Demographics of Greece

The Demographics of Greece refer to the demography of the population that inhabits the Greek peninsula, a region where the Greek language has been continuously spoken for over 3500 years. The 2001 census of Greece reported a population of 10,964,020 people.

Historical Overview

See main article: Demographic history of Greece

Greece was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic period and by 3000 BC had become home, in the Cycladic Islands, to a culture whose art remains among the most evocative in world history, the Cycladic civilization . The Minoans were challenged and eventually supplanted by the Mycenaeans of the Greek mainland, who spoke a dialect of ancient Greek, the Mycenaean.

Year	Population	Notes	Area
400 BC	3,500,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
1 BC	5,000,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
200 AD	8,000,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
400 AD	8,000,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
600 AD	6,000,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
780 AD	7,000,000		Byzantine Empire
1025	12,000,000		Byzantine Empire
1143	10,000,000		Byzantine Empire
1204	9,000,000		Byzantine Empire
1281	5,000,000		Byzantine Empire
1400	4,500,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
1600	4,500,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
1800	4,500,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
1900	6,000,000		Greece proper + Asia Minor
1928	6,204,684		Greece proper
2001	10,964,020		Greece proper
2007	11,338,624		Greece proper

Prior to the second millennium BC, the Greek peninsula was inhabited by various pre-Hellenic peoples (notably the Pelasgians). After the invasion of the Greek peoples, the local populations were displaced or assimilated and the ancient Greek civilization was formed. The Greek language dominated the peninsula, and Greece's mosaic of small city-states became culturally similar. The population estimates on the Greeks during the 5th century BC, is approximately 3 million on the Greek peninsula and 6 million in the entire Mediterranean basin (including all colonies). After Alexander the Great's conquests, Greek culture and colonization was expanded in the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the East. After the Roman occupation of Greece, the Greek culture was favoured by the Romans and it continued to dominate on the Eastern part of the Empire and in Rome. After the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD by Constantine the Great, the Eastern Roman Empire developed independently from the West. It continued the use of Greek until it totally displaced Latin from the administration, and the empire became ethnically unified via the official adaptation of Christianity. The most common term used by scholars to refer to that medieval state is 'Byzantine'. During the long history of the Byzantine Greek state, the Greek peninsula was occasionally invaded by the following peoples: Goths, Avars, Slavs, Normans, Franks and other Romance language speaking people who had betrayed the Crusades. The only group however which planned to established permanent settlements in the region were the Slavs. They settled in isolated valleys of Peloponnese and Thessaly, establishing communities that were referred by the Byzantines as "Sclavinias". By the 9th century AD, Sclavinias in Greece were largely eliminated. The populations in central and southern Greece were the subject of population exchanges, army recruitments and Hellenizations, but some Slavic communities managed to survive in rural Macedonia. At the same time a large Jewish emigrant community from Spain established itself in Thessaloniki. The Byzantine Empire ultimately fell to Ottoman Turks in 15th century. Ottoman colonies were established in the Balkans, notable in Macedonia, Peloponnese and Crete. The Christian subjects of the Sultan had very restricted rights, and during that period many religious conversions took place. For those reasons, the population of the region decreased, yet it remained largely ethnically similar, as the Christians didn't have the right to use any means of transportation. The only notable event however, was the gradual settlement and resettlement of Arvanites and Vlachs in isolated communities throughout the Greek peninsula. Ancestors of these survive until today, linguistically assimilated though.

The population exchanges with Bulgaria and Turkey that took place in the early 20th century, added in total some 2 million Greeks from Asia Minor, Constantinople, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia to the demography of the Greek Kingdom.

Education

File:Greece demography.png

Population of Greece from 1961 to 2003.

Greek education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 15. English language study is compulsory from 3rd grade through high school. University education, including books, is also free, contingent upon the student's ability to meet stiff entrance requirements.

A high percentage of the student population seeks higher education. More than 100,000 students are registered at Greek universities, and 15% of the population currently holds a university degree. Admission in a university is determined by state-administered exams, the candidate's grade-point average from high school, and his/her priority choices of major. About one in four candidates gains admission to Greek universities.

Greek law does not currently offer official recognition to the graduates of private universities that operate in the country, except for those that offer a degree valid in another EU country, which is automatically recognized by reciprocity. As a result, a large and growing number of students are pursuing higher education abroad. The Greek Government decides through an evaluation procedure whether to recognize degrees from specific foreign universities as qualification for public sector hiring. Other students attend private, post-secondary educational institutions in Greece that are not recognized by the Greek Government. At the moment extensive public talk is made for the reform of the Constitution in order to recognize private higher education in Greece as equal with public and to place common regulations for both.

The number of Greek students studying at European institutions is increasing along with EU support for educational exchange. In addition, nearly 5,000 Greeks are studying in the United States, about half of whom are in graduate school. Greek per capita student representation in the U.S. (one every 2,200) is among the highest in Europe (the highest is probably Cyprus, with 1 person in 752 currently studying in the US).

Religion

See also: Religious minorities in Greece

According to the Greek constitution, Eastern Orthodox Christianity is recognized as the dominant ("επικρατούσα") religion in Greece. During the centuries of Ottoman domination, besides its spiritual mandate, the Orthodox Church, based in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), also functioned as an official representative of the Christian population of the empire. The Church is often credited with the preservation of Greek language, values, and national identity during Ottoman times. The Church was also an important rallying point in the war for independence, although this latter position is somewhat controversial as the official Church in Constantinople initially condemned the breakout of armed struggle against the Empire. The Greek Orthodox Church was established shortly after the formation of a Greek national state. Its authority to this day extends only to the areas included in the embryonic Greek state of 1833. There is a Muslim minority concentrated in Thrace, and officially protected by the treaty of Lausanne. Most of its members are Pomaks and Roma in addition to a Turkish ethnic comunity which receives instruction in Turkish at special government-funded schools. There are also a number of Jews in Greece, most of whom live in Thessaloniki. There are also some Greeks who adhere to a reconstruction of the ancient Greek Religion. A place of worship has been recognized as such by court.

Statistics

Population
10,964,020 (2001 Census)
11,170,957 (July 2007 est. [2])

Age structure
0-14 years: 14.3% (male 789,637; female 742,535)
15-64 years: 66.7% (male 3,565,237; female 3,570,630)
65 years and over: 19% (male 895,384; female 1,142,867) (2007 est.)

Median age
total: 41.2 years
male: 40 years
female: 42.3 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate
0.163% (2007 est.)

Birth rate
9.62 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate
10.33 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate
2.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Sex ratio
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.063 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.998 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.783 male(s)/female
total population: 0.962 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate
5.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 79.38 years
male: 76.85 years
female: 82.06 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate
1.35 children born/woman (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
0.2% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
9,100 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths
less than 100 (2003 est.)

Nationality
noun: Greek(s)
adjective: Greek

Ethnic groups
Greek 99%, other 1%
(note: the Greek Government states there are no ethnic divisions in Greece)

Religions
Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim 0.9%, other (mainly Roman Catholics, Jews etc.) 1.1%

Languages
Greek 99% (official), other 1% (incl. English, French, German, etc.)

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.5%
male: 98.6%
female: 96.5% (2003 est.)

See also

• Demographic history of Greece
• Minorities in Greece

References

• CIA World Factbook

External links

• Languages of Greece according to the Rosetta Project