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Greece - People

The population of Greece was 10,700,000 according to a July 2017 US government estimate. One-third of the population lives in and around metropolitan Athens; the remainder of the country has moderate population density mixed with sizeable urban clusters. Greece does not collect data on ethnicity. Greece has experienced radical changes in recrent decades, becoming the main gate of the migration streams towards Europe. Slightly smaller in area than England, Greece had a population of less than eight million in 1941. Migrations and exchanges of population, chief among them the replacement of Turks in western Thrace with a million and a quarter Greeks expelled from Asia Minor in 1922-24, contributed to making the inhabitants of the Hellenic state predominantly Greek.

Demographically, Greece is a largely homogeneous country; more than 90% of Greek citizens view themselves as ethnic Greeks, having a common language and a common religion—that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. This homogeneity is attributed to two population exchanges following several wars and a domestic policy whose objective was to create a nation-state and assimilate all non-ethnic Greek citizens into the overwhelmingly Greek Orthodox society.

In Greece, as in many other countries, the question of minorities has been deeply entwined with history, politics, and foreign policy considerations. Successive governments have reiterated the official position of Greece, which is that no ethnic or linguistic minorities exist within Greece’s borders other than the Muslim minority in Western Thrace. With respect to those who claim to belong to a “Macedonian minority,” Greece often categorically states that it does not recognize that “a distinct ethnic or linguistic minority exists in its territory by the name ‘Macedonian.’”

The situation of the Greek Roma who live outside the Western Thrace region and thus are not considered part of the Muslim minority deserves its own section, because these people constitute a marginalized segment of the Greek population. In legislation and policy measures, they are considered a “vulnerable group” and Greece has taken a number of positive measures to assist their integration into civil society.

The Greek people proudly trace their heritage back thousands of years in Europe, where they developed an advanced civilization unlike any the world had yet seen. The people of ancient Greece developed the concept of democracy, in which the supreme power to govern was vested in the people. Throughout history, the Greek people exhibited an enduring sense of bravery in rising up against oppressors; with Winston Churchill noting in a famed World War II speech that "Until now we used to say that the Greeks fight like heroes. Now we shall say: The heroes fight like Greeks".

In earliest time, the Greek people was divided into a number of separate tribes, some of which attracted attention in the early fabulous age, others in the later historical period; so likewise the Greek language was divided, to an unexampled extent, into various dialects, which differed from each other according to the several tribes and territories. In what relation the dialects of the Pelasgians, Dryopes, Abantes, Leleges, Epeans, and other races widely diffused in the earliest periods of Grecian history.

The primitive tribes just mentioned, which were the earliest occupants of Greece known to tradition, and of which the Pelasgians, and after them the Leleoes, were the most extended, unquestionably did much for the first cultivation of the soil, the foundation of institutions for divine worship, and the first establishment of a regular order of society. The Pelasgians, widely scattered over Greece, and having their settlements in the most fertile regions (as the vale of the Peneus in Thessaly, the lower districts of Bceotia, and the plains of Argos and Sicyon), appear, before the time when they wandered through Greece in isolated bodies, as a nation attached to their own dwellingplaces, fond of building towns, which they fortified with walls of a colossal size, and zealously worshipping the powers of heaven and earth, which made their fields fruitful and their cattle prosperous.

When the Romans conquered the South-eastern lands, they found there three peoples, the Greek, the Illyrian, and the Thracian. Those three peoples are all there still. The Greeks speak for themselves. The Illyrians are represented by the modern Albanians. The Thracians are represented, there seems every reason to believe, by the modem Romanians. Now had the whole of the South-eastern lands been inhabited by Illyrians and Thracians, those lands would doubtless have become as thoroughly Roman as the Western lands became. But the position of the Greek nation, its long history and its high civilization, hindered this. The Greeks could not become Romans in any but the most purely political sense. Like other subjects of the Roman Empire, they gradually took the Roman name; but they kept their own language, literature, and civilization. In short, the Roman Empire in the East became Greek, and that the Greek nation became Roman.

Nothing is more difficult than for a foreigner to form even an approximate estimate of the character of a people; and the temptation to accept the opinions of their predecessors has been so strong with writers on Greece, that, with very few exceptions, they have but paraphrased the scathing invectives of Juvenal on the starveling Greek with his nimble wit, his unutterable impudence, and swift and ready speech; who knew all trades, and was ready to do or be anything that was wished. To appreciate the good or bad qualities, it is necessary to be so familiar with them as to get inside the veneer they show to the world, and probe the motives that govern the actions of their lives.

