Only Norwegians and the Greeks refer to their country as Hellas and themselves as Hellenes. The name is a derivation of Eloi or Seli from the Greek inhabitants of the area around the sanctuary of Dodona. Much of the rest of the world refers to Greece from the latin derivative of Grekos – the son of Thessalos, the king of Phthia. Graecia was used by the Romans to refer to “the land of Greeks”. Aristotle was the first to use the name Graeci in his “Meteorology” saying that the area about Dodona and Achelous was inhabited by the Seli and people formerly called Greki but at this time Hellenes. This statement asserts that Greki was widely spread in Epirus and the western coast of Greeks. Hesiod’s “Catalogue of Woemn” states that Graecus was the son of Pandora and Zeus and he gave his name to the people who followed Hellenic customs.
The name Yunan is an old Persian name that all Eastern nations used for calling the country. It was taken from the ancient Greek colony of Ioania that was conquired by Cyrus the Great of Persia.
Greeks are known as:
Albanian: Greqia
Afrikaans: Griekeland
Basque: Grezia
Bulgarian: Гърция (Gǎrtsiya)
Catalan: Grècia
Cornish: Pow Grek
Croatian: Grčka
Czech: Řecko
Danish: Grækenland
Dutch: Griekenland
English: Greece
Estonian: Kreeka
Filipino: Gresya
Finnish: Kreikka
French: Grèce
FYROM: Грција / Grcija
German: Griechenland
Hungarian: Görögország
Icelandic: Grikkland
Irish: An Ghréig
Italian: Grecia
Japanese: ギリシャ (Girisha)
Korean: 그리스 (Geuriseu)
Latvian: Grieķija
Lithuanian: Graikija
Maltese: Greċja
Marathi: ग्रीस (Grīs)
Norwegian: Grekenland (alternative name, rarely used.)
Polish: Grecja
Portuguese: Grécia
Romanian: Grecia
Russian: Греция (Gretsiya)
Serbian: Грчка / Grčka
Slovak: Grécko
Slovene: Grčija
Spanish: Grecia
Swedish: Grekland
Ukrainian: Греція (Hretsiya)
Welsh: Groeg
West Frisian: Grikelân
Arabic: اليونان (al-Yūnān)
Aramaic: ܝܘܢ or יון (Yawān, Yawon)
Armenian: Հունաստան (Hunastan)
Old Armenian: Յունաստան (Yunastan)
Azeri: Yunanıstan
Bengali:Jubonan/Jobonan
Hindi: यूनान (Yūnān)
Hebrew (Biblical): יָוָן (Yāwān)
KJV Bible: Javan
Hebrew (Modern): יוון (Yavan)
Indonesian: Yunani
Kurdish: Yewnanistan
Laz: Yonaneti-Xorumona (ხორუმონა)
Nepalese: यूनान (Yūnān)
Pashto: یونان (Yūnān)
Persian: یونان (Yūnān)
Sanskrit: यवन (Yavana)
Tajik: Юнон (Yunon)
Turkish: Yunanistan
Urdu: یونان (Yūnān)
Uzbek: Yunoniston
Greek: Hellas or Hellada
Italian: Ellade (rare usage)
Norwegian (both Nynorsk and Bokmål): Hellas
Vietnamese: Hy Lạp
Chinese: 希臘 / 希腊 (pinyin: Xīlà; Jyutping: hei1 laap6)
