When exploring interesting facts about Greece, it’s easy to think of its fantastic beaches, majestic islands, and rich history. However, Greece is also a destination that can offer so much more!

Here are some interesting facts you probably did not know about Greece.

Geographical Interesting Facts About Greece:

• Nearly 80% of Greece is mountainous! Greece’s highest elevation is the legendary home of Zeus and the other Olympian gods and goddesses, Mount Olympus at 9,750 feet (2,917 meters). It has over 50 peaks with the highest reaching 2917 metres (9570 feet). The lowest elevation is the Mediterranean Sea level.
• Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, at least in the top 3. Ultra peak mountains are mountains that rise more than 1500 meters above the lowest surrounding region. 20% of Europe’s Ultra Peak Mountains are located in Greece!

Bizarre and Surprising: Interesting Facts About Greece

• Greece is the world’s largest producer of black olives.
• Greece has a richer of olives than any other country. When green, they’re used for table olives and when black and ripe, they’re usually harvested for making olive oil of the finest quality.
• Many English words (and generally words from other latin-derived languages) come from Greek words. This is even more the case for words beginning with ‘ph’ (e.g. photograph or philosophy). For example, philos means love and sophia means wisdom, so ‘philosophy’ means love of wisdom. Hippo means horse and potamos means river, so hippopotamus means river horse. Many Greek letters are used in science and maths. For example, ‘delta’ (Δ) is used to represent a difference or change in quantity.

Historical Treasures: Interesting Facts About Greece

• Athens is one of the oldest European cities, and definitely one worth visiting.
• The Greek Alphabet is more than 2,500 years old. There are 24 letters, seven of which are vowels. The word “alphabet” comes from the first two letters alpha and beta.
• Ancient Greece was made up of about 1,500 different city-states. Each had its own laws and army, and they often quarreled. Athens was the largest city-state.
• Greek is one of the oldest languages in Europe. It has been spoken for more than 3,000 years.

Cultural Highlights: Interesting Facts About Greece

• Greece has more than 100 Archaeological museums! This number is an indication of the country’s impressive archaeological wealth.
• One of the most famous modern Greek writers is Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957). His novels Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ were both produced as movies, though the Greek Orthodox Church went as far as to excommunicate Kazantzakis for The Last Temptation of Christ.

So, how many of these interesting facts about Greece did you know?

Tell us in the comments below!