Editing Greece (section)

== Demographics ==
{{Main|Demographics of Greece|Greeks}}

[[Eurostat]] estimated the population at 10.6&nbsp;million in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population on 1 January by age and sex |date=2023 |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_pjan/default/table?lang=en |access-date=31 March 2023 |website=Eurostat |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121031131/https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_pjan/default/table?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Greece Population Density, 2000 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Greece population density, 2000]]
Greek society has changed over recent decades, coinciding with the [[Aging of Europe|wider European trend]] of declining fertility and aging. The [[birth rate]] in 2016 was 8.5 per 1,000, significantly lower than the rate of 14.5 in 1981. The mortality rate increased from 8.9 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 to 11.2 in 2016.<ref name=Factbook-Greece/>

The [[fertility rate]] of 1.4 children per woman is well below the [[Replacement fertility rate|replacement rate of 2.1]], and one of the lowest in the world, considerably below the high of 5.5 children in 1900.<ref>{{citation|url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=GRC|title=Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last centuries|author=Max Roser|date=2014|work=[[Our World in Data]], [[Gapminder Foundation]]|access-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807155725/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=GRC|archive-date=7 August 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Greece's median age is 44.2 years, the seventh-highest in the world.<ref name=Factbook-Greece/> In 2001, 17% of the population were 65 years old and older, 68% between the ages of 15 and 64 years old, and 15% were 14 years old and younger.<ref name="nssg">{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/hellas_in_numbers_eng.pdf |title=Greece in Numbers|publisher=[[Hellenic Statistical Authority]]|year=2006|access-date=14 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040707190604/http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/hellas_in_numbers_eng.pdf|archive-date=7 July 2004}}</ref> By 2016, the proportion of the population age 65 and older had risen to 21%, while the proportion of those aged 14 and younger declined to slightly below 14%. Marriage rates began declining from almost 71 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1981 to 51 in 2004.<ref name=nssg /> Divorce rates have seen an increase from 191 per 1,000 marriages in 1991 to 240 per 1,000 marriages in 2004.<ref name=nssg />

As a result of these trends, the average household is smaller and older than in previous generations. The economic crisis exacerbated this development, with 350,000–450,000 Greeks, predominantly young adults, emigrating since 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/24866436-9f9f-11e8-85da-eeb7a9ce36e4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/24866436-9f9f-11e8-85da-eeb7a9ce36e4 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|title=Greece brain drain hampers recovery from economic crisis|last=Hope|first=Kerin|date=16 August 2018|website=Financial Times|language=en-GB|access-date=3 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Cities ===
{{See also|List of cities and towns in Greece}}
Almost two-thirds of the Greek people live in urban areas. Greece's largest and most influential metropolitan centres are [[Athens]] (population 3,744,059 according to [[Athens Metropolitan Area, Greece|2021 census]]) and [[Thessaloniki]] (population 1,092,919 in [[Thessaloniki metropolitan area|2021]]) that latter commonly referred to as the {{transliteration|el|symprotévousa}} ({{lang|el|συμ[[wikt:πρωτεύουσα|πρωτεύουσα]]}}, {{literally|co-capital}}).<ref name="Greek Experience">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9TG0Q0xKJYC&q=Thessaloniki%20co-capital&pg=PA19|title=Regional analysis and policy: the Greek experience|author1=Harry Coccossis |author2=Yannis Psycharis|year=2008|publisher=Springer|access-date=19 August 2011|isbn=9783790820867|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610022754/https://books.google.com/books?id=x9TG0Q0xKJYC&q=Thessaloniki%20co-capital&pg=PA19#v=snippet&q=Thessaloniki%20co-capital&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Other prominent cities with populations above 100,000 inhabitants include [[Patras]], [[Heraklion]], [[Larissa]], [[Volos]], [[Rhodes (city)|Rhodes]], [[Ioannina]], [[Agrinio]], [[Chania]], and [[Chalcis]].<ref name="cities">{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gr/Athena2001/Athena2001.ASP?wcu=$cmd=0$id=5200712142356520314915 |title=Athena 2001 Census |publisher=[[National Statistical Service of Greece]] |access-date=14 December 2007 |archive-date=17 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117231653/http://www.statistics.gr/Athena2001/Athena2001.ASP?wcu=%24cmd%3D0%24id%3D5200712142356520314915}}</ref>

