Did you know that Greece is the third largest producer of olive oil in the world? Greeks have cultivated olive trees since antiquity. Some of the olive trees that are still producing olives date back to the thirteenth century.
Feta, which is made from sheep and goat’s milk, is Greece’s national cheese. It dates back to the Homeric ages, and the average per-capita consumption of feta cheese in Greece is the highest in the world!
In Greece, people celebrate the “name day” of the saint that bears their name in a similar way to their own birthday.
Continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years, Athens is one of the oldest cities in Europe.
The species and subspecies of the native plants in Greece are about 6,000, almost as much as 50% of the native plants of Europe!
Did you know that Greece hosts 50% of the brown bear population in western & southern Europe.
Greek is one of the oldest spoken languages in Europe since it has been spoken for more than 3.000 years.
Did you know that in Greece you can enjoy skiing with a sea view?
Greece's national drink is ouzo. Ouzo is a dry anise-flavoured aperitif. Cheers, "stin igia mas" in Greek!
Greece is a leading producer of sea sponges.
An old Greek legend says that when God created the world, he sifted all the soil onto the earth through a strainer. After every country had good soil, he tossed the stones left in the strainer over his shoulder and created Greece.
Greece is the place where democracy was born. But democracy in ancient Athens was significantly different from modern democracies. It was both more participatory and exclusive, and there were no political parties in Athenian democracy.
Alexander the Great, one of history’s greatest warriors and leaders of all time, was Greek. Alexander the Great conquered land all the way from Greece to Asia. His achievements and conquests gave rise to the later Hellenistic period (323 BC - 31 BC).
700 plant species of Greece are endemic, meaning that they may be found only in Greece; approximately 20% of those are aromatic or medicinal plants.
Athens is one of the few coastal cities worldwide that is surrounded by mountains. These are Mt. Hymettus, Mt. Penteli, Mt. Parnitha and Mt. Aigaleo.
Τhe concept of democracy developed in Athens around the 6th century BC. The Greek word demokratia (δημοκρατία) meant “the power of the people”.
Did you know that Greece has around 6,000 islands, islets and rocky islets? 2,000 of them are islands and only 107 of them are inhabited!
Did you know that Greece has the biggest EU consumption of olive oil per capita, with around 12 kg per person per year?
Olympus (2,917m), the mountain of Gods and Muses is the highest mountain of Greece and the 2nd in the Balkans.
Did you know that Greece is the 4th largest cheese producer worldwide. Greeks eat 28 kg per capita per year. And guess what, mostly feta cheese!