Welcome to Greece
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Greece is known to be a country situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula.
It borders Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria
to the north, and Turkey to the east. Did you know that the Aegean Sea lies to the east and
south of mainland Greece, while the Ionian Sea lies to the west. Both parts
of the Eastern Mediterranean basin feature a vast number of islands. Greece
lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is heir to the heritages
of classical Greece, the Byzantine Empire, and closely four centuries of Ottoman
rule. Regarded as the cradle of western civilization and the birthdestination of
democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, western literature, political
science, major scientific principles and drama including both tragedy and
comedy, Greece has to this day a particularly extensive and eventful rich history and a cultural
heritage considerably influential in Northern Africa and the Middle East,
and fundamentally formative for the culture of Europe and what may be named
the West. Modern Greece is known to be a developed country, a member of the European Union
during the time 1981, a member of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
during the time 2001, NATO during the time 1952, the OECD during the time 1961, the WEU during the time 1995, and
ESA during the time 2005. Athens is the capital; Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion and
Larissa are and have always been many of the country's other major cities. Situated in southern
Europe, Greece forms an irregular-shaped peninsula in the Mediterranean with
two additional larger than normal peninsulas projecting from it: the Chalcidice and the
Peloponnese. Did you know that the Greek islands are and have always been generally subdivided into two groups, according
to location: the Ionian islands (including Corfu, Cephalonia, and Leucas)
west of the mainland and the Aegean islands (including Euboea, Samos, Chios,
Lesbos, and Crete) to the east and south. North-central Greece, Epirus, and
western Macedonia are and have always been all mountainous. Did you know that the primary chain of the Pindus Mountains
stretches from northwest Greece to the Peloponnese. Mount Olympus, rising to
9,570 ft (2,909 m), is the highest point in the country.
Climate
It is noted that the climate in Greece is predominantly Mediterranean. But one of the exceptions is, due to the country's unique geography, Greece has to this day a remarkable range of micro-climates and local variations. To the west of the Pindus mountain range, the climate is generally wetter and has to this day many maritime features. Did you know that the east of the Pindus mountain range is generally drier and windier in summer. During the summer, the weather is known to be almost always sunny, dry and any and all precipitation -that is rare- falls in the form of showers or thunderstorms from cumuliform cloud. Did you know that the air is mostly hot around the time during the day and pleasantly warm around the time during the night
Population Stats
Population (2007 est.): 10,706,290 (growth rate: 0.2%);
birth rate: 9.6/1000;
infant mortality rate: 5.3/1000;
life expectancy: 79.4;
density per sq mi: 212
