Background
Greece is a parliamentary republic and its capital city is Athens. It has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1981. Its currency is the euro, and it has been a member of the euro area since 1 January 2001. Greece has been a Schengen area member since 1 January 2000. There are 21 representatives from Greece in the European Parliament. Eurostat figures on the European Union's own country page put the population of Greece at 10 366 586 and its total area at 131 694 km2.
Capital:
Athens
Currency:
euro
European Union member since:
1 January 1981
Euro area member since:
1 January 2001
Schengen member since:
1 January 2000
Seats in the European Parliament:
21
Why it matters for exams: Capital, currency and the dates of European Union, euro area and Schengen membership are the most asked facts about any European country.
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Background
Greece is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO's own list of member countries records that on 18 February 1952 Greece and Türkiye joined the Alliance. They were the first countries admitted after the twelve founding members of 1949. NATO now has 32 member countries, the most recent being Finland in 2023 and Sweden in 2024. Greece therefore belongs to NATO, the European Union, the euro area, the Schengen area, the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Joined NATO:
18 February 1952
Joined alongside:
Türkiye
NATO member countries:
32
Why it matters for exams: The year Greece joined NATO and the country that joined with it are classic international-organisation questions.
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Background
Greece is a parliamentary republic in which the President of the Hellenic Republic is the Head of State and the Prime Minister leads the government. The President is elected by the Greek Parliament and not by a direct popular vote. The Presidency of the Hellenic Republic records that Constantine An. Tassoulas was elected President of the Hellenic Republic by the Greek Parliament on February 12, 2025. He assumed office on March 13, 2025.
Head of State:
President of the Hellenic Republic
Elected by:
The Greek Parliament
Elected on:
February 12, 2025
Assumed office:
March 13, 2025
Why it matters for exams: Who elects the Head of State is the point of difference between Greece and many other republics, and examiners test it.
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Background
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre's State Party page for Greece records 20 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List and gives Greece's ratification of the World Heritage Convention as 17 July 1981. Greece has no purely natural World Heritage property; Meteora, Mount Athos and the wider area of Mount Olympus are inscribed under both cultural and natural criteria. The Acropolis, Athens and the Archaeological Site of Delphi were inscribed in 1987. Meteora and Mount Athos were inscribed in 1988, as were the Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika, the Medieval City of Rhodes and the Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus. The Archaeological Site of Olympia and the Archaeological Site of Mystras were inscribed in 1989, and Delos in 1990. The Minoan Palatial Centres were inscribed in 2025 and the wider area of Mount Olympus in 2026.
Properties recorded on Greece's State Party page:
20
Purely natural properties:
None
World Heritage Convention ratified:
17 July 1981
Acropolis, Athens inscribed:
1987
Why it matters for exams: The number of World Heritage sites a country holds and the names of its best known sites are regular general-knowledge questions.
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Background
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and lies in the north of the country. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre inscribed 'The wider area of Mount Olympus' as a serial property covering 18,938 hectares, under criteria (vi) and (x). Its sharp central ridge is described as the Mytikas-Stefani complex. In ancient Greek belief the mountain was the home of the Twelve Olympian Gods led by Zeus, together with the Muses and the Graces, and the writings of Hesiod and Homer made it a central reference point of Greek mythology. Its landforms include glacial cirques, limestone cliffs, karstic sinkholes and deep gorges such as the Enipeas, and it served as a glacial refuge for forest species.
Highest mountain in Greece:
Mount Olympus
World Heritage property area:
18,938 hectares
Central ridge:
Mytikas-Stefani complex
Inscription criteria:
(vi) and (x)
Why it matters for exams: The highest peak of a country and its mythological association are asked together in geography and culture sections alike.
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Background
Greece's recovery and resilience plan under the European Union's NextGenerationEU instrument is worth 35.95 billion euros in total. It is made up of 18.22 billion euros in grants and 17.73 billion euros in loans. The plan is financed through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, under which payments are released only when a member state meets agreed milestones and targets. Greece's seventh payment request brought it 1.18 billion euros in grants and loans, on the completion of 53 per cent of all the milestones and targets in its plan. With that payment Greece had received 24.6 billion euros, or 68.5 per cent of its allocation.
Total plan value:
35.95 billion euros
Grants:
18.22 billion euros
Loans:
17.73 billion euros
Received with the seventh payment:
24.6 billion euros, 68.5 per cent of the allocation
Why it matters for exams: NextGenerationEU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility are regularly asked about in international economy sections.
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In plain words
RRF Recovery and Resilience Facility — The European Union fund that pays member states only after they meet agreed reform milestones and targets.
Background
The Acropolis, Athens stands in the Prefecture and Region of Attica in Greece and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The property covers 3.04 ha with a buffer zone of 116.71 ha, and it is inscribed under criteria (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (vi). Its principal monuments are the Parthenon, the main temple associated with Athena and built under the building programme of Pericles; the Propylaia, the monumental entrance to the Acropolis; the Erechtheion, a temple of the late 5th century BC; and the small Temple of Athena Nike. The Acropolis hill itself carries fortification walls of the Mycenaean period.
Location:
Prefecture and Region of Attica, Greece
Property area:
3.04 ha
Buffer zone:
116.71 ha
Main temple:
Parthenon
Why it matters for exams: The Parthenon and the Acropolis are among the most frequently named monuments in art and culture sections.
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Background
The Archaeological Site of Delphi lies in Phocis in Central Greece and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The property covers 51.04 ha with a buffer zone of 14,313.67 ha, and it is inscribed under criteria (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (vi). Its monuments include the Temple of Apollo, the Treasury of the Athenians, the Altar of the Chians, the Stoa of the Athenians, the Tholos, the Polygonal Wall, the theatre and the stadium. The Castalian Spring survives as the remains of two monumental fountains, and the Holy Road runs from the Roman Market to the stadium. The Omphalos is the stone associated with the sanctuary's standing as the navel of the world.
Location:
Phocis, Central Greece
Property area:
51.04 ha
Principal temple:
Temple of Apollo
Navel of the world stone:
Omphalos
Why it matters for exams: Delphi and its oracle of Apollo are standard world-history and art-culture material.
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Background
Meteora, in the Prefecture of Trikala in the Region of Thessaly in Greece, is a mixed property on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The property covers 271.87 ha with a buffer zone of 1,884.14 ha, and it is inscribed under criteria (i), (ii), (iv), (v) and (vii). Its rock pillars are described as columns of the sky. Four of the monasteries still house religious communities: Aghios Stephanos, Aghia Trias, Varlaam and Meteoron. The monastery of Varlaam sits atop a 373-metre cliff. Theophanes the Cretan painted the frescoes of the Monastery of Saint Nikolas Anapafsas in 1527, and the small church of Panaghia Doupiani, also called the Skete, was built at the foot of one of the rock pillars in the late 12th century. The property forms part of the Natura 2000 network and of the Meteora Pyli UNESCO Global Geopark.
Location:
Prefecture of Trikala, Region of Thessaly
Property area:
271.87 ha
Height of the Varlaam cliff:
373 metres
Geopark:
Meteora Pyli UNESCO Global Geopark
Why it matters for exams: Meteora is one of the small number of mixed World Heritage properties, which makes it a favourite of examiners.
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