February 9th was proclaimed in 2017 as "World Greek Language Day".

This date was chosen, as on February 9, 1857, Greece’s national poet, Dionysios Solomos, passed away. 

Dionysios Solomos wrote the poem "Hymn to Freedom", the first two stanzas of which constitute the National Anthem of Greece. The Republic of Cyprus, has also adopted the "Hymn to Freedom” as its own national anthem.

The contribution of the Greek language to the formation of world culture is indisputable, as it is the language in which the initial European literature, philosophy, the first natural and human sciences and medicine were developed. On the basis of the Greek language, the conditions for the development of modern sciences were created with the formation of the necessary conceptual equipment, from which the international scientific terminology is borrowing until today.

The Greek language, which is today the official language of Greece and Cyprus, as well as one of the 23 official languages of the European Union, has been, throughout the ages, a means of communication in the wider Balkans. During the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods, Greek was the language of education, culture, and trade in the Balkans, while today, in the countries of the region, it is a very common phenomenon to hear and use the Greek language. 

From 2017 and every year, both academic departments around the world that teach the Greek language, as well as public and private educational institutions in foreign countries, celebrate the World Greek Language Day with events and features, which highlight the universality of the Greek language and its contribution to the linguistic and cultural enrichment of the European and many other languages around the world.

The Embassy of Greece in Bulgaria, collaborates with the five university departments of Modern Greek Philology as well as with the three departments that teach Greek language and culture operating in Bulgaria, assisting and supporting students and pupils of the Greek language, as well as their professors and teachers.

The General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, every year, creates an anniversary video, in which students of all ages, who are taught the Greek language on all continents, participate. Both Bulgarians and Greeks in Bulgaria take part in this video each year. 

At the same time, in the context the timeless support for those who love and learn the Greek language, the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, has created the online platform www.staEllinika.com (meaning "in Greek") which works as a free on line tool for those who love Greece and the Greek language, helping them to learn the Greek language and mythology in an interactive and handy way.

A wide range of academics, linguists, scientists and others have emphasized the importance of the Greek language and the special importance of the works of the Greek classics.

The Greek Nobel Prize-winning author Odysseas Elytis, in his emblematic work, "Axion Esti" (“Worthy It Is”), writes:

"The language they gave me Greek,

The house poor on Homer’s shores.

My sole care my language on Homer’s shores ".

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«Τη γλώσσα μου έδωσαν ελληνική,

το σπίτι φτωχικό στις αμμουδιές του Ομήρου.

Μονάχη έγνοια η γλώσσα μου, στις αμμουδιές του Ομήρου».