Millions of tourists visit Greece every year, and it’s no wonder. Greece has it all, from great temperatures all year round, incredibly rich history, wide and glorious beaches and even palm trees and pyramids. Do you want to join the crowd but you know less about modern Greece than about its ancient counterpart? If you’re from an EU country, will you need more than just your ID or passport? Let’s take a look at the basics: is Greece in the EU?
Greece is a country on the Balkan peninsula with its capital in Athens, bordering Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. It consists of a mainland, where you’ll find Athens, and thousands of (mostly) small Greek islands. Of the thousands, only about 220 are actually inhabited in any way. The estimated population for the whole of Greece in 2023 was about 10,414,000 – it’s decreasing. Fitting, given that one theory proposes that the English name for ‘Greek’ could derive from a proto-indo-european root of ‘ǵerh’ – to grow old.
As for the EU, yes, Greece is a member of the European Union. It’s also a member of NATO, the Schengen Area, the Council of Europe and the United Nations – the last one Greece actually founded. Greece was also one of the first countries to join the European Communities (the pre-eu union) and one of the first adopters of the eurozone (two years after its introduction, in 2001).
As for the EU, Greece was effectively one of the founders of the modern Union, as it belonged to the European Communities since 1981. As such, it simply transitioned into the Union when it was formed.
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