Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of 2018; Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki, also known as Thessalonica, Saloniki or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece, with over 1 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace.

Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of 2018; Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.

Athens (Αθήνα ; (pl.) ) is the capital and largest city of Greece.

It shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast.

It shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the south and maritime borders with Greece, Montenegro and Italy to the west.

It shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast.

It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east.

It shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast.

Turkey is bordered by Greece and Bulgaria to its northwest; Georgia to its northeast; Armenia, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the south.

The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

Greece is a country in Southern Europe, bordered to the north by Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria; to the east by Turkey, and is surrounded to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the south by the Cretan and the Libyan Seas, and to the west by the Ionian Sea which separates Greece from Italy.

Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13676 km in length, featuring many islands, of which 227 are inhabited.

Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account.

It shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast.

A landlocked country, North Macedonia has borders with Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west.

Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2918 m. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

Mount Olympus (Όλυμπος Olympos, for Modern Greek also transliterated Olimbos, or ) is the highest mountain in Greece.

Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2918 m. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus (Πελοπόννησος, Peloponnisos ) is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece.

Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2918 m. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

Thessaly (Θεσσαλία, Thessalía; ancient Thessalian: Πετθαλία, Petthalía) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name.

Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2918 m. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

Epirus (Ήπειρος, Ípeiros ), is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region in northwestern Greece.

Falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence.

Most of the areas which today are within modern Greece's borders were at some point in the past a part of the Ottoman Empire.

Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2918 m. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

Western Thrace or West Thrace ([Δυτική] Θράκη, [Dytikí] Thráki / Turkish: Batı Trakya; Западна Тракия, Zapadna Trakiya or Беломорска Тракия, Belomorska Trakiya) is a geographic and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lies east of the river Evros, forms the European part of Turkey, and the area to the north, in Bulgaria, is known as Northern Thrace.

Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13676 km in length, featuring many islands, of which 227 are inhabited.

Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2918 m. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

Continental Greece (Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly Χέρσος Ἑλλάς, Chérsos Ellás), colloquially known as Roúmeli, is a traditional geographic region of Greece.

Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2918 m. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

The Aegean Islands (Νησιά Αιγαίου; Ege Adaları) are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast.

Falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence.

Even several decades before the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, most of Greece had come under Ottoman rule.

Greece's unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic importance classify it as a middle power.

Greece is a maritime nation by tradition, as shipping is arguably the oldest form of occupation of the Greeks and has been a key element of Greek economic activity since ancient times.

Greece's unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic importance classify it as a middle power.

Tourism in Greece has been a key element of the economic activity in the country, and is one of the country's most important sectors.

The country's rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

There are currently 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Greece.

The Apidima Cave in Mani, in southern Greece, contains the oldest remains of anatomically modern humans outside of Africa, dated to 210,000 years ago.

The Mani Peninsula, also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna, is a geographical and cultural region in southern Greece that is home to the Maniots (Mανιάτες, Maniátes in Greek), who claim descent from the ancient Spartans.

The local names for Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures.

The mythological patriarch Hellen is the named progenitor of the Greek peoples; his descendants the Aeolians, Dorians, Achaeans and Ionians correspond to the main Greek tribes and to the main dialects spoken in Greece and Asia Minor (Anatolia).

Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilisation, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, Western drama and notably the Olympic Games.

The earliest advanced civilizations in Greece and in Europe were the Minoan and later Mycenaean civilizations, both of which flourished during the 2nd millennium BC.

These civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek.

Greek (Modern Greek: ελληνικά, elliniká) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea.