Flag Coat of Arms Motto: ??e??e??a ? ???at?? Eleftheria i thanatos  (transliteration) "Freedom or Death" Anthem: ?µ??? e?? t?? ??e??e??a? Ýmnos eis tin Eleutherían Hymn to Liberty1

Location of  Greece  (dark green) – on the European continent  (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (light green)  —  [Legend] Capital (and largest city) Athens 38°00'N, 23°43'E Official languages Greek Demonym Greek Government Parliamentary republic  -  President Karolos Papoulias  -  Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis Modern statehood  -  Independence from the Ottoman Empire 25 March 1821   -  Recognized 3 February 1830, in the London Protocol   -  Current constitution 1975, "Third Republic"  EU accession January 1, 1981 Area  -  Total 131,990 km² (96th) 50,944 sq mi   -  Water (%) 0.8669 Population  -  2008 estimate 11,216,708[1] (74th)  -  2001 census 10,964,020[2]   -  Density 84/km² (88th) 218/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2008 IMF estimate  -  Total $412.521 billion (31st)  -  Per capita $36,983 (17th) GDP (nominal) 2008 IMF estimate  -  Total $388.332 billion (27th)  -  Per capita $34,814 (23rd) Gini (2000) 35.42 (low)  HDI (2005) ? 0.926 (high) (24th) Currency Euro (€)3 (EUR) Time zone EET (UTC+2)  -  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3) Internet TLD .gr4 Calling code +30 1 Also the national anthem of Cyprus. 2 UNU/Wider World Income Inequality Database. 3 Before 2001: Greek Drachma. 4 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. Greece (Greek: ????da, Elláda, IPA: [?'laða], or ?????, Ellás, [?'las]), officially the Hellenic Republic [???????? ??µ???at?a (?lini'k?i ðimokra'tia)],[3] is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. It has borders with Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east and south of mainland Greece, while the Ionian Sea lies to the west. Both parts of the Eastern Mediterranean basin feature a vast number of islands. Greece lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia and Africa. It is heir to the heritages of ancient Greece, the Roman and Byzantine Empires,[4] and nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule.[5] Greece is regarded as the birthplace of democracy,[6] Western philosophy,[7] the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematic principles, and Western drama[8] including both tragedy and comedy. Greece is a developed country, a member of the European Union since 1981,[9] a member of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union since 2001, NATO since 1952, the OECD since 1961,[10] the WEU since 1995 and ESA since 2005.[11] Athens is the capital; Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Volos, Ioannina and Larissa are some of the country's other major cities.