Photos of Greece
General information about GREECE
Geographic position of Greece
Greece is located in south-eastern Europe, on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula (Haemus peninsula washed by the Ionian, the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. 80% of the country is mountanous, making Greece one of the most mountainous countries in Europe; furthermore, it has 16.000 km of coastline of which 7500km are found around the thousands of islands of the Greek archipelago, a truly unparalleled phenomenon on the European continent.
Greek Climate
Greece has a Mediterranean climate with plenty of sunshine, mild temperatures and a limited amount of rainfall. Due to the country's geographical position, in the summer, the dry hot days are cooled by seasonal winds called the meltemi, while mountainous regions have generally lower temperatures. The winters are mild in lowland areas, with a minimum amount of snow and ice, yet, mountains are usually snow-covered.
Greek population
The Greeks inhabited Greece from the 17th century BC to the present day. The majority of people in Greece reside in towns along the coast, with over 50% living in, and around, Athens. The majority of people in Greece are of Greek heritage. The 2001 census reported a population of 10,964,020 people.
Language of Greece
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records.
Greek Economy
The economