Hellenic Republic | |
|---|---|
| 1974–present | |
| Motto: "Eleftheria i thanatos" Ελευθερία ή θάνατος "Freedom or Death" | |
| Anthem: «Ύμνος εις την Ελευθερίαν» Ýmnos eis tin Eleftherían "Hymn to Liberty" | |
![Location of Third Hellenic Republic (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [Legend]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEU-Greece.svg) Location of Third Hellenic Republic (dark green) – inEurope (green & dark grey) | |
| Capital and largest city | Athens 37°58′N23°43′E / 37.967°N 23.717°E /37.967; 23.717 |
| Official language and national language | Greek |
| Religion | Greek Orthodoxy |
| Demonym | Greeks, Hellenes |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic (from 1975) |
| President | |
• Jul–Dec 1974 | Phaedon Gizikis (First during the Democratic Transition) |
• 1974–1975 | Michail Stasinopoulos (First after the Democratic Transition) |
• 1975–1980 | Konstantinos Tsatsos |
• 1980–1985 | Konstantinos Karamanlis |
• 10 Mar–30 Mar 1985 | Ioannis Alevras (acting) |
• 1985–1990 | Christos Sartzetakis |
• 1990–1995 | Konstantinos Karamanlis |
• 1995–2005 | Konstantinos Stephanopoulos |
• 2005–2015 | Karolos Papoulias |
• 2015–2020 | Prokopis Pavlopoulos |
• 2020–2025 | Katerina Sakellaropoulou |
• 2025–present | Konstantinos Tasoulas |
| Prime Minister | |
• 1974–1980 | Konstantinos G. Karamanlis (first) |
• 2019–May 2023, Jun 2023–present | Kyriakos Mitsotakis (current) |
| Legislature | Hellenic Parliament |
| Establishment | |
• Independence declaredfrom theOttoman Empire | 25 March 1821 (traditional starting date of theGreek War of Independence),15 January 1822 (official declaration) |
| 3 February 1830 | |
| 24 July 1974 | |
| 11 June 1975 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi)[1] (95th) |
• Water (%) | 0.8669 |
| Population | |
• 2017 estimate | 10,768,477 |
• 2011 census | 10,816,286[2] (80th) |
• Density | 82[3]/km2 (212.4/sq mi) (125th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $326.700 billion[4] (57th) |
• Per capita | $30,522[4] (47th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $224.033 billion[4] (52nd) |
• Per capita | $20,930[4] (38th) |
| Gini (2018) |  32.3[5]medium inequality (60th) |
| HDI (2019) |  0.888[6]very high (32nd) |
| Currency | Euro (€) (since 2001) Modern drachma (until 2001) (EUR (since 2001), GRD (until 2001)) |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (Eastern European Time) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (Eastern European Summer Time) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy (AD) |
| Calling code | +30 |
| ISO 3166 code | GR |
| Internet TLD | .gra .ελ |
| |
TheThird Hellenic Republic (Greek:Γ΄ Ελληνική Δημοκρατία,romanized: Triti Elliniki Dimokratia) is the period inmodern Greek history that stretches from 1974, with the fall of theGreek military junta and thefinal confirmation of the abolition of theGreek monarchy, to the present day.
It is considered the third period ofrepublican rule in Greece, following theFirst Republic during theGreek War of Independence (1821–1832) and theSecond Republic during the temporary abolition of the monarchy in 1924–1935.
The termmetapolitefsi (μεταπολίτευση,polity change) is commonly used for the entire period, but when used more strictly, this term refers to the early part of the period, beginning with the fall of the junta and culminating in the democratic transformation of the country. While the First and Second Hellenic Republics are not in common use except in a historiographic context, the term Third Hellenic Republic is used frequently.[7][8]
The Third Hellenic Republic has been characterised by the development ofsocial freedoms and the European orientation ofGreece. Greece became the tenth member of theEuropean Communities in 1981, ushering in sustained growth. Investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from theEuropean Union and growing revenue from tourism, shipping, and a fast-growing service sector raised thestandard of living, a trend which reached its zenith around the time of the2004 Summer Olympics to theEurovision Song Contest 2006. The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.[9] In 2010, Greece suffered from theGreat Recession and relatedEuropean sovereign debt crisis. The crisis ended around 2018, with the end of the bailout mechanisms and return of growth.[10] Politically, the partiesND andPASOK have been dominant, although PASOK has declined since the 2010s, being replaced bySyriza as the largest party of the left.
