Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα, romanized: Elláda, [eˈlaða]), officially the Hellenic Republic,[b] is a country
located in Southeastern Europe. Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of 2018; Athens is its
largest and capital city, followed by Thessaloniki. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, Greece is
located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It shares land borders with Albania to the northwest,
North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. 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 has
the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km
(8,498 mi) in length, featuring many islands, of which 227 are inhabited. Eighty percent of Greece is
mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres (9,573 ft). The country consists of
nine traditional geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the
Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization, being the birthplace of democracy, Western
philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical
principles, theatre and the Olympic Games. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into
various independent city-states, known as poleis (singular polis), which spanned the Mediterranean and the
Black Sea. Philip II of Macedon united most of present-day Greece in the fourth century BC, with his son
Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, from the eastern Mediterranean to India.
The subsequent Hellenistic period saw the height of Greek culture and influence in antiquity. Greece was
annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its
continuation, the Byzantine Empire, which was culturally and linguistically predominantly Greek. The Greek
Orthodox Church, which emerged in the first century AD, helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted
Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox world. After falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century,
Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830 following a war of independence. The country's rich
historical legacy is reflected in part by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Greece is a unitary parliamentary republic, and a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy,
and a high quality of life, ranking simultaneously very high in the Human Development Index. Its economy is
the largest in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor. A founding member of the United
Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join the European Communities (precursor to the European Union) and
has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions,
including the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).
Greece's unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic
importance classify it as a middle power.[c]
