10 Interesting Facts About Greece

There are so many well known things about Greece and it's history, but there are some things that even many Greeks don’t know... read on for our top 10 fascinating facts about Greece.

1. Greece consists of approximately 2,000 island and islets, however only 170 of them are inhabited. The largest island is Crete, which has an area of 8,260 km²
2. Wherever you are in Greece, you will be no more than 137 km from the sea.
3. 70% of all European ships are from Greece merchant fleet, and law requires 75% of a Greek ship's crew to have citizenship.
4. Greece supplies approximately 7% of Earth's quarried marble.
5. Beginning in ancient times, the cultivation of olive oil is deep routed in Greece's history with some olive trees planted in the thirteenth century sell producing fruit. Greece is currently the 3rd biggest producer of olive oil in the world. 
6. Over twelve million people in the world speak Greek, with one million of those living mainly in the US, Australia and in the countries of the EU.
7. The Greek language is one of the oldest languages in the world and has been spoken for approximately 3,000 years.
8. Athens is one of the oldest cities in Europe, being inhabited for 7,000 years.
9. Greeks on average enjoy 250 days of sunshine a year.
10. Greece has more archaeological museums than any other country in the world.

Read the full 20 Fascinating Facts about Greece adapted from the Greek Reporter website.