{{Largest cities of Greece}}

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Greece|Greek Orthodox Church|Church of Greece}}
{{See also|Muslim minority of Greece|Hellenismos|Ancient Greek religion|Romaniote Jews}}
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = Religiosity in Greece (2017):<ref name="Pew2017"/>
| label1 = [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]
| value1 = 90
| color1 = Orchid
| label2 = Other Christians (exc.[[Catholics]])
| value2 = 3
| color2 = DeepSkyBlue
| label3 = [[Irreligion]]
| value3 = 4
| color3 = Honeydew
| label4 = [[Islam]]
| value4 = 2
| color4 = Green
| label5 = Other religions (inc.[[Catholics]])
| value5 = 1
| color5 = Yellow
}}

The Greek Constitution recognises [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]] as the 'prevailing' faith of the country, while guaranteeing freedom of religious belief for all.<ref name="con51,53" /><ref name=Hri.org>{{cite web|title=The Constitution of Greece|url=http://www.hri.org/docs/syntagma/artcl25.html|publisher=Hellenic Resources Network|access-date=4 October 2014|archive-date=2 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002214338/http://www.hri.org/docs/syntagma/artcl25.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The government does not keep statistics on religious groups and censuses do not ask for religious affiliation. According to the U.S. State Department, an estimated 97% of Greek citizens identify themselves as [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]], belonging to the [[Greek Orthodox Church]],<ref name="religion">{{cite web | url = https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90178.htm | website = International Religious Freedom Report 2007 | title = Greece | publisher = [[United States Department of State]], Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor | date = 15 September 2006 | access-date = 14 April 2007 | archive-date = 23 May 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190523073852/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90178.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> which uses the [[Byzantine rite]] and the [[Greek language]], the original language of the [[New Testament]]. The administration of the Greek territory is shared between the [[Church of Greece]] and the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]].

In a 2010 [[Eurostat]]–[[Eurobarometer]] poll, 79% of Greek citizens responded that they "believe there is a God".<ref name="eurostat">{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf |title=Special Eurobarometer, biotechnology; Fieldwork: January–February 2010 |page=204 |date=October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215001129/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2010 }}</ref> According to other sources, 16% of Greeks describe themselves as "very religious", which is the highest among all European countries. The survey found just 3.5% never attend a church, compared to 5% in [[Poland]] and 59% in the Czech Republic.<ref name="forskning.no">{{cite web|url=http://forskning.no/2008/02/dagens-ess-religiositet-og-kirkebesok|title=Dagens ESS: Religiøsitet og kirkebesøk|trans-title=Today ESS: Religiosity and church visits|publisher=Forskning|language=no|date=11 October 2005|access-date=11 September 2010|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610022756/https://www.forskning.no/dagens-ess-religiositet-og-kirkebesok/1039242|url-status=live}}</ref>
Estimates of the recognised [[Muslim minority of Greece]], mostly located in [[Thrace]], range around 100,000,<ref name=religion /><ref name=religion2 /> about 1% of the population. Some of the Albanian immigrants to Greece come from a nominally Muslim background, though most are secular.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2006/71383.htm |title=Greece |publisher=[[United States Department of State]] |date=26 August 2005 |access-date=6 January 2009 |archive-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523075106/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2006/71383.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War]] and the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]], Greece and Turkey agreed to a [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|population transfer based on cultural and religious identity]]. About 500,000 Muslims from Greece, predominantly those defined as Turks, but also [[Greek Muslims]], were exchanged with approximately 1.5&nbsp;million Greeks from Turkey. However, many refugees who settled in former Ottoman Muslim villages in [[Central Macedonia]], and were defined as Christian Orthodox [[Caucasus Greeks]], arrived from the former Russian [[Transcaucasus]] province of [[Kars Oblast]], after it had been retroceded to Turkey prior to the population exchange.<ref>{{cite web |website= Countrystudies.us |url= http://countrystudies.us/turkey/24.htm |title= Turkey&nbsp;– Population |place= US |publisher= [[Library of Congress]] |access-date= 23 September 2014 |archive-date= 29 June 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110629083555/http://countrystudies.us/turkey/24.htm |url-status= live }}</ref>

