Facts about the Greek Language
The Greek language is an Indo-European language which has existed from around the 14th century BC.Modern Greek is a living tongue and one of the richest surviving languages today, with more than 600,000 words.
The Greek language, with a documented record spanning three and a half millennia, is a strong element of national continuity.
Modern Greek derives from the same idiom used by Homer.
Greek is also the language of the Gospels.
The Greek alphabet and the Greek language have contributed much to all western languages. Today's Greeks, however, are the only ones who ensure this linguistic continuity.
Spoken in: Greece, Cyprus, south Albania, south Italy, south Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, central and south Bulgaria, Turkey and surrounding countries
Region: The Balkans
Total speakers: 15 million
Official language of: Greece, Cyprus (and the European Union)
Statistics:
- Greece - 10,647,529
- Cyprus - 578,000
- United States - 458,699
- Germany - 314,000
- United Kingdom - 200,000
- Poland - 114,000
- Australia - 106,677
- Russia - 105,000
- Canada - 104,455
- Ukraine - 7,205
- Georgia - 100,000
- South Africa - 70,000
- Albania - 60,000
- Egypt - 42,000
- Sweden - 50,000
- Kazakhstan - 47,000
- Italy - 20,000
- Austria - 12,000
- Bulgaria - 11,000
- Armenia - 4,700
- Turkey - 4,000
- Malawi - 2,000
- Paraguay - 1,800
- Djibouti - 1,600
- Bahamas - 800
- Sierra Leone - 700
- Congo - 400
- Democratic Congo (?)
- France (?)
- Jordan (?)
- Romania - 4,146
- Tunisia (?)
- Total - 13,067,711
Classification: Indo-European | Greek