# Greece and Türkiye compared

Greece and Türkiye side by side: 43 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 8 events their chronicles record of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/grc-vs-tur
Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates)

Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Formation

- Greece: February 1830 — The London Protocol recognises Greece as an independent state
- Türkiye: c. 1299 — Osman I founds the Ottoman beylik in Bithynia

## Economy

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $256 B | 2024 | $1.36 T | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $24,626 | 2024 | $15,893 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 2.1% | 2024 | 3.3% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 2.7% | 2024 | 58.5% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 89.8% | 2024 | 54.6% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 10 m | 2024 | 86 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 81.8 yrs | 2024 | 77.4 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 79.0% | 2024 | 89.3% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 1.2 | 2024 | 1.5 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 70.5 | 2024 | 37.7 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 68.3 | 2024 | 49.3 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 55.1 | 2024 | 50.0 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 62.4 | 2024 | 51.5 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 62.1 | 2024 | 42.4 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 53.9 | 2024 | 36.5 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 8.4% | 2023 | 4.3% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 6.58 | 2022 | 2.24 | 2022 |
| Under-5 mortality | 3.8 | 2024 | 9.6 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 91.0% | 2024 | 95.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | 96.7% | 2024 | — | — |

## Education

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 93.9% | 2009 | 97.3% | 2021 |
| Education spending | 3.4% | 2022 | 3.1% | 2022 |
| Primary enrolment | 102.0% | 2023 | 102.4% | 2023 |
| Secondary enrolment | 105.2% | 2023 | 118.4% | 2023 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 165.1% | 2023 | 105.9% | 2023 |

## Technology

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 1.5% | 2023 | 1.4% | 2023 |
| Researchers (per million) | 5,283 | 2023 | 2,645 | 2023 |
| Internet users | 86.3% | 2024 | 89.8% | 2025 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 114 | 2024 | 108 | 2024 |
| High-tech exports | 15.0% | 2024 | 5.1% | 2024 |

## Geography

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 128,900 km² | 2023 | 769,630 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 30.3% | 2023 | 29.5% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 41.7% | 2023 | 50.1% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 5.0 | 2024 | 5.4 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 21.5% | 2021 | 12.0% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 0.1% | 2021 | 0.8% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.1% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.1% | 2021 | 0.6% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 |
| Bauxite | 960 kt | 2025 | 3.8 Mt | 2025 |
| Iron ore | — | — | 18 Mt | 2025 |
| Cobalt (mined) | — | — | 1,900 t | 2025 |
| Phosphate rock | — | — | 1.2 Mt | 2025 |

## Military

| Metric | Greece | Observed | Türkiye | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 3.1% | 2024 | 1.9% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $8.0 B | 2024 | $25 B | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 147,000 | 2020 | 512,000 | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/GRC.md and https://terralore.co/country/TUR.md.

## Entangled histories (8 events)

Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources.

- 29 May 1453: **Fall of Constantinople** — Ottoman forces under Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire and clearing the way for Ottoman rule over the Greek lands. (from the Greece chronicle; sources: Fall of Constantinople (1453); Byzantine Empire)
- 1460: **Ottoman conquest of the Morea** — The Ottomans completed their conquest of the Greek mainland with the fall of the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea, including Mystras, bringing the Greek lands under Ottoman rule. (from the Greece chronicle; sources: Greece under Ottoman rule; Ottoman conquest of the Morea)
- 25 March 1821 (traditional): **Outbreak of the Greek War of Independence** — Revolution against Ottoman rule erupted across the Peloponnese and beyond, beginning the war that would create an independent Greek state and inspiring philhellenes across Europe. (from the Greece chronicle; sources: War of Greek Independence; Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire)
- 20 October 1827: **Battle of Navarino** — A combined British, French and Russian fleet destroyed the Ottoman-Egyptian navy at Navarino, a decisive intervention by the Great Powers that turned the war in Greece's favour. (from the Greece chronicle; sources: War of Greek Independence; Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire)
- July 1832: **Treaty of Constantinople and the Kingdom of Greece** — The Ottoman sultan recognized Greek independence and the new state's frontiers in the Treaty of Constantinople; the Bavarian prince Otto was chosen as the first king of Greece. (from the Greece chronicle; sources: War of Greek Independence; Otto, king of Greece)
- 1919–1922: **Turkish War of Independence** — Mustafa Kemal led a national resistance and a new Grand National Assembly in Ankara, defeating Greek, Armenian and French forces and ending the Allied occupation of Anatolia. (from the Türkiye chronicle; sources: Kemal Atatürk)
- 10 August 1920: **Treaty of Sèvres** — The Allied treaty with the defeated Ottoman government proposed partitioning Anatolia among Greece, Armenia, Italy, France and others; rejected by the nationalists, it triggered the War of Independence. (from the Türkiye chronicle; sources: Kemal Atatürk; Ottoman Empire)
- 1919–1922: **Asia Minor Catastrophe** — The Greco-Turkish War ended in the rout of Greek forces and the destruction of Smyrna in 1922; the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne mandated a population exchange that brought over a million refugees into Greece. (from the Greece chronicle; sources: Greece (country overview and history); 1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War (Asia Minor Catastrophe))

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/GRC/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/TUR/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Greece and Türkiye compared", terralore.co/compare/grc-vs-tur, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.