Minorities in Greece are small in size compared toBalkan regional standards, and the country is largely ethnically homogeneous.^[1] This is mainly due to thepopulation exchanges betweenGreece and neighboringTurkey (Convention of Lausanne) andBulgaria (Treaty of Neuilly), which removed most Muslims (with the exception of the Muslims ofWestern Thrace) and those Christian Slavs who did not identify as Greeks from Greek territory. The treaty also provided for the resettlement of ethnic Greeks from those countries, later to be followed byrefugees. There is no official information for the size of the ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities because asking the population questions pertaining to the topic have been abolished since 1951.^[2]

The main officially recognized "minority" (μειονότητα,meionótita) is theMuslim minority (μουσουλμανική μειονότητα,mousoulmanikí meionótita) inThrace,Northern Greece, which numbered 120,000 according to the 2001 census^[3] and mainly consists ofWestern Thrace Turks,Pomaks (both mainly inhabitingWestern Thrace), and alsoRomani, found particularly in central andNorthern Greece. Other recognized minority groups are theArmenians numbering approximately 35,000,^[4] and theJews (Sephardim andRomaniotes) numbering approximately 5,500.^[5]

The Greek constitution defines theEastern Orthodox Church as the "prevailing religion" in Greece, and over 95% of the population claim membership in it. Any other religion not explicitly defined by law (e.g. unlike Islam and Judaism, which are explicitly recognized) may acquire the status of a "known religion", a status which allows the religion's adherents to worship freely, and to have constitutional recognition. After a court ruling, the criteria for acquiring the status of a "known religion" were defined as being a "religion or a dogma whose doctrine is open and not secret, is taught publicly and its rites of worship are also open to the public, irrespective of whether its adherents have religious authorities; such a religion or dogma needs not to be recognized or approved by an act of the State or Church". This covers most religious minorities such asRoman Catholics,Evangelicals,Pentecostals,Seventh-day Adventists,Methodists, andJehovah's Witnesses. All known religions to be considered by the Greek state legal entities under private law must establish an association, foundation, or charitable fund-raising committee pursuant to the Civil Code. TheRoman Catholic Church refuses to be considered a legal person under private or public law and has requested recognition by its owncanon law. In July 1999, following a parliamentary amendment, the legal entity status of all institutions of the Roman Catholic Church established before 1946 was reconfirmed. There is no formal mechanism that exists to gain recognition as a "known religion". There are also around two thousand Greeks who adhere to areconstruction of theancient Greek Religion.^[6][7] A place of worship has been recognized as such by court.^[8]

There is aMuslim minority who are Greek citizens living inThrace, concentrated in theRhodope andXanthi regional units. According to the 1991 census, there were 98,000 Muslims in western Thrace, 50% of them of Turkish ethnic origin, with 35%Pomaks and the remaining 15% Roma.^[9][10] Other sources estimate the size of the Muslim minority at 0.95% of the population, or approximately 110,000.^[11] Aside from the indigenous Muslim minority in Greece, the Muslim immigrant population in the rest of the country was estimated at 200,000 to 300,000, though these are recent migrants and generally not considered a minority.^{[12][failed verification]} Under Greek administration, the Muslim minority of Greece has adopted a moderate, non-political form of Islam.^[13] TheLausanne Treaty and as a result the Greek government define the rights of the Muslim communities in Western Thrace, both Turkish and Pomak, on the basis of religion instead of ethnicity.

A Turkish community currently lives inWestern Thrace, in the north-eastern part ofGreece. According to the 1991 census, there were approximately 50,000 Turks, out of the approximately 98,000Muslim minority of Greece^[10] Other sources estimate the size of the minority between 120,000 and 130,000.^[14][15] The Turks of Thrace descend from Turkish populations living in the area during the Ottoman period. Like the Greeks ofIstanbul, they were exempted from the1923 population exchange; in contrast,Greek Muslims inMacedonia were not exempt from the exchange and so expatriated to Turkey.^[16]

The Greek government continues to deliver Turkish-language public education, and there are two Islamic theological seminaries, one inKomotini and one inEchinos. The Turkish community of Greece enjoys full equality under the law, adopting Turkish names, publishing numerous Turkish-language newspapers, operating Turkish-language radio stations, converse freely in Turkish and use Turkish in Greek courts.^[13] They are allowed to maintain their own Turkish-language schools, which catered to about 8,000 students in the 1999-2000 school year.^[13] Since 1920, members of the Turkish minority participate in elections, electing representatives to Parliament.^[13] The great majority of Turkic Muslims in Thrace espouse moderate political views and are ready to work and prosper as citizens of the Greek state, with the exception of a relatively small group of ethnocentric activists.^[13]