 | This subsectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this subsection. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Third Hellenic Republic" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The former prime ministerKonstantinos Karamanlis was invited back from self-exile and thefirst multiparty elections since 1964 were held on the first anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising. A democratic and republicanconstitution was promulgated in 1975 following areferendum which chose not to restore the monarchy. Meanwhile,Andreas Papandreou, George Papandreou's son, founded thePanhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in response to Karamanlis's conservativeNew Democracy party, with the two political formations dominating government over the next four decades. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980.[a][11]
Greece became the tenth member of theEuropean Communities in 1981, ushering in sustained growth. Investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from theEuropean Union and growing revenue from tourism, shipping, and a fast-growing service sector raised thestandard of living. In 1981,Andreas Papandreou came to power and implemented anambitious program of social reforms. He recognised civil marriage, the dowry was abolished, while expanding access to education and health care. However, he made controversialforeign policy decisions that fueled the rise ofterrorism in Greece. Papandreou's tenure has been associated with corruption (seeKoskotas andYugoslav corn scandals), thefirst constitutional crisis of the new republic, andeconomic policies failed to address the persistentstagflation and chronic budget deficits that exacerbated Greece's economic problems.[12][13]
The 1990s saw the standard of living among Greeks steadily increase, a trend which reached its zenith around the time of the2004 Summer Olympics to theEurovision Song Contest 2006. The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.[9]
In 2010, Greece suffered from theGreat Recession and relatedEuropean sovereign debt crisis. The causes of the crisis in Greece have been attributed to a failure of PASOK and ND to fully adopt democratic practices after the end of the monarchy and a failure to modernize their structure.[14][15] Due to the adoption of the euro, Greece could no longerdevalue its currency to regain competitiveness.[16] TheGreek debt crisis brought about great changes on both a social and political level, and the two main political parties, PASOK and New Democracy, collapsed during the 2012 elections.[17] In 2015,Alexis Tsipras was elected as prime minister, the first outside the two main parties.[18] TheGreek government-debt crisis, and subsequent austerity policies, resulted in social strife. The crisis ended around 2018, with the end of the bailout mechanisms and return of growth.[10] Simultaneously, Tsipras, and the leader of North Macedonia,Zoran Zaev, signed thePrespa Agreement, solving thenaming dispute that had strained the relations and eased the latter's way to become a member of the EU and NATO.[19]
In 2019,Kyriakos Mitsotakis became Greece's new prime minister, after his centre-right New Democracy won theelection.[20] TheCOVID-19 pandemic caused economic hardship for Greece. In 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate,Katerina Sakellaropoulou, as the first femalePresident of Greece.[21] In February 2024, Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to recognise same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.[22]
In 2023, Greece became a member of the Three Seas Initiative.[23]
This period began with the centrists and centre-right being dominant, though the former lost support in the late 1970s with the rise of thePanhellenic Socialist Movement. Also theCommunist Party of Greece was allowed to take part in elections for first time after the end of theGreek Civil War. The table below shows the results of elections during this period.
