| The People (population - religion - language) |
| Population: |
10.939.771 (2001 - census) |
| More than 4 millions Greeks are estimated to live abroad,
including over 2 millions in America. |
Sex distribution:
|
Male 49,6% , female: 50,4% (2001). |
| Population by areas: |
Urban: 57,7%, Rural: 42,3% (1991).
|
Area (sq. km):
|
131.957 |
Density:
|
82,9 inhabitants per sq. km. (2001) |
Birth rate:
|
9,72 per 1000 inhabitants (1997) |
| Life expectancy: |
males 74,6 years (1990), females 79,40 years (1990) |
| Capital city: |
Athens (3.192.606 inhabitants - 2001) |
| Population of main cities (1991 - census) |
| Athens |
3.072.866 |
| Thessaloniki |
749.048 |
| Patra |
170.452 |
| Iraklio |
126.907 |
| Volos |
116.031 |
| Larissa |
112.777 |
| Chania |
72.092 |
| Ioannina |
68.072 |
| Halkis |
62.837 |
| Kavala |
56.571 |
| Agrinio |
52.896 |
Religious affiliations: Of all citizens of the Hellenic Republic
97,6% are Greek Orthodox, 1,3% Muslim, 0,4% Roman Catholic, 0,1% Protestant,
0,6% other, including Jews. The Greek Orthodox Church is autocephalous, with
its own Charter but indissolubly united in doctrine with the Great Church
of Constantinople, i.e. the Ecumenical Patriarchate. On the peninsula of Chalkidiki,
located in southeastern Macedonia, is the famous Mount Athos, where a number
of monasteries of the Greek Orthodox Church form, as they have for centuries,
an autonomous monastic community.
Language: The Greek language with a documented record spanning
three and a half millennia is a strong element of national continuity. Modern
Greek derives from the same idiom used by Homer. Greek is also the language
of the Gospels. The Greek alphabet and the Greek language have contributed
much to all western languages. Today's Greeks, however, are the only ones
who ensure this linguistic continuity. In this respect Greek, is to be distinguished
sharply from Latin which generated numerous neo-latin languages from Rumanian
to Portuguese before it became itself extinct.
People