In 1922, Turks owned 84% of the land in Western Thrace, but now the minority estimates this figure to be 20–40%. This stems from various practices of the Greek administration whereby ethnic Greeks are encouraged to purchase Turkish land with soft loans granted by the state.^[17][18] TheGreek government refers to the Turkish community asGreek Muslims orHellenicMuslims, and does not recognise a Turkish minority in Western Thrace.^[14] Greek courts have also outlawed the use of the word 'Turkish' to describe the Turkish community.^[19][20] In 1988, the Greek High Court affirmed a 1986 decision of the Court of Appeals of Thrace in which theUnion of Turkish Associations of Western Thrace was ordered closed. The court held that the use of the word 'Turkish' referred tocitizens of Turkey, and could not be used to describecitizens of Greece; the use of the word 'Turkish' to describe 'Greek Muslims' was held to endanger public order.^[20] Greece continued this stance in the beginning 21st century when Greek courts ruled to dissolve or prohibit formation of Turkish associations.^{[a][22][23][unreliable source?]}

Apart from Thrace, a small minority of Turks exists in theDodecanese islands ofRhodes andKos. They were not included in the1923 population exchange as the Dodecanese were annexed fromItaly in 1947 afterWorld War II. After annexation of islands, their Muslim inhabitants, Greek and Turkish speakers, were granted Greek citizenship. Today, about 5,000 Turks^[24] live in the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes (numbering 3,000) and Kos (numbering 2,000) and use Turkish in everyday life. In Rhodes and Kos, the teaching of the Turkish language wasde facto abolished in the early 1970s.^[25]

The Muslim Bulgarian-speaking minority are known asPomaks (Greek:Πομάκοι,Pomakoi,Bulgarian:Помаци,Pomatsi). They reside mainly in villages in theRhodope Mountains inThrace, inEvros,Xanthi andRhodoperegional units of Greece. According to the 2001 Greek census it is estimated that in total there are 36,000 Pomaks, of whom 23,000 live inXanthi regional unit, 11,000 live inRhodope regional unit and 2,000 live inEvros regional unit.^[26]

The language they speak is generally classified as adialect ofBulgarian, and more specifically is the "Central Rhodope dialect" orSmolyan dialect.^[27] Despite their mother language, many Pomaks also self-identify asTurks^[28] ThisTurkification has a number of reasons, including the fact that Turks and Pomaks were part of the samemillet during the years when their homeland was part of theOttoman Empire.

Under Greek law, the Muslim minority (including the Pomaks) has a right to education in its own language. In practice however, onlyTurkish is used.^[28] This is due to the Turkish self-identification of the Pomaks, and the fact that this trend was promoted until recently by the Greek authorities (who from 1968 until the 1980s even officially recognized the Pomaks as Turks)^[29] in order to distance them from the Bulgarians.^[28] There have been Greek-Pomak dictionaries published and a language primer in the Bulgarian language (in Greek script) has been published for use in Pomak schools.^[30] Recently, news have begun to be broadcast in the native language of the Pomaks.^[31]

Most Pomaks are fluent in their Pomak dialects (spoken amongst themselves), Turkish (their language of education, and the main language of the Muslim minority), Greek (the official language of the Greek state), and may know someArabic (the language of theQur'an).^[28]

There are approximately 35,000 Armenians in Greece^[4] out of which approximately 20,000 can speak theArmenian language.^[32] The community's main political representative is the Armenian National Committee of Greece; its headquarters are in Athens with branches all over Greece. The community also manages its own educational institutions. Approximately 95% of Armenians in Greece areArmenian Orthodox,^[33] with the rest being Armenian Catholics or Evangelicals.^[4] Some of these Armenians belong to theChurch of Greece, they are calledHayhurum.

The interaction between Greece and theJews dates back to ancient times.Alexander the Great reached ancientJudea and was welcomed by the Jews. Following his death, war erupted between the Hellenized Jews and Greeks and the Jewish conservativeMaccabees that embittered relations between Greeks and Jews for centuries.

During theOttoman Empire, Jews like all other non-Muslims had a degree of autonomy under theMillet system which classified populations according to religion rather than ethnicity or language.Thessaloniki in particular had a large Jewish population, mostly consisting ofSephardim who settled in Ottoman lands after the 1492expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Sephardim used to speakLadino until well into the 20th century. TheRomaniotes, on the other hand, are Jews who lived in the territory of today's Greece and neighboring areas for more than 2,000 years. Their language is Greek (and a Greek dialect calledYevanic language); they derive their name from theByzantine name for the Greeks, "Rhomaioi".

Sinceindependence in 1821, Greece continued to have a significant and active Jewish community with a long and rich cultural heritage.

The Jewish population of Greece increased markedly after theGreco-Turkish War (1919–1922) when Thessaloniki became part of the Greek kingdom, though the 1923population exchange between Greece and Turkey diluted the Jewish population of Thessaloniki.