Judaism has [[History of the Jews in Greece|been present]] in Greece for more than 2,000 years.
The ancient community of Greek Jews is called [[Romaniote Jews|Romaniotes]], while the [[Sephardi Jews]] were once a prominent community in [[Thessaloniki]], numbering some 80,000, or more than half of the population, by 1900.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/30/thessalonikis-jews-we-cant-let-this-be-forgotten-if-its-forgotten-it-will-die|title=Thessaloniki's Jews: 'We can't let this be forgotten; if it's forgotten, it will die'|first=Sam|last=Jones|date=30 July 2020|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=3 March 2021|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610022755/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/30/thessalonikis-jews-we-cant-let-this-be-forgotten-if-its-forgotten-it-will-die|url-status=live}}</ref> However, after the [[German occupation of Greece]] and [[the Holocaust]], it is estimated to number around 5,500 people.<ref name=religion /><ref name=religion2 />

The [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] community is estimated to be around 250,000<ref name="religion" /><ref name="religion2" /> of which 50,000 are Greek citizens.<ref name="religion" /> [[Catholic Church in Greece|Their community]] is nominally separate from the smaller [[Greek Byzantine Catholic Church]], which recognises the primacy of the Pope but maintains the [[liturgy]] of the [[Byzantine Rite]].<ref>Leustean, Lucian N. (2014). "Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century: an Overview" in Lucian N. Leustean (editor), ''Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century'', pp. 1–20. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-68490-3}}, pp 8–9.</ref> [[Greek Old Calendarists|Old Calendarists]] account for 500,000 followers.<ref name="religion2">{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/aneval/religion_el.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605013415/http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/aneval/religion_el.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2007 |title=Executive Summary Discrimination on the Grounds of Religion and Belief Greece |publisher=[[European Commission]] |last1=Ktistakis |first1=Ioannis |last2=Sitaropoulos |first2=Nicholas |date=22 June 2004 |access-date=14 April 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Protestants, including the [[Greek Evangelical Church]] and [[Free Evangelical Churches]], stand at about 30,000.<ref name="religion" /><ref name="religion2" /> Other Christian minorities, such as [[Assemblies of God]], [[International Church of the Foursquare Gospel]] and various [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] churches of the [[Greek Synod of Apostolic Church]] total about 12,000 members.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.pentecost.gr/English/history.htm| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20041216225859/http://www.pentecost.gr/English/history%20keim.htm| archive-date= 16 December 2004 | title= Synod of Apostolic Church of Christ | publisher = Pentecost |access-date=22 March 2009}}</ref> The independent [[Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost]] is the biggest Protestant denomination in Greece with 120 churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianity.gr/church/addresses.php|title=Christianity Ministries|language=el|publisher=christianity.gr|access-date=22 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050530005647/http://www.christianity.gr/church/addresses.php|archive-date=30 May 2005}}</ref> There are no official statistics about the Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost, but the Orthodox Church estimates the followers as 20,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egolpio.com/PENTECOSTAL/freechurpentecost.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202062529/http://www.egolpio.com/PENTECOSTAL/freechurpentecost.htm|archive-date=2 December 2008|script-title=el:Ελευθέρα Αποστολική Εκκλησία της Πεντηκοστής|trans-title=Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost|language=el|publisher=egolpio.com|access-date=22 March 2009}}</ref> The [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] report having 28,874 active members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://download.jw.org/files/media_books/26/yb14_E.pdf|title=2014 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses|publisher=Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.|date=2014|pages=178–187|access-date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231060621/http://download.jw.org/files/media_books/26/yb14_E.pdf|archive-date=31 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since 2017, [[Hellenism (religion)|Hellenic Polytheism]], or Hellenism has been legally recognised as an actively practised religion,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wildhunt.org/2017/04/greek-paganism-legally-recognized-as-known-religion-in-greece.html |title=Hellenism legally recognized as religion in Greece |publisher=wildhunt.org |access-date=9 April 2017 |archive-date=19 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119183053/https://wildhunt.org/2017/04/greek-paganism-legally-recognized-as-known-religion-in-greece.html |url-status=live }}</ref> with estimates of 2,000 active practitioners and an additional 100,000 "sympathisers".<ref name="newstatesman.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200703200001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202123343/http://www.newstatesman.com/200703200001|url-status=dead|title=Newstatesman – The ancient Gods of Greece are not extinct|archive-date=2 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/08/wgods08.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040901020310/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F05%2F08%2Fwgods08.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 September 2004|title=Modern Athenians fight for the right to worship the ancient Greek gods|website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=22 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/01/religion.uk | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Helena Smith on why some Greeks are worshipping the ancient gods | access-date=11 December 2016 | archive-date=3 May 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503131432/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/01/religion.uk | url-status=live }}</ref> Hellenism refers to religious movements that continue, revive, or reconstruct [[Ancient Greek religion|ancient Greek religious practices]].

