Greece, also known Hellas and officially Hellenic Republic, is a country in south-eastern Europe, situated on the southern part of Balkan Peninsula. Greece is occupying an area of 131.957 km2 with an (official) population of 11 million citizens. The official language of Greece is Greek, its religion is Christian orthodox (90% of population), and its currency is euro. Greece was historically mentioned as the crossroads of three continents (Europe, Asia and Africa) and thus considered a great passage.

Greece is mainly a mountainous country with many islands, while Aegean, Ionian, Mediterranean seas pass through the country’s islands. In the north, it has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and FYROM, while eastern borders are with Turkey.

Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of Ancient Greece, generally considered to be the cradle of Western civilization. As such, it is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama.

Greece is a developed country, a member of the European Union since 1981, a member of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union since 2001, NATO since 1952, the OECD since 1961, a member of ESA since 2005. Athens is the capital; Thessaloniki, Patra, Iraklion, Volos, Ioannina are some of the country's other major cities.

The flora and the climate present big variety keeping pace with the variety of geographic space: the number of plant types is very big. Up to today, they have been categorized above 6.000 endogenous plants, from which the 250 are found in Crete. This exceptional variety is result of geographic place of Greece that is found in the crossroad between Europe and Africa. With regard to the trees, they have mediocre size and are observed variety from pines, firs, olives.

The geographic place of country determines also the alternation of seasons, with soft winters and summertime with exotic temperatures, which however are moderated by the arrival of etesian winds. But the most particular characteristic of Greek climate is the sunlight: without exaggerating Greece has more than 3.000 hours of sunlight per year.

In the Aegean Sea many islands constitute clusters, as the islands of north-eastern Aegean, Sporades, Cyclades and Dodecanese, or are isolated as Crete in the southerners. Cyclades number 39 islands, from which only 24 are inhabited. Sporades that are found in the open sea of Eastern coast of continental Greece, and Evia maintain an authentic islander physiognomy and popular deliveries that have remained unaltered during centuries.

Dodecanese include twelve big islands and other of smaller importance while each one has its own particular character. Finally, in the sea that extends along the coasts of Attica until the coasts of Peloponnese is found another islander cluster, the islands of Saronic Gulf.

Concerning the history of the country, the origins are placed roughly more than 4.000 years ago. The population of continental Greece began took up military and naval expeditions in Mediterranean Sea. One of these expeditions was the siege of Troia (Troy) that is described in Iliad of Homer, the first big European historic work. Many ruins of Greek colonies were found all around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. During the classical period, fifth century B.C., city-states were founded most important of which were Athens, Sparta and Thebes. Afterwards, the Greek domain went under Roman possession and later adapted to the Byzantine culture. The bigger part of Greece was in the hands of Ottoman for many years, while certain areas knew also other conquerors, as Venetians.

Finally, Greece since 1830 constitutes an independent state, while its current extent and borders were acquired after the end of World War Two.