| Political position/ Ideology | Political Party | 1974 Legislative Elections | 1977 Legislative Elections | 1981 Legislative Elections | 1981 European Elections | 1984 European Elections | 1985 Legislative Elections | 1989 European Elections | 1989 June Legislative Elections | 1989 Nov Legislative Elections | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||
| Far-left | KKE | – | 9.36 | 10.93 | 12.84 | 11.64 | 9.89 | – | – | – | |
| KKE interior | – | – | 1.37 | 5.30 | 3.42 | 1.84 | – | – | – | ||
| Left-wing | United Left | 9.47 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| SPADE | – | 2.72 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| SYN | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14.31 | 13.13 | 10.97 | ||
| Centre-left | PASOK | 13.58 | 25.34 | 48.06 | 40.12 | 41.58 | 45.82 | 35.96 | 39.13 | 40.97 | |
| Ecologists | Alternative Ecologists | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1.11 | – | 0.58 | |
| Centre | Centre union | 20.42 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| EDIK | – | 11.95 | 0.40 | 1.12 | 0.28 | – | 0.28 | – | – | ||
| KODISO | – | – | 0.72 | 4.26 | 0.80 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Liberal Party | – | – | 0.37 | 1.04 | 0.35 | 0.17 | 0.40 | 0.10 | 0.08 | ||
| Christian Democracy | – | – | 0.15 | 1.12 | 0.45 | – | 0.41 | 0.20 | – | ||
| Liberals | New Liberals | – | 1.08 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Centre-right | New Democracy | 54.37 | 41.84 | 35.88 | 31.34 | 38.05 | 40.85 | 40.41 | 44.28 | 46.19 | |
| DIANA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1.36 | 1.01 | – | ||
| Right-wing | EDE | 1.08 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| National Alignment | – | 6.82 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Progressive Party | – | – | 1.69 | 1.96 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Far-right | EPEN | – | – | – | – | 2.29 | 0.60 | 1.16 | 0.30 | – |
This period began with thefall of communist regimes ineastern Europe. It is characterized by the reinforcement of bipartisanship with the two main parties (New Democracy and PASOK) regularly polling over 80% of the vote between them, even reaching 86%.
| Political position/ Ideology | Political Party | 1990 Legislative Elections | 1993 Legislative Elections | 1994 European Elections | 1996 Legislative Elections | 1999 European Elections | 2000 Legislative Elections | 2004 Legislative Elections | 2004 European Elections | 2007 Legislative Elections | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||
| Far-left | KKE | – | 4.54 | 6.29 | 5.61 | 8.67 | 5.52 | 5.90 | 9.48 | 8.15 | |
| Left-wing | SYN/SYRIZA | 10.28 | 2.94 | 6.25 | 5.12 | 5.16 | 3.20 | 3.26 | 4.16 | 5.04 | |
| Centre-left | PASOK | 38.61 | 46.88 | 37.64 | 41.49 | 32.91 | 43.79 | 40.55 | 34.03 | 38.10 | |
| DIKKI | – | – | – | 4.43 | 6.85 | 2.69 | 1.79 | – | – | ||
| Ecologists | Alternative Ecologists | 0.77 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Ecologist Greens | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0.67 | 1.05 | ||
| Centre | Union of Centrists | – | 0.23 | 1.19 | 0.70 | 0.82 | 0.34 | 0.26 | 0.56 | 0.29 | |
| Liberals | The Liberals | – | – | – | – | 1.62 | – | – | – | – | |
| Centre-right | New Democracy | 46.89 | 39.30 | 32.66 | 38.12 | 36.00 | 42.74 | 45.36 | 43.02 | 41.84 | |
| DIANA | 0.67 | – | 2.79 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Right-wing | Political Spring | – | 4.88 | 8.65 | 2.94 | 2.28 | – | – | – | – | |
| Far-right | EPEN | – | 0.14 | 0.78 | 0.24 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Golden Dawn | – | – | – | 0.11 | 0.07 | – | – | – | – | ||
| LAOS | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2.19 | 4.12 | 3.80 |
This period corresponds toGreek government-debt crisis, that changed dramatically the political stage. Early in the period, PASOK were able to capitalise on a loss of support for ND. However, by the early 2010s, PASOK were also attracting blame for their handling of the crisis, and the radical partySYRIZA became the largest party on the left. The position of the far-right was also strengthened in this period.