=== Languages ===
{{Main|Greek language|Varieties of Modern Greek|Languages of Greece|Minorities in Greece}}
[[File:Greece linguistic minorities.svg|thumb|upright=1.1|Regions with a traditional presence of languages other than Greek. Today, Greek is the dominant language throughout the country.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Summer institute of Linguistics | url = http://www.ethnologue.com/country/GR/languages | title = Languages of Greece | website = Ethnologue | access-date = 19 December 2010 | archive-date = 6 April 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130406054419/http://www.ethnologue.com/country/GR/languages | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Euromosaic – Le [slavo]macédonien / bulgare en Grèce |url=https://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/macedoni/fr/i1/i1.html |website=www.uoc.edu |access-date=8 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044656/http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/macedoni/fr/i1/i1.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Euromosaic – L'arvanite / albanais en Grèce |url=https://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/albanes/fr/i2/i2.html |website=www.uoc.edu |access-date=8 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702205628/https://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/albanes/fr/i2/i2.html |archive-date=2 July 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Euromosaic – Le valaque (aromoune, aroumane) en Grèce |url=https://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/valac/fr/i1/i1.html |website=www.uoc.edu |access-date=8 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170314/http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/valac/fr/i1/i1.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Turkish The Turkish language in Education in Greece |url=https://www.mercator-research.eu/fileadmin/mercator/documents/regional_dossiers/turkish_in_greece.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124027/https://www.mercator-research.eu/fileadmin/mercator/documents/regional_dossiers/turkish_in_greece.pdf |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live |website=mercator-research.eu}}</ref>{{Sfn | Trudgill | 2000}}]]

Greece is relatively homogeneous in linguistic terms, with a large majority of the native population using Greek as their first or only language. Among the Greek-speaking population, speakers of the distinctive [[Pontic Greek|Pontic]] dialect came to Greece from Asia Minor after the [[Greek genocide]] and constitute a sizable group. The [[Cappadocian Greek|Cappadocian]] dialect came due to the genocide as well, but is endangered and barely spoken. Indigenous Greek dialects include the archaic Greek spoken by the [[Sarakatsani]], traditionally [[Transhumance|transhumant]] mountain shepherds of [[Greek Macedonia]] and other parts of [[Northern Greece]]. The [[Tsakonian language]], a distinct Greek language derived from [[Doric Greek]] instead of [[Koine Greek]], is still spoken in villages in the southeastern Peloponnese.

The Muslim minority in Thrace, approximately 0.95% of the population, consists of speakers of [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] ([[Pomaks]]){{Sfn | Trudgill | 2000}} and [[Romani language|Romani]]. Romani is spoken by Christian [[Romani people|Roma]] in other parts of the country. The [[Council of Europe]] has estimated that there are approximately 265,000 [[Romani people]] living in Greece (2.47% of the population).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Greece - European Commission|url=https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/greece_en |website=commission.europa.eu|access-date=20 May 2024|archive-date=20 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520084405/https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/greece_en|url-status=live}}</ref> Other minority languages have traditionally been spoken by regional population groups in various areas. Their use decreased radically in the course of the 20th century through assimilation with the Greek-speaking majority. They are only maintained by the older generations and almost extinct. The same is true for the [[Arvanites]], an [[Albanian language|Albanian]]-speaking group mostly located in rural areas around Athens, and for the [[Aromanians]] and [[Megleno-Romanians]] whose language is closely related to [[Romanian language|Romanian]] and who used to live scattered across areas of mountainous central Greece. Members of these groups usually identify ethnically as Greek<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cilevics.eu/minelres/reports/greece/greece_NGO.htm |publisher=Greek Helsinki Monitor |title=Minority Rights Group, Greece, Report about Compliance with the Principles of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (along guidelines for state reports according to Article 25.1 of the Convention) |date=8 September 1999 |access-date=27 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111161345/http://www.cilevics.eu/minelres/reports/greece/greece_NGO.htm |archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref> and are bilingual in Greek.

