Basic facts about Greece

Location: Southern Europe

European Union member: yes

Capital: Athens

Largest city: Athens

Official language: Greek

Ethnic groups: 94% Greek, 4% Albanian, 2% others

Demonym: Hellenic, Greek

Government: Unitary parliamentary republic

Legislature: Parliament

Area: 131,990 km2

Population: approximately 11,3 million in 2010

Density: 85.3/km2

Currency: Euro (€) since 2001, before that the Greek drachma

Time zone: Winter EET (UTC+2), Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)

Drives on: the right

Calling code: 30

Internet top level domain: .gr

Administrative divisions

Greece has been divided into 13 peripheries with a total of 325 municipalities since January 1, 2011, when the Kallikratis programme reform was put into effect. There is also one autonomous area, Mount Athos (known as Agio Oros in Greek, which means Holy Mountain). This autonomous area is just 390 square kilometers in size and inhabited by less than 2,000 people.

Earlier, Greece was divided into 54 prefectures and prefecture-level administrations. These old prefectures and prefecture-level administrations have largely been kept as sub-units of the peripheries.

Number Peripheries Capital Area (km²) Area (sq. mi.) Population* 1 Attica Athens 3,808 1,470 3,812,330 2 Central Greece Lamia 15,549 6,004 546,870 3 Central Macedonia Thessaloniki 18,811 7,263 1,874,590 4 Crete Heraklion 8,259 3,189 621,340 5 East Macedonia and Thrace Komotini 14,157 5,466 606,170 6 Epirus Ioannina 9,203 3,553 336,650 7 Ionian Islands Corfu 2,307 891 206,470 8 North Aegean Mytilene 3,836 1,481 197,810 9 Peloponnese Tripoli 15,490 5,981 581,980 10 South Aegean Ermoupoli 5,286 2,041 308,610 11 Thessaly Larissa 14,037 5,420 730,730 12 West Greece Patras 11,350 4,382 680,190 13 West Macedonia Kozani 9,451 3,649 282,120 Number Autonomous state Capital Area (km²) Area (sq. mi.) Population* Mount Athos Karyes 390 151 1,830

* Based on data from the 2011 census

Cities

Nearly two-thirds of the Greek population is urban, and about 4 million of the nation’s 11,3 million inhabitants are living in the larger urban area of Athens. The second largest city in Greece is Thessaloniki, with roughly 1 million residents in its larger urban area. Population figures for the two contiguously built up urban areas (not including the surrounding urban areas) are circa 3 million and 790,000, respectively. Athens is located next to the Mediterranean Sea in the Attica periphery of southern Greece, while Thessaloniki is a part of Central Macedonia.

In the table below you will find the 20 largest cities of Greece by population. The figures pertain to the contiguous built up urban areas and come from the 2011 census.

	Rank	City Name	Periphery	Population
	1	Athens	Attica	3,074,160
	2	Thessaloniki	C. Macedonia	790,824
	3	Patras	West Greece	214,580
	4	Heraklion	Crete	173,450
	5	Larissa	Thessaly	163,380
	6	Volos	Thessaly	144,420
	7	Rhodes	South Aegean	115,290
	8	Ioannina	Epirus	111,740
	9	Chania	Crete	108,310
	10	Chalcis	Central Greece	102,420

11	Agrinio	West Greece	93,930
12	Katerini	C. Macedonia	86,170
13	Trikala	Thessaly	80,900
14	Serres	C. Macedonia	76,240
15	Lamia	Central Greece	74,720
16	Alexandroupoli	E. Macedonia/Thrace	72,750
17	Kavala	E. Macedonia/Thrace	70,360
18	Kalamata	Peloponnese	70,130
19	Veria	C. Macedonia	66,630
20	Komotini	E. Macedonia/Thrace	66,580