Greece

An Introduction to Greece

A common image of Greece is of the white-washed villas with cascading bouganvillea set against an impossibly blue sea. That, or the Acropolis lit up at night with Athens worshipping from below. From ancient ruins to the sun-kissed island life, Greece is understandably one of the top tourist destinations in the world.

Greece is in southern Europe and borders the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and Mediterranean Sea. It has land borders to the north with Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria and with Turkey to the north east. There are some 2000 islands in its archipelago and the mainland is predominately mountainous.

Dubbed the 'cradle of civilisation', Greece has a history marked by tremendous achievements and periods of prosperity and influence. From the rise of the Minoans on Crete around 2700BC to the rise of the Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, the Greeks influenced the language, politics, philosophy, art and architecture of the modern world.

In 1974, became a Presidential Parliamentary Democracy, Greece has been a member of the European Union since 1981.

Because of its influence over the modern world, Greece holds a special historical and archaelogical place as a tourist destination. To walk around the ruins of ancient Greece where famous poets such as Homer and Sophocles would have trod might be enough for some visitors while other tourists will appreciate the natural beauty that inspired some of the most lyrical poems ever written such as the Iliad. And then, for a totally different experience, many will visit Greece to laze on the beaches and make the most of the nightclubs and party life which has made island hopping so attractive.