About Greece

General information about Greece

Official name of Greece is Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία). Greek people call their country Ellada (Ελλάδα).

Geografical location. Greece has land borders with Albania, the FYROM (Former 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.

Political system: is a parliamentary republic. The nominal head of state is the President of the Republic, who is elected by the Parliament for a five-year term. Administratively, Greece consists of thirteen peripheries subdivided into a total of fifty-four prefectures. There is also one autonomous area, Mount Athos (Greek: Agio Oros, “Holy Mountain”), which is held on mountain Athos. This is a monastery republic managed by representatives of 20 monasteries.

Capital: Athens (population of Athens is 3,19 million people).

Population: 11,28 million people (dates from 2009). The density of population is 80 people per sq. km, the square of Greece is 132 000 sq. km.

State religion: orthodox Christian. 98% of Greek citizens are orthodox Christians.

Greece has been a member of what is now the European Union since 1981 and the eurozone since 2001, NATO since 1952, and the European Space Agency since 2005. It is also a founding member of the United Nations, the OECD and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.

1 January – New Year’s Day

6 January – Epiphany Day

25 March – Greek Independence Day

movable feast – Easter Monday

1 May – Labor Day

15 August – Assumption of Mary

28 October – Greek National Day (Day Oxi)

25 December – Christmas Day