Local short name form

Official name

Area

Population

Capital

Currency

International telephone access code

ISO 3166 country codes

Car nationality plate code

Internet country code

GRC Country Code

   1.234,45

(where , indicates the decimal separator and . the thousands separator)

   Note: This section last updated 22nd April 2021

   dd/mm/yyyy

   14:32

Greek (Demotiki) is the official language, spoken by 95% of the population. It is written in Greek script, though it is often found transcribed into Latin script. Other languages spoken are Macedonian (2%), Turkish (1%) and Albanian (1%). There are some 200 000 (2%) speakers of Pontic (a form of Greek unintelligible to speakers of Standard Greek) in the suburbs between Athens and Peiraeus Katerini); 30 000 speakers of Bulgarian ; 62 000 speakers of Romanian in the two dialects of Macedo and Megleno , 1 000 speakers of Romani and 300 speakers of Tsakonian .

This may be transliterated to Ipopsin.

Greek personal names, like other Greek nouns, may be inflected – their ending depends on the grammatical gender and case. Male and female surnames therefore differ within the same family - the wife of Petro Constantinopoulos may be Eleni Constantinopoulou. As this indicates grammatically that a woman is the property of her husband or father, not all women choose to use this form.

The middle name is often a patronymic – thus

   Petros Georgiou Constantinopoulos

(often written Petros Constantinopoulos tou Georgiou) is the son of Georgios. Married women may take their husband’s given name as a middle name:

   Eleni Petrou Constantinopoulou

Greeks often write their surname first.

Women (and children) usually, but not always, take their husband’s surname upon marriage. Some women retain both surnames hyphenated.

It is usual for a person’s name to include their father’s initial in the middle in this way:

   Constantinos T. Voliotis

Long surnames may be abbreviated.

   Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names , family name prefixes , forms of address , job titles 

The following company types may be found in Greek addresses:

   ABEE (Anonimi Biomixaniki Emporiki Eteria / Ανώνυμη Βιομηχανική Εμπορική Εταιρεία)
   AE (Anonymous Eteria / Ανώνυμη Εταιρία - limited liability)
   Atomiki Epihirisi (sole proprietorship)
   EE (Eterrorrythmos, Eterorithmi Etairia / Ετερόρρυθμος Εταιρία – limited liability partnership)
   EPE (Eteria Periorismeris Efthinis / Εταιρία Περιορισμένης Ευθύνης - limited liability company)
   MEPE (Monoprosopi Eteria Periorismenis Euthinis / Μονοπρόσωπη Εταιρία Περιορισμένης Ευθύνης)
   OBEE (Omorithmi Biomixaniki Emporiki Eteria / Ομόρρυθμη Βιομηχανική Εμπορική Εταιρεία)
   OE (Omorrythmos, Omorithmi Etairia / Ομόρρυθμος Εταιρία – partnership)
   SA (Société Anonyme) 

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm 

   Note: This section last updated 11th July 2020

Addresses have the following structure:

   Contact name or Business name
   Thoroughfare[ ]number
   postal code[  ]TOWN NAME

For example:

Addresses written in Latin-script are often translated as well as transliterated, with the building number written first:

The postal code should be separated from the settlement name by two spaces.

The Greek for street or road is οδός (odhos), but this is rarely used – the street name in its genitive form is used. For example:

   54 Homer Street

will be found as

   Omirou 54

Other thoroughfare types, such as λεωφόρος (leoforos, Avenue) or πλατεία (plateia, square) are used, in front of the thoroughfare name:

   Leoforos Omirou 54

   A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired 

(Sub-)building & Thoroughfare types

   Note: This section last updated 11th January 2019

   Κτίριο (Κτ., Ktírio) means Building. 
   Λεωφόρος (Λ., Λεωφ., Leofóros) means Avenue. 
   Πλατεία (Πλ., Plateía) means Square. 

Other elements commonly found in address databases

   Note: This section last updated 11th January 2019

This is written in a number of ways in Greek, according to the way in which the Greek text is transliterated. It may be:

   Taxydromikh Qypida
   Tahidromiki Thirida
   Takhidhromiki Thiridha
   Tahydromiki Thyrida

It can be abbreviated as T.Q. or T.Th. Its Greek form is ΤαΞνδρομικη Ηνριδα.

   Note: This section last updated 25th April 2020

Postal codes (Taxydpomikos Tomeas, or TT) consist of 5 digits. They are written on the same line (the last line) and before the town name in the following format:

   999[ ]99

for example:

   145 63  Athens
   546 45  Thessaloniki

The first two digits (ranging between 10 and 85) indicate the prefecture or large town (more than 50 000 inhabitants). In rural areas the third digit is a 0 and the final two digits indicate a municipality or region. In urban areas the third digit ranges between 1 and 9 and the final two digits indicate streets or portions of street.

   Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired 

Greece - Postal code format graphic

Greece - Postal code format

Greece - Postal code specifics

Greece - Postal code regular expression

Greece - Postal code level of coverage

Greece - Postal code map

   Note: This section last updated 17th June 2016

There are Albanian communities in Attica and along the border with Albania. They have their own names for certain settlements. Macedonian is spoken by some 180 000 inhabitants of the province of Macedonia, around Thessaloníki. Some settlements have both Greek and Macedonian names, though the Greek authorities heavily discourage the use of the Macedonian versions.

Refer to Exonyms in Greece for full lists of place names in Greece in other languages.

   Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm 

   Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm 

   Note: This section last updated 2nd August 2011

From 1^st January 2011 Greece is divided into 7 decentralised administrations (apokentromenes dioikiseis, singular: apokentromeni dioikisi) and one self-governed part, an autonomous monastic community (autodioikito), shown below with an asterisk:

    Aegean 
    Attica   (Attiki) 
    Crete   (Kriti) 
    Epirus   and Western Macedonia 
    Macedonia   and Thrace 
    Mount   Athos* (Agion Oros) 
    Peloponnese,   Western Greece and the Ionian Islands 
    Thessaly   and Central Greece 

Administrative districts graphic

Greek numbers have no area codes and are 10 digits long when called from abroad.. Mobile numbers commence with 693, 694, 697 or 699.

   Tables of telephone number information/formats can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/telephone.htm