During theHolocaust, 86% of Greek Jews, especially those in the areasoccupied by Nazi Germany and Bulgaria, were killed, despite efforts by theGreek Orthodox Church hierarchy, theEAM resistance movement and individual Greeks (both Christian and Communist) to shelter Jews. These efforts were particularly notable inZakynthos, where not a single local Jew was killed in the Holocaust.

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The Greek government does not officially recognize anethnic Macedonian minority of Slavic origin in Greece. Nevertheless, theGreek Helsinki Monitor issued a report in September 1999, which claimed that about 10,000–30,000 ethnic Macedonians live inGreece,^[36] but because of the absence of an official census it is impossible to determine the exact number. A political party called"Rainbow" promotes this line and claims minority rights of what they describe as the "Macedonian minority in Greece". In the2014 European Parliament election, Rainbow tallied a countrywide total of 5,759 votes, or 0.1% percentage.^[37] However, 2.5 million ethnic Greeks identify asMacedonian, unrelated to the Slavic people who are associated with theRepublic of North Macedonia.^[38]

In 2008 a United Nations independent expert on minority issues,Gay McDougall, personally visited Greece to check the current situation regarding the minorities. As the report published on theUN Human Rights Council web site^[39] says: "The Independent Expert met numerous individuals identifying as ethnic Macedonian." Moreover, she urges: "the Government of Greece to withdraw from the dispute over whether there is a Macedonian or a Turkish minority in Greece and focus on protecting the rights to self-identification, freedom of expression and freedom of association of those communities."

In addition to the above minorities, there are variousethnolinguistic communities in Greece with a distinct identity and language, but whose members largely identify ethnically as Greeks and do not consider themselves a "minority".

Albanian economic migrants are not to be confused with theGreek OrthodoxArvanites, a group who traditionally speak a form ofTosk Albanian in addition to Greek and self-identify as Greeks,^[42] having played a significant role in theGreek War of Independence and Greek culture in general.

TheChams were an ethnic Albanian community that formerly inhabited the area ofThesprotia, part of the Greek region ofEpirus. Most of them were expelled into Albania through government-supportedethnic cleansing^[43] at the end ofWorld War II.^{[44][45][46][47]}

There are other Albanian speaking communities found across other regions of Greece. In theFlorina region Albanian speakers can be found in the villages ofFlampouro,Drosopigi,Idroussa andTripotamos.^[48] Furthermore, an estimated 39 mainly or partly Albanian-speaking villages can be found inWestern Thrace andCentral Macedonia.^[49]

After 1991, with the collapse ofcommunism in Albania, a huge number of Albanian immigrants live and work in Greece. In the 2001 census, 274,390 ethnic Albanians are reported residing in Greece,^[50][51] mostlyeconomic migrants. Albanians constitute 63.7% of the total documentedmigrant population in Greece, followed by Bulgarians, Georgians, Romanians, Russians, and Ukrainians.^[52]

In Greece, theAromanians are calledVlachs (Greek:Βλάχοι, /'Vlaçi/). There are numerous festivals celebrating Aromanian culture all over Greece. Their language,Aromanian (known in Greek as τα βλάχικα /'vlaçika/), is in danger of extinction and mostly spoken by the elderly. There are, however, small numbers of Aromanians in Greece who call for greater recognition of the Aromanian language, such asSotiris Bletsas. It is hypothesized that these Vlachs originated from the Roman colonisation of the Balkans and are the descendants of Latinised native peoples andRoman legionaries who had settled in the Balkans.^[53][54][55] German researcherThede Kahl claims to have also documented some cases of assimilation of the Aromanian population in regions which are now largely Greek-speaking.^[56] ThePanhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs has publicly stated that they do not want Aromanian recognized as a minority language nor do they want it inserted into the education system,^{[57][verification needed]} and the same organization also protested^[58] when Thede Kahl discussed in a paper whether they could be designated a "minority".^[53]

Megleno-Romanians are concentrated in theMoglena region ofGreek Macedonia. They speak theMegleno-Romanian language which is known asVlăhește by its speakers. An estimated 4,000 speakers can be found in the region spanning thePella andKilkis regional units ofCentral Macedonia. The largest Megleno-Romanian settlement isNotia.^[59]

The history ofRomani inGreece goes back over 600 years to the 15th century. The name Gypsy sometimes used for the Romani people was first given to them by theGreeks who supposed them to be Egyptian in origin. Due to theirnomadic nature, they are not concentrated in a specific geographical area but are dispersed all over the country. The majority of the Greek Romani areOrthodox Christians who speak theVlax Romani language in addition toGreek. Most of the Romani who live inWestern Thrace areMuslims and speak a dialect of the same language.^[60]

