belief in divine intervention
  - The role of the Orthodox church
- Transformation toward emancipation
  - Signs of Ottoman decline
  - The Phanariotes
  - The mercantile middle class
  - The intellectual revival
- From insurgence to independence
  - Rigas Velestinlis
  - Western encroachments
  - Philikí Etaireía
  - Revolt in the Peloponnese
  - Factionalism in the emerging state
- Building the nation, 1832–1913
  - Greece under Otto of Wittelsbach
  - The Great Idea
  - Reform, expansion, and defeat
    - Political modernization
    - Extension of Greek borders
    - Rectification of frontiers
    - Emigration
  - The early Venizélos years
    - The Goudi coup
    - Venizélos’s reformist program
    - The Balkan Wars
- Greek history since World War I
  - From the National Schism to dictatorship
  - The Metaxas regime and World War II
  - Civil war and its legacy
  - Restoration of democracy
  - Greece’s debt crisis

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images, Videos & Interactives

Academy of Athens

Exploring Athens: A fusion of history and modernity

Physical features of Greece

coastal islands, Aegean Sea, Greece

Pindus Mountains

For Students

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Greece: Media

Videos

Exploring Athens: A fusion of history and modernity

Exploring Athens: A fusion of history and modernity

Overview of Athens.

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Tomas1111/Dreamstime.com

Exploring the Metéora monastery complex

Exploring the Metéora monastery complex

Overview of Metéora, a group of monasteries in Thessaly, Greece.

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Znm/Dreamstime.com

Images

Greece

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Academy of Athens

Academy of Athens

Academy of Athens.

© Brigida Soriano/Shutterstock.com

Greece

Greece

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Greece

Greece

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Physical features of Greece

Physical features of Greece

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

coastal islands, Aegean Sea, Greece

coastal islands, Aegean Sea, Greece

Coastal islands and bays of the Aegean Sea, Greece.

Josef Muench

Thíra, Greece

Thíra, Greece

Thíra (Thera), Greece.

Ivan Massar/Black Star

Pindus Mountains

Pindus Mountains

Píndos (Pindus) Mountains, Greece.

Bogdan Giusca

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus (Ólympos) on the border of the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thessaly.

V-DIA—SCALA from Art Resource, New York

Thermopylae

Thermopylae

Thermopýles (Thermopylae), central Greece.

Fkerasar

church of St. Sophia, Mistra, Greece

church of St. Sophia, Mistra, Greece

The church of St. Sophia at the ruined Byzantine city of Mistra, Greece, on a spur...

David Warren/Superstock

island of Corfu (Kérkyra), Greece

island of Corfu (Kérkyra), Greece

Olive and cypress trees against the mountainous background of northern Corfu (Kérkyra),...

Ion Gardey/Robert Harding Picture Library, London

Kefloniá, Greece

Kefloniá, Greece

Island of Kefaloniá (Cephallenia), Greece.

Yannismarou

Mytilene, Greece

Mytilene, Greece

The harbour and town of Mytilene, view from the citadel, Lésbos, Greece.

Tomas Friedmann/Photo Researchers

Portico of Philip V, Dílos, Greece.

Portico of Philip V, Dílos, Greece.

Portico of Philip V, Dílos (Delos), Greece.

© RJ Lerich/Shutterstock.com

Ródos, Greece

Ródos, Greece

The western coast of the island of Ródos (Rhodes), Greece.

© Mariusz Świtulski/Dreamstime.com

Crete, Greece

Crete, Greece

Crete, Greece.

© Andrei Hrabun/Dreamstime.com

bridge, Árachthos River, Greece

bridge, Árachthos River, Greece

A 17th-century bridge over the Árachthos River, Árta, Greece.

Babette and Marshall Druck/Photo Researchers

temple of Aphaea, Aíyina, Greece

temple of Aphaea, Aíyina, Greece

The temple of Aphaea, Aíyina (Aegina), Greece.

Susan McCartney/Photo Researchers

maquis

maquis

Maquis (macchie) vegetation on the Mediterranean coast, near Sithonía, Greece.

Oleg Polunin

Poseidon riding dolphins

Poseidon riding dolphins

Ancient Greek mosaic showing the sea god Poseidon riding two dolphins.

Dinkum

Greek Orthodox Easter service, Pátmos, Greece

Greek Orthodox Easter service, Pátmos, Greece

Greek Orthodox priests from the monastery of St. John the Theologian celebrating...

© John Sims—CLICK/Chicago

Byzantine church of Áyios (Saint) Dimítrios, Thessaloníki, Greece

Byzantine church of Áyios (Saint) Dimítrios, Thessaloníki, Greece

The Byzantine church of Áyios (Saint) Dimítrios, Thessaloníki (Thessalonica), Greece.

© Chris Hellier/Ancient Art & Architecture Collection

fort at Heraklion, Greece

fort at Heraklion, Greece

Fort at Heraklion (Irákleio), Greece, built by the Venetians, who called the city...

Tiers/Monkmeyer

Mýkonos, Greece

Mýkonos, Greece

Street on the island of Mýkonos (Míkonos), Greece.

Myron Goldfinger, New York

port of Mandrákion, Ródos, Greece

port of Mandrákion, Ródos, Greece

The new market (left) above the port of Mandrákion in the city of Ródos (Rhodes),...

Gerald Clyde—FPG

port of Ýdra, Greece

port of Ýdra, Greece

The port of Ýdra (Hydra), Greece.

George Holton/Photo Researchers

Piraeus, the port of Athens

Piraeus, the port of Athens

The harbour at Piraeus, the port of Athens, on the Saronic Gulf, Greece.

K. Honkanen/Ostman Agency

parliament building, Athens

parliament building, Athens

Parliament building, Athens, Greece.

Brand X Pictures/Jupiterimages

poster from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens

poster from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens

An official poster from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

© SeM—Universal Images Group/Getty Images

acropolis of Lindos, Ródos, Greece

acropolis of Lindos, Ródos, Greece

The natural citadel of the acropolis of Lindos was successively fortified by the...

© Freesurf69/Dreamstime.com

Kayaköy, Turkey: church ruins

Kayaköy, Turkey: church ruins

Church in the abandoned village of Kayaköy, near Fethiye, southwestern Turkey. Kayaköy...

© Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Kayaköy, Turkey

Kayaköy, Turkey

Abandoned buildings of Kayaköy, near Fethiye, southwestern Turkey. Kayaköy was deserted...

© Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Greek protesters

Greek protesters

Greeks protesting against austerity measures required by the European Union–International...

© Vicspacewalker/Shutterstock.com

euro-zone debt crisis

euro-zone debt crisis

Demonstrators protesting against the austerity measures implemented by the Greek...

© Portokalis/Shutterstock.com

Alexis Tsipras

Alexis Tsipras

Alexis Tsipras, 2012.

Milos Bicanski—Getty Images News/Thinkstock

Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 2019.

Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

Kavála

Kavála

Kavála, Greece.

© Panos Karapanagiotis/Shutterstock.com

Crete

Crete

Inset map of Crete (Candia), Greece, from the 10th edition of the Encyclopædia...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

European Union

European Union

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Greece

Greece

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Audio

National anthem of Greece

The instrumental version of the national anthem of Greece.

Interactives

Greece: Urban-rural

Greece: Urban-rural

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Greece: Age breakdown

Greece: Age breakdown

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Greece: Major export destinations

Greece: Major export destinations

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Greece: Major import sources

Greece: Major import sources

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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