page_title: Greece–United States relations
section_title: Greek-American community
hierarchical_section_title: Greece–United States relations / Greek-American community
caption_attribution_description: English: Greek and American flags, St. Demetrios Greek Festival, St. Demetrios Orthodox Church, Seattle, Washington.
context_page_description: Greece–United States relations, also known as Greek–American relations, refers to bilateral relations between the Hellenic Republic and the United States of America.
  Due to the strong historical, political, cultural and religious ties between the two nations, Greece and the United States today enjoy excellent diplomatic relations and consider each other an ally. Modern diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in the 1830s after the Greek War of Independence and are today regarded as cordial.
  Greece and the United States have long-standing historical, political, and cultural ties based on a common western heritage, shared democratic values, and participation as Allies during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War and the War on Terror.
context_section_description: The earliest Greek immigrants date back to the 1760s, although the first significant Greek community was not established until the 1850s in New Orleans, LA. The first Greek consulate and Greek Orthodox Church in the US were founded in New Orleans as well. Immigration of Greeks into the US was at its peak in 1945 after damage of the World Wars and Greek Civil War had left their economy in ruins. After admittance of Greece into the EU in 1981, immigration of Greeks into the US greatly decreased. As of 1999 there were 72,000 Greek-Americans who had migrated to Greece, but now those number might be minimal due to the current economic crisis in the EU and Greece.
  The 2000 US Census showed 1,153,295 Greeks living in the US. About 3 million Americans are of Greek ancestry. Greek-Americans are an established, well-organized community in the U.S. (several notable politicians, including former Vice-President Spiro Agnew, and Senators Olympia Snowe, Paul Sarbanes and Paul Tsongas are of Greek ancestry as well as 1988 Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis), and they help cultivate close political and cultural ties with Greece. There are several political advocacy groups founded by Greek-Americans that seek to bring awareness of ongoing public and economic issues occurring in Greece. The American Hellenic Council has been in service since 1974. The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York has been in service even longer, since 1938, and likewise seeks to strengthen the Greek-American community in New York by being a voice to the Greek people.
caption: Greek festival in Seattle
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