Greece is a modern European country, with a strong democratic government, and a developing economy.

Much of the population of Greece is concentrated in a few major urban areas, with Athens hosting about one third of the country's population.

The Greek mainland occupies the southern most tip of the Balkan peninsula, and it borders to the East with Turkey, and to the north with Bulgaria, F.Y.R.O.M., and Albania. To the south and the West, Greece is touched by the Lybian sea and the Ionian sea respectively.

The terrain of the mainland of Greece is mostly mountainous while its seas are sprinkled with more than 2000 islands. Historically, such terrain has induced the relative isolation and independence of its various population groups. These groups exhibit unique variations in culture under a homogenous Greek identity rooted in history and Christian religion.

According to the US State Department "Greece is a developed and stable democracy with a modern economy."

Greece has a mixed capitalist economy. The service sector accounting for about 71% of the total GDP. Industry and agriculture account for the other 29%.

Greece has benefited a great deal from its participation in the European Union, and in the last ten years the Greek economy has been growing at a 3 or 4% every year, while the inflation has fallen from about 13% to the early 90's to around 3.5% in 2004.

While the per capita income appears low compared with other countries in the Euro zone, the fact that home ownership approaches 80% allows the Greek citizens a fairly comfortable life style. It should be noted that home owners pay no direct tax for their dwellings.

Greece is a tropical paradise where the temperatures remain high all year round.Despite its relative small area size, the weather in Greece varies widely between the different areas.

The northern, more mountainous regions, experience winter cold in its extreme. Ice and snow become a permanent feature of the landscape, and the temperatures settle on lower numbers than places of southern Greece.

The coastal areas and Greek islands experience a milder winter in terms of ice and snow, but high humidity and strong coastal winds during the winter make the cold seem even more bitter than the mountains.

The summer on the other hand is very hot and dry, and this combination along with the endless sunshine and complete lack of precipitation, make Greece one of the favorite vacation spots for sun and sea lovers.

Interesting links:

http://www.greeklandscapes.com/