Near the northern Greek borders there are some [[Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia|Slavic–speaking groups]], most of whom identify ethnically as Greeks. It is estimated that after the population exchanges of 1923, [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] had 200,000 to 400,000 [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] speakers.{{sfn|Roudometof|2001|p=186}} The Jewish community traditionally spoke [[Ladino language|Ladino]] (Judeo-Spanish), today maintained by a few thousand speakers. Other notable minority languages include [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], and the Greco-Turkic dialect spoken by the [[Urums]], a community of [[Caucasus Greeks]] from the [[Tsalka]] region of central Georgia and ethnic Greeks from southeastern [[Greeks in Ukraine|Ukraine]] who arrived in Northern Greece as economic migrants in the 1990s.

=== Migration ===
{{Main|Greek diaspora|Immigration to Greece}}
[[File:50 largest Greek diaspora.png|thumb|upright=1.7|A map of the fifty countries with the largest [[Greek diaspora]] communities]]
Throughout the 20th century, millions of Greeks migrated to the [[Greek Americans|United States]], [[Greeks in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[Greek Australians|Australia]], [[Greek Canadians|Canada]], and [[Greeks in Germany|Germany]], creating a large [[Greek diaspora]]. Net migration started to show positive numbers from the 1970s, but until the beginning of the 1990s, the main influx was returning Greek migrants or of [[Pontic Greeks]] and others from [[Greeks in Russia|Russia]], [[Greeks in Georgia|Georgia]], [[Greeks in Turkey|Turkey]] the [[Greeks in the Czech Republic|Czech Republic]], and elsewhere in the former [[Soviet Bloc]].<ref name=eliamep>Triandafyllidou, Anna. [http://www.idea6fp.uw.edu.pl/pliki/POES_Greece_PB_3.pdf "Migration and Migration Policy in Greece"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923025433/http://www.idea6fp.uw.edu.pl/pliki/POES_Greece_PB_3.pdf |date=23 September 2013 }}. ''Critical Review and Policy Recommendations''. [[Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy]]. No. 3, April 2009</ref>

A study from the Mediterranean Migration Observatory maintains that the 2001 census recorded 762,191 persons residing in Greece without Greek citizenship, constituting around 7% of the population. Of the non-citizen residents, 48,560 were EU or [[European Free Trade Association]] nationals and 17,426 were Cypriots with privileged status. The majority come from Eastern European countries: Albania (56%), Bulgaria (5%), and Romania (3%), while migrants from the former Soviet Union (Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, etc.) comprise 10% of the total.<ref>Kasimis, Charalambos; Kassimi, Chryssa (June 2004). [http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/greece-history-migration/ "Greece: A History of Migration"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007072123/http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/greece-history-migration |date=7 October 2015 }}. Migration Information Source.</ref> Some immigrants from Albania are from the [[Greeks in Albania|Greek minority in Albania]] centred on the region of [[Northern Epirus]]. The total Albanian national population which includes temporary migrants and undocumented persons is around 600,000.<ref>Managing Migration: The Promise of Cooperation. By Philip L. Martin, Susan Forbes Martin, Patrick Weil</ref>

The [[Greek census 2011|2011 census]] recorded 9,903,268 Greek citizens (92%), 480,824 Albanian citizens (4.4%), 75,915 Bulgarian citizens (0.7%), 46,523 Romanian citizenship (0.4%), 34,177 Pakistani citizens (0.3%), 27,400 [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] citizens (0.25%) and 247,090 people had other or unidentified citizenship (2%).<ref>{{cite press release |title=Announcement of the demographic and social characteristics of the Resident Population of Greece according to the 2011 Population |publisher=[[Hellenic Statistical Authority|Greek National Statistics Agency]] |page=9 |date=23 August 2013 |url=http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/General/nws_SAM01_EN.PDF |access-date=3 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225192921/http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/General/nws_SAM01_EN.PDF |archive-date=25 December 2013}}</ref> 189,000 people of the total population of Albanian citizens were reported in 2008 as ethnic Greeks from [[Southern Albania]], in the historical region of [[Northern Epirus]].<ref name=eliamep/>

