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Posted on: Nov 23, '07

GREEKS

Greeks

(HELINES)

Ioannis Kapodistrias • Pericles • El Greco •Alexander the Great

Total population
approx. 17,000,000

Regions with significant populations
Greece 10,196,539 (2001 census) [1]
United States 1,291,381a (2005 census) [2]
Cyprus 635,914 (2001 census) [3]
Australia 365,147 (2006 census) [4]
Germany 320,000 (2006 estimate) [5]
United Kingdom 300,000 (estimated) [6]
Canada 215,105 (2001 census) [7]
Russia 97,827 (2002 census) [8]
Ukraine 91,500 (2001 census) [9]
Albania 58,785 (1989 census) [10]
Brazil 25,000 - 30,000 [11]
Elsewhere see Greek diaspora

Language(s)
Greek
Religion(s)
Predominantly Greek Orthodox, with Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Atheist and other minorities.
Footnotes
a An estimated 3,000,000 claim Greek descent

The Greeks (Greek: , IPA: [ˈelines]) are a nation and ethnic group who have populated Greece and the area of the Aegean Sea for over 3,500 years.[13] Today they are primarily found in the Balkan peninsula of southeastern Europe, the Greek islands, Cyprus, and throughout the world as part of the Greek diaspora.

Ancient Greek colonies and communities were established throughout the Mediterranean, including Magna Graecia, Marseille and Barcelona, but Greek people have always concentrated around the Aegean coasts, where the Greek language has been spoken since antiquity. The Mycenaeans were the first historical people to arrive in the area now referred to as 'Greece'. According to Thucydides, the name of Hellas spread from a valley in Thessaly to all Greek-speaking peoples through Homer's works.

During the Byzantine Empire, which was dominated by ethnic and linguistic Greeks, the culture shifted away from paganism and ancient philosophies in favor of Christianity and a successor empire to Rome. The Byzantine Empire was overcome by the Ottoman Empire, but the Greeks who lived at the core of that Empire did not lose their ethnic identity. As a result, until the early 20th century, Greeks were distributed across the southern Balkan peninsula, the western coast of Asia Minor, Pontus, and Constantinople, regions which coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of ancient Greek colonization.

Other ethnic Greek populations can still be found from Southern Italy to the Caucasus and diaspora communities in a number of other countries. Today, the vast majority of Greeks self-identify as Greek Orthodox Christians.

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