SYRIZA has since overtaken PASOK as the main party of the centre-left.[24]Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to victory in the general election held on 25 January 2015, falling short of an outright majority in Parliament by just two seats.[25] The following morning, Tsipras reached an agreement with Independent Greeks party to form a coalition, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece.[26] Tsipras called snap elections in August 2015, resigning from his post, which led to a month-long caretaker administration headed by judgeVassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, Greece's first female prime minister.[27] In the September 2015 general election, Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to another victory, winning 145 out of 300 seats[28] and re-forming the coalition with the Independent Greeks.[29] However, he was defeated in the July 2019 generalelection byKyriakos Mitsotakis who leads New Democracy.[30] On 7 July 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as the new prime minister of Greece. He formed a centre-right government after the landslide victory of his New Democracy party.[31]
| Political position/ Ideology | Political Party | 2009 European Elections | 2009 Legislative Elections | 2012 May Legislative Elections | 2012 June Legislative Elections | 2014 European Elections | 2015 Jan. Legislative Elections | 2015 Sept. Legislative Elections | 2019 European Elections | 2019 Legislative Elections | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||
| Far-left | KKE | 8.35 | 7.54 | 8.48 | 4.50 | 6.11 | 5.47 | 5.55 | 5.33 | 5.30 | |
| ANTARSYA | 0.43 | 0.36 | 1.19 | 0.33 | 0.72 | 0.64 | 0.85 | 0.64 | 0.41 | ||
| Left wing | SYRIZA | 4.70 | 4.60 | 16.79 | 26.89 | 26.57 | 36.34 | 35.46 | 23.78 | 31.53 | |
| Popular Unity | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.86 | 0.56 | 0.23 | ||
| MeRA25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.99 | 3.44 | ||
| Course of Freedom | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.61 | 1.46 | ||
| Centre-left | PASOK /(MC,OT,DC) | 36.64 | 43.92 | 13.18 | 12.28 | 8.02 | 4.68 | 6.28 | 7.72 | 8.10 | |
| Democratic Left | — | — | 6.11 | 6.25 | 1.20 | 0.49 | — | — | — | ||
| Social Agreement | — | — | 0.96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| The River | — | — | — | — | 6.60 | 6.05 | 4.09 | 1.51 | — | ||
| KIDISO | — | — | — | — | — | 2.46 | — | — | — | ||
| Ecologist | Ecologist Greens | 3.49 | 2.53 | 2.93 | 0.88 | 0.90 | — | — | 0.87 | — | |
| Centre | Union of Centrists | 0.38 | 0.27 | 0.61 | 0.28 | 0.65 | 1.79 | 3.43 | 1.45 | 1.24 | |
| Teleia | — | — | — | — | — | 1.77 | — | — | — | ||
| Liberal | Drassi | 0.76 | — | 1.80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Recreate Greece | — | — | 2.15 | — | — | — | 0.53 | 0.69 | 0.74 | ||
| Democratic Alliance | — | — | 2.55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Drassi/Recreate Greece | — | — | — | 1.59 | 0.91 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Greek European Citizens | — | — | — | — | 1.40 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Centre-right | New Democracy | 32.29 | 33.48 | 18.85 | 29.66 | 22.72 | 27.81 | 28.10 | 33.13 | 39.85 | |
| Right wing | PAMME | 1.27 | – | – | – | – | – | — | — | — | |
| Independent Greeks | — | — | 10.62 | 7.51 | 3.46 | 4.75 | 3.69 | 0.80 | — | ||
| UFP | — | — | — | — | 1.04 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Far Right | LAOS | 7.14 | 5.63 | 2.89 | 1.58 | 2.69 | 1.03 | — | 1.23 | — | |
| Golden Dawn | 0.46 | 0.29 | 6.97 | 6.92 | 9.39 | 6.28 | 6.99 | 4.88 | 2.93 | ||
| Greek Solution | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4.18 | 3.70 |
In March 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate,Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, as the first femalePresident of Greece.[32]
In June 2023, conservative New Democracy party won the legislativeelection, meaning another four-year term as prime minister for Kyriakos Mitsotakis.[33]
.svg)