The greatest cluster of non-EU immigrant population are in the larger urban centres, especially Athens, with 132,000 immigrants comprising 17% of the local population, and then Thessaloniki, with 27,000 immigrants reaching 7% of the local population. There is a considerable number of co-ethnics that came from the Greek communities of Albania and former [[Soviet Union]].<ref name=eliamep />

Greece, together with Italy and Spain, is a major entry point for [[European migrant crisis|illegal immigrants trying to enter the EU]]. Illegal immigrants entering mostly do so from the border with Turkey at the [[Evros River]] and the islands of the eastern Aegean across from Turkey. In 2012, most illegal immigrants came from [[Afghanistan]], followed by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.<ref>{{cite news|title=In crisis, Greece rounds up immigrants&nbsp;– Associated Press|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/10403249|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=11 June 2013|date=22 August 2012|location=London}}</ref> In 2015, arrivals of refugees by sea had increased dramatically due to the [[Syrian civil war]]. There were 856,723 arrivals by sea in Greece, an almost fivefold increase to the same period of 2014, of which the [[Syrians]] represented almost 45%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/country.php?id=83|title=Refugees/Migrants Emergency Response – Mediterranean, Greece|date=13 February 2016|publisher=[[UNHCR]]|access-date=20 February 2016|archive-date=17 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217181157/http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/country.php?id=83|url-status=dead}}</ref> Most refugees and migrants use Greece as a transit country to Northern Europe.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911|title=Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts|date=4 March 2016|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=7 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-35091772|title=This migrant crisis is different from all others|last=Simpson|first=John|date=24 December 2015|work=BBC News|access-date=7 June 2017}}</ref>

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in Greece}}
{{Update|part=section|date=January 2024|reason=The description of the secondary, post-secondary and tertiary education does not reflect the current situation}}
[[File:Ιόνιος Ακαδημία.jpeg|thumb|upright=0.8|The [[Ionian Academy]] in [[Corfu]], the first [[academic institution]] of modern Greece]]
[[File:National Library of Greece at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre 12.jpg|thumb|The new National Library of Greece at the [[Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center|Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre]]]]
Greeks have a long tradition of valuing and investing in ''[[paideia]]'' (education), which was upheld as one of the highest societal values in the Greek and Hellenistic world. The first European institution described as a university was founded in fifth-century Constantinople and continued operating in various incarnations until the city's fall to the Ottomans in 1453.<ref name="texor">{{cite web|url= http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/OriginUniversities.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090220164836/http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/OriginUniversities.html|archive-date= 20 February 2009 |title=Jerome Bump, University of Constantinople|access-date=19 December 2008|website= The Origin of Universities |publisher= University of Texas at Austin }}</ref> The [[University of Constantinople]] was Christian Europe's first secular institution of higher learning,<ref>{{cite book |last=Tatakes |first=Vasileios N. |author2=Moutafakis, Nicholas J. |title=Byzantine Philosophy |year=2003 |publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=978-0-87220-563-5|page=189}}</ref> and by some measures was the world's first university.<ref name="texor" />

Compulsory education in Greece comprises primary schools (Δημοτικό Σχολείο, ''Dimotikó Scholeio'') and [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] (Γυμνάσιο). Nursery schools (Παιδικός σταθμός, ''Paidikós Stathmós'') are popular but not compulsory. [[Kindergarten]]s (Νηπιαγωγείο, ''Nipiagogeío'') are compulsory for any child above four. Children start primary school aged six and remain there for six years. Attendance at gymnasia starts aged 12 and lasts for three years.

Greece's post-compulsory secondary education consists of two school types: unified upper secondary schools (Γενικό Λύκειο, ''Genikό Lykeiό'') and [[technical school|technical]]–[[vocational school|vocational]] educational schools (Τεχνικά και Επαγγελματικά Εκπαιδευτήρια, "TEE"). Post-compulsory secondary education also includes vocational training institutes (Ινστιτούτα Επαγγελματικής Κατάρτισης, "IEK") which provide a formal but unclassified level of education. As they can accept both ''Gymnasio'' (lower secondary school) and ''Lykeio'' (upper secondary school) graduates, these institutes are not classified as offering a particular level of education.