The Eastern Empire and the Greek-speaking lands became nearly coextensive. Greek became the one language of the Eastern Roman Empire, while those that spoke it still called themselves Romans. Until the modern ideas of nationality began to spread, the Greek-speaking subjects of the Turk called themselves by no name but that of Romans. The Greeks, during their long slavery, became what an extremely quick and clever people must become when reduced to bondage. The powers which, in a state of freedom, are consecrated to the highest objects, were necessarily, in the slave, diverted to the object of tricking and deluding his tyrant.

The Greeks of the plain lands had throughout been the least Greek in character. The Thessalian temperament was the basis of Alexander's empire, which was as non-Greek in its constitution, its phalanx, and its inspiration as the empire of Napoleon was non-Latin. This national character explains why the Greeks had so much difficulty in retaining the interior of the Peninsula, although holding the coastline — contrary to the usual rule that who holds the coast holds the country.

Upon the fall of the City of Constantinopole in 1453, the Greek people began almost four centuries under foreign rule in the Ottoman Empire; and in March 1821, the yearning for Greek independence inspired multiple militias to engage in battles against the Ottoman Empire The Greeks are a sober and a temperate people, little given to strong liquor, though critical on the qualities of water and coffee. It is no doubt true that the extreme independence of the Greek character has its disadvantages; it makes them impatient of discipline, and too ready to set up their own opinion against the orders of those, whom it is their duty to obey. It has had an evil influence on them politically, for the divisions of opinion on disputed questions are not based, as elsewhere, on considerations of party, nor on principle, so much as on adherence to the views of a personal leader.

The most salient points of the Greek national character are love of liberty, democratic spirit, activity, spirit of initiative and enterprise, extreme individualism, and love of country. Greek people are proud and independent, valuing their religious faith and practices, good health, education, and success.

The health status of the population compares relatively favorably with other OECD and EU countries, with women living on average 82.5 years and men 77.8 years. The main causes of death are diseases of the circulatory system, malignant neoplasms and cerebrovascular diseases.

The health status of the Greek population has strongly improved over the last few decades and seems to compare relatively favorably with other OECD and European Union (EU) countries. The health system is a mixture of public integrated, public contract and public reimbursement models, comprising elements from both the public and private sectors and incorporating principles of different organizational patterns. Access to services is based on citizenship as well as on occupational status. The oversupply of physicians, the absence of a referral system, and irrational pricing and reimbursement policies are factors encouraging under-the-table payments and the black economy. These shortcomings result in low satisfaction with the health care system expressed by citizens.

According to Eurostat, in 2015, Greece’s population was estimated at 10.8 million, down 0.83 percent since 2014. According to data available from the Hellenic Statistical Authority, the Region of Attica is home to approximately 3.8 million residents (35.2 percent of the population), followed by the Region of Central Macedonia which has 1.9 million people (17.6 percent of the population). Thus, over half the population lives in Athens and in the North in the city of Thessaloniki. Greece’s population continues to age with the “over 65” estimated at 2 million (19.5 percent of the population). The number of people aged 85 and over was more than 200,000 in 2011 accounting for 2.1 percent of the total population.

The age distribution of the population has changed substantially since 1970. A shift among the age groups has occurred, revealing a decrease in the 0–14-year-old age group of 10.3% and an increase in the 65 years and over age group of 7.6%. In addition, the proportion of very old people (over 80) increased to 3.9%. As a consequence, in 2008 the Greek population aged 65 and over corresponded to 27.7% of the working age population. This figure was the third highest in the EU27 after Italy (30.4%) and Germany (30.0).

The predominant factors that have an important impact on the ageing of the Greek population are the continuous fall in fertility rates and extended longevity in adults. Between 1970 and 2008 fertility dropped below replacement level, from 2.39 to 1.51 children per woman aged 15–49 years. On the other hand, the total gain in life expectancy is around 8.1 years. Furthermore, the crude birth rate has fallen from 16.5 to 10.5 births per 1000 population, indicating the near equalization of the number of births with the number of deaths. The increase in the crude death rate, which in 2008 was 9.6 deaths per 1000 population, can be attributed mainly to the number of deaths among the increasing number of the very elderly. As a result of these trends, a gradual slowing down of population growth over the last three decades has been observed.

Based on NSSG population projections, it is expected that the Greek population will increase by 240 000 inhabitants until the year 2020, after which the population will start to decline gradually as net migration will no longer outweigh natural decline.