Greek language

==Geographic distribution==
{{Further|Greeks|Greek diaspora}}
[[File:Greek language in the Russian Empire (1897).svg|thumb|Geographic distribution of Greek language in the Russian Empire (1897 census)]]
Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable [[Greeks in Albania|Greek-speaking minority in Albania]] near the Greek-Albanian border.<ref name=" Ethnologue" /> A significant percentage of Albania's population has  knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greco-Turkish War]] and the resulting [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|population exchange in 1923]] a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in [[Greeks in Turkey|Turkey]], though very few remain today.<ref name=":1" /> A small Greek-speaking community is also found in [[Greeks in Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable [[Greek diaspora]] which has notable communities in the [[Greek Americans|United States]], [[Greek Australians|Australia]], [[Greek Canadians|Canada]], [[Greek South Africans|South Africa]], [[Greek Chilean|Chile]], [[Greek Brazilians|Brazil]], [[Greek Argentines|Argentina]], [[Greeks in Russia and the Soviet Union|Russia]], [[Greeks in Ukraine|Ukraine]], the [[Greeks in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], and throughout the [[European Union]], especially in [[Greeks in Germany|Germany]].

Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout the [[Eastern Mediterranean]], in what are today [[Southern Italy]], Turkey, Cyprus, [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], [[State of Palestine|Palestine]], Israel, [[Egypt]], and [[Libya]]; in the area of the [[Black Sea]], in what are today Turkey, [[Bulgaria]], [[Romania]], [[Ukraine]], Russia, Georgia, [[Armenia]], and [[Azerbaijan]]; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] in and around [[Greek colonisation|colonies]] such as [[Massalia]], [[Monoikos]], and [[Mainake (Greek settlement)|Mainake]]. It was also used as the official language of government and religion in the [[Nubia#Christian Nubia|Christian Nubian kingdoms]], for most of their history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burstein |first=Stanley |date=2 November 2020 |title=When Greek was an African Language |url=https://chs.harvard.edu/curated-article/snowden-lectures-stanley-burstein-when-greek-was-an-african-language/ |quote=The revelation of the place of Greek cultural elements in the lives of these kingdoms has been gradual and is still ongoing, but already it is clear that Greek was the official language of government and religion for most of their history.{{nbsp}}... Greek remained the official language of Nubian Christianity right to the end of its long and remarkable history.{{nbsp}}... But these three factors do suggest how Greek and Christianity could have become so intimately intertwined and so entrenched in Nubian life and culture by the seventh century AD that Greek could resist both Coptic and Arabic and survive for almost another millennium before both disappeared with the conversion of Nubia to Islam in the sixteenth century AD. |institution=[[Center for Hellenic Studies]] |author-link=Stanley M. Burstein}}</ref>

===Official status===
Greek, in its modern form, is the [[official language]] of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greece/|title=Greece|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=23 January 2010}}</ref> It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside [[Turkish language|Turkish]]) and the [[British Overseas Territory]] of [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] (alongside [[English_language|English]]).<ref name=GreekCyprus>{{cite web|title=The Constitution of Cyprus, App. D., Part 1, Art. 3 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/0/302578ad62e1ea3ac2256fd5003b61d4?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=3&Click=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407035710/http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/0/302578ad62e1ea3ac2256fd5003b61d4?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=3&Click=|archive-date=7 April 2012}} states that ''The official languages of the Republic are Greek and Turkish''. However, the official status of Turkish is only nominal in the Greek-dominated Republic of Cyprus; in practice, outside Turkish-dominated [[Northern Cyprus]], Turkish is little used; see A. Arvaniti (2006): Erasure as a Means of Maintaining Diglossia in Cyprus, ''San Diego Linguistics Papers'' 2: pp. 25–38 [27].</ref> Because of the membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's [[languages of the European Union#Official EU languages|24 official languages]].<ref name="European Union">{{cite web|title=The EU at a Glance – Languages in the EU|url=http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/languages/index_en.htm|work=Europa|publisher=European Union|access-date=30 July 2010|archive-date=21 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621213949/http://europa.eu/about-eu/facts-figures/administration/index_en.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Greek is recognized as a [[minority language]] in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of [[Gjirokastër District|Gjirokastër]] and [[Sarandë District|Sarandë]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bytyçi |first=Enver |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy5lEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=In the Shadows of Albania-China Relations (1960–1978) |date=2022 |publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-5275-7909-5 |page=20 |language=en |quote=Albania's official language is Albanian, but in municipalities where minorities reside, the languages of these minorities are also used, including Greek in several municipalities in Gjirokastra and Saranda, and Macedonian in a municipality in the East of the country.}}</ref> It is also an official minority language in the regions of [[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]] in Italy. In the framework of the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]], Greek is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, [[Hungary]], Romania, and Ukraine.<ref name="CouncilofEurope">{{cite web|url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23/01/05&CL=ENG&VL=1|title=List of Declarations Made with Respect to Treaty No. 148|publisher=Council of Europe|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410102457/https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/search-on-treaties/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations|archive-date=10 April 2020|access-date=8 December 2008}}</ref> It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]].{{sfn|Tsitselikis|2013|pp=287–288}}<ref name=Toktaş2006>{{Cite journal |last= Toktaş |first= Şule |date=2006 |title=EU enlargement conditions and minority protection : a reflection on Turkey's non-Muslim minorities |url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42732 |journal=East European Quarterly |language=en |volume=40|issue=4 |pages=489–519 |issn=0012-8449|quote-page=514|quote=This implies that Turkey grants educational right in minority languages only to the recognized minorities covered by the Lausanne who are the Armenians, Greeks and the Jews.}}</ref><ref name=Bayır2013>{{Cite book |last=Bayır |first=Derya |title=Minorities and nationalism in Turkish law |date=2013 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4094-7254-4 |series=Cultural Diversity and Law |location=Farnham|url=https://www.academia.edu/37557239| pages=89–90 |quote=Oran farther points out that the rights set out for the four categories are stated to be the 'fundamental law' of the land, so that no legislation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations or prevail over them (article 37). [...] According to the Turkish state, only Greek, Armenian and Jewish non-Muslims were granted minority protection by the Lausanne Treaty. [...] Except for non-Muslim populations – that is, Greeks, Jews and Armenians – none of the other minority groups' language rights have been ''de jure'' protected by the legal system in Turkey. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014083317/https://www.academia.edu/37557239/DERYA_BAYIR_MINORITIES_AND_NATIONALISM_IN_TURKISH_LAW |archive-date= Oct 14, 2023 }}</ref><ref name=HRWLanguageRights>{{cite book |title = Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey |publisher = Human Rights Watch |date = April 19, 2002 |location = New York |url =https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/19/qa-freedom-expression-and-language-rights-turkey |quote=The Turkish government accepts the language rights of the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities as being guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020130644/https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/19/qa-freedom-expression-and-language-rights-turkey |archive-date= Oct 20, 2023 }}</ref>