According to the Framework Law (3549/2007), Public higher education "Highest Educational Institutions" (Ανώτατα Εκπαιδευτικά Ιδρύματα, ''Anótata Ekpaideytiká Idrýmata'', "ΑΕΙ") consists of two parallel sectors:the university sector (Universities, Polytechnics, Fine Arts Schools, the Open University) and the Technological sector (Technological Education Institutions (TEI) and the School of Pedagogic and Technological Education). There are State Non-University Tertiary Institutes offering vocationally oriented courses of shorter duration (2–3 years) which operate under the authority of other Ministries. Students are admitted to these Institutes according to their performance at national level examinations taking place after completion of the third grade of ''Lykeio''. Students over 22 may be admitted to the [[Hellenic Open University]] through a lottery.

The education system provides special kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools for people with special needs or difficulties in learning. There are specialist gymnasia and high schools offering musical, theological, and physical education.

72% of adults aged 25–64 have completed upper secondary education, which is slightly less than the OECD average of 74%. The average Greek pupil scored 458 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD's 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This is lower than the OECD average of 486. Girls outperformed boys by 15 points, much more than the average OECD gap of 2.<ref>{{cite web|title=OECD Better Life Index – Greece|url=http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/greece/|website=oecdbetterlifeindex.org|publisher=OECD|access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref>

=== Healthcare system ===
{{Main|Healthcare in Greece}}

Greece has [[universal health care]]. The system is mixed, combining a national health service with [[social health insurance]] (SHI). Per a 2000 [[World Health Organization|World Health Organisation]] report, its [[health system]] ranked 14th in overall performance of 191 countries surveyed.<ref name="WHO report">{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/whr00_en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040917211911/http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/whr00_en.pdf |archive-date=17 September 2004 |url-status=live | title = Health Systems: Improving Performance |website=[[World Health Report]] | year = 2000 |publisher = [[World Health Organization]] |access-date=22 July 2011}}</ref> In a 2013 [[Save the Children]] report, Greece was ranked the 19th out of 176 countries for the state of mothers and newborn babies.<ref name="Save the Children report">{{cite web|url=http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8585863/k.9F31/State_of_the_Worlds_Mothers.htm|title=State of the World's Mothers 2013|year=2013|publisher=[[Save the Children]]|access-date=7 May 2013|archive-date=5 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505125839/http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8585863/k.9F31/State_of_the_Worlds_Mothers.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> {{As of|2014}}, there were 124 public hospitals, of which 106 were general hospitals and 18 specialised hospitals, with a total capacity of about 30,000 beds.<ref>Hellenic Statistical Authority, 2018</ref>

Greece's health care expenditures was 9.6% of GDP in 2007. By 2015, it declined to 8.4%, compared with the EU average of 9.5%. Nevertheless, the country maintains the highest doctor-to-population ratio of any OECD country<ref name="OECD">{{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/54/38979850.pdf |website=Health Data |year=2011 |title=How Does Greece Compare |publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] |access-date=22 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902163839/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/54/38979850.pdf |archive-date=2 September 2009 }}</ref> and the highest doctor-to-patient ratio in the EU.<ref name=":0">Economou C, Kaitelidou D, Karanikolos M, Maresso A. Greece: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2017; 19(5):1–192.</ref>

[[Life expectancy]] is among the highest in the world; life expectancy in 2015 was 81.1 years, slightly above the EU average of 80.6.<ref name=":0" /> The island of [[Icaria]] has the highest percentage of nonagenarians in the world; 33% of islanders are 90 or older.<ref name="NPR">{{cite news|title=The Island Where People Live Longer|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103744881|access-date=6 April 2013|newspaper=NPR|date=2 May 2009|quote=Buettner and a team of demographers work with census data to identify blue zones around the world. They found Icaria had the highest percentage of 90-year-olds anywhere on the planet&nbsp;— nearly 1 out of 3 people make it to their 90s.}}</ref> Icaria is subsequently classified as a "[[Blue Zone]]", a region where people allegedly live longer than average and have lower rates of cancer, heart disease, or other chronic illnesses.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|title=The Island Where People Forget to Die|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=6 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 October 2012|author=DAN BUETTNER}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

A 2011, OECD report showed Greece had the largest percentage of adult daily smokers of any of the 34 OECD members.<ref name="OECD" /> The obesity rate is 18%, above the OECD average of 15%.<ref name="OECD" />

In 2008, infant mortality, with a rate of 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, was below the 2007 OECD average of 4.9.<ref name="OECD" />