Greece country profile – BBC News

Greece’s historical and cultural legacy continues to resonate throughout the modern Western world – in its literature, art, philosophy and politics.

Located on the southernmost tip of the Balkan Peninsula, Greece combines the mainland’s towering mountains with more than 1,400 islands, the largest of which is Crete.

After World War II, Greece experienced rapid economic and social changes, with tourism and shipping becoming major contributors to the economy.

The global financial crisis of the late 2000s had a devastating effect on Greece, as the legacy of high public spending and widespread tax evasion, combined with the credit crunch and resulting recession, left the country with a crushing debt burden.

President: Katerina Sakellaropoulou

Katerina Sakellaropoulou was elected president by Parliament in January 2020 and took office in March, becoming Greece’s first female head of state.

Before her election, she was president of the Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial position, as executive power rests with the prime minister.

Prime Minister: Kyriakos Mitsotakis

In June 2023, conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis defeated his center-left rival in Greece’s second elections in a month. He said the election result gave him a “strong mandate” to move more quickly on the path to change.

His New Democracy (ND) party won 40.5% of the national vote, almost 23 points ahead of Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza party, which obtained just under 18%. He defeated Syriza in May 2023, but called new elections in a bid to win a majority.

Mr. Mitsotakis was credited with successfully returning the Greek economy to stability and growth after a severe debt crisis and three international bailouts.

Although many Greeks are struggling with the cost of living crisis, voters have chosen to remain loyal to the party by promising lower taxes and improved public health.

Mr Mitsotakis said he could not promise miracles, but that New Democracy had “high goals” to transform Greece with a better public health service and better education.

One of the big stories of the election was the success of the newly created far-right Spartans party, which won almost 4.7% of the vote, crossing the 3% threshold to enter Parliament.

The Spartans only emerged as a political force in June 2023, when the Supreme Court banned another far-right party, the Greeks, and its imprisoned founder, Ilias Kasidiaris, supported the Spartans.

Kasidiaris was the spokesperson for the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, banned as a criminal organization and its leaders sentenced to long prison terms.

With the nationalist Greek Solution and the ultra-conservative Niki (Victory), the three far-right parties won nearly 13% of the vote and 34 seats.

Television is the most popular media in Greece. Established private networks operate alongside public broadcaster ERT.

The government has sought to regulate the television sector and five national channels were licensed in 2018.

Press freedom in Greece suffered serious setbacks in 2021 and 2022, media rights group says Reporters Without Borderswith journalists regularly prevented from covering issues ranging from migration to Covid-19.

Some key dates in modern Greek history:

1821-1829 – Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.

1832 – Prince Otto of Bavaria is chosen as the first king of independent Greece.

1913 – Greece retakes Epirus, Macedonia, Crete and the northern Aegean islands from the Ottomans during the First Balkan War, then Western Thrace from Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War.

1919-22 – Greco-Turkish War – The Greek invasion of Asia Minor brought about by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the defeat in World War I by Turkish forces.

1936 – General Ioannis Metaxas appointed Prime Minister, establishes a right-wing dictatorship.

1940 – Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s forces attack Greece from Italian-controlled Albania, but are repulsed.

1941 – Metaxas dies. Greece falls to German forces. More than 100,000 people die of starvation.

1942-1944 – Fierce resistance to the occupation from communist and royalist factions.

1944 – British and Greek forces team up to force the Nazis to withdraw.

1946-1949 – The royalist parties win the elections. The ensuing civil war ended with the defeat of the communist forces.

1952 – The new constitution declares Greece a kingdom governed by a parliamentary democracy. Greece joins NATO.

1967 – A group of army officers seize power in a military coup. The elections are postponed indefinitely and Colonel George Papadopoulos takes office as Prime Minister.

1973 – Greece is declared a republic, the monarchy is abolished and Papadopoulos assumes the presidency.

1974 – A Greek-backed coup against President Makarios of Cyprus is followed by a Turkish invasion and occupation of the island’s north.

1975 – The new constitution declares Greece a parliamentary republic with certain executive powers vested in a president.

1991 – The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia declares its independence. Greece objects to the name and flag of the Republic of Macedonia on the grounds that they imply territorial claims to the Greek province of Macedonia.

1996 – Tension rises between Greece and Turkey over a disputed islet in the Aegean Sea.

1999 – Earthquake hits Athens – dozens dead and thousands homeless.

2000 – Brigadier Stephen Saunders, a senior British diplomat, was shot dead in Athens by a left-wing guerrilla group on November 17.

2002 – The euro replaces the drachma. The Greek and Turkish governments agree to build a gas pipeline through which Turkey will supply gas to Greece.

2002-2003 – Arrest of the alleged leader and members of the November 17 terrorist group. The group’s leader and its main hitman sentenced to life imprisonment.

2004 – Athens hosts the Olympic Games.

2007 – Wildfires ravage dry forests on the continent and islands, killing dozens of people.

2009 – Around 10,000 people are evacuated from their homes as wildfires ravage the country.

2008 – The global credit crisis plunges Greece into a serious public debt crisis, leading to strict austerity and a dramatic fall in living standards.

2010 – Fears of a possible Greek default push euro zone countries to approve a 110 billion euro rescue plan.

2011-2012 – The debt crisis is worsening. European leaders agree to a major bailout for Greece, then 50% debt cancellation in exchange for further austerities. Against a backdrop of violent protests in the streets of Athens, Parliament approves a new package of harsh austerity measures as the price of a 130 billion euro bailout plan.

2015 – Greece and its creditors agree on a third bailout worth 86 billion euros, imposing further spending cuts to avoid bankruptcy and exit from the euro zone.

2018 – Macedonia and Greece sign a historic agreement ending a 27-year dispute over the official name of the former Yugoslav republic, which will become the Republic of North Macedonia in 2019.