The Romani inGreece live scattered through the whole territory of the country, but with larger concentration in the bigger cities (mainlyAthens andThessalonica). Notable centres of Romani life inGreece areAgia Varvara, which has a very successful Romani community, andAno Liosia, where conditions are bad. Romani largely maintain their own customs and traditions. Although a large number of Romani has adopted a sedentary and urban way of living, there are still nomadic settlements in some areas. The nomads at the settlements often differentiate themselves from the rest of the population. They number 200,000 according to the Greek government. According to the National Commission for Human Rights that number is closer to 250,000 and according to the Greek Helsinki Watch group to 300,000.^[60]

As a result of neglect by the state, among other factors, the Romani communities inGreece face several problems including high instances ofchild labour and abuse, low school attendance, police discrimination and drug trafficking. The most serious issue is the housing problem since many Romani inGreece still live in tents, on properties they do not own, making them subject to eviction. In the past decade these issues have received wider attention and some state funding.^[60]

Slavic languages have been spoken in the region ofMacedonia alongside Greek and others since the invasions of theSlavs in the 6th and 7th centuries AD.^[61] In parts of northern Greece, in the regions ofMacedonia (Μακεδονία) andThrace (Θράκη), Slavonic languages continue to be spoken by people with a wide range of self-identifications. The actual linguistic classification of these dialects is unclear, although most linguists will classify them as eitherBulgarian orMacedonian taking into account numerous factors, including the resemblance and mutual intelligibility of each dialect to the standard languages (abstand) and the speakers' self-identification. (As however the vast majority do not have aBulgarian orMacedonian national identity, linguists base their decisions onabstand alone.) Now, these people mainly identify as ethnic Greeks.^[62][63]

The Christian portion of Greece's Slavic-speaking minority are commonly referred to asSlavophones (from the Greek ΣλαβόφωνοιSlavophōnoi — literally "Slavic-speakers") orDopii (which means "locals" in Greek). The vast majority of them espouse a Greek national identity and are bilingual in Greek. They live mostly in theregion of Western Macedonia and adhere to theGreek Orthodox Church. The fact that the majority of these people self-identify as Greek makes their number uncertain. The second group is made up of those who seem to reject any national identity (Greek or Slav Macedonian) but have distinct ethnic identity, which they may call "indigenous" (dopia), Slavomacedonian, or Macedonian. The smallest group is made up of those who have a clear Macedonian national identity and consider themselves as part of the same nation that predominates in the neighboringRepublic of North Macedonia.^[64][65] A crucial element of that controversy is the very nameMacedonian, as it is also used by a much more numerous group of people with a Greek national identity to indicate theirregional identity. Slavic speakers also use the term "Macedonians" or "Slavomacedonians", though in a regional rather than an ethnic sense. Until and including the 1951 census, the question of mother tongue was asked throughout Greece, so this gives a rough idea as to the size of this group, and later estimates are usually based on this figure.

The national identity of this community has frequently been loaded with political implications. ThePolitis-Kalfov Protocol signed on September 29, 1925 purported to recognize the Slav-speakers of Greek Macedonia asBulgarians, but this protocol was never ratified. A short lived agreement was signed August 1926, which recognized them as aSerbian minority.^[66]

In the 1951 census, 41,017 people claimed to speak theSlavic language.^[67]

• Centre for the Macedonian Language in Greece
• Demographics of Greece
• Hellenization
• Cultural assimilation
• Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
• Grecomans
• Human rights in Greece
• Iraqis in Greece

• Abstracts "Focus: Minorities in Greece--historical issues and new perspectives",Jahrbücher für Geschichte und Kultur Südosteuropas
• Review by Adamantios Skordos (History and Culture of South Eastern Europe)5, 2003. Articles from a conference held in Berlin.
• Richard Clogg, ed.,Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society, London, 2003.ISBN 1-85065-706-8.
• Levinson, David (1998),Ethnic groups worldwide: a ready reference handbook, Greenwood Publishing Group,ISBN 978-1-57356-019-1.
• Whitman, Lois (1990),Destroying ethnic identity: the Turks of Greece, Human Rights Watch,ISBN 0-929692-70-5.

• Anagnostou, Dia (March 2005). "Deepening Democracy or Defending the Nation? The Europeanisation of Minority Rights and Greek Citizenship".West European Politics.28 (2):335–357.doi:10.1080/01402380500059785.S2CID 153877386.
• Divani, Lena (1999).Greece and Minorities The international protection system of the League of Nations (in Greek). Εκδοσεις Καστανιωτη.ISBN 978-960-03-2491-4.
• Karatsareas, Petros."Greece's Macedonian Slavic heritage was wiped out by linguistic oppression – here's how".The Conversation. Retrieved19 April 2018.

• Languages of Greece according to theRosetta Project
• Research Center for Minority Groups

• Society of Greece
• Ethnic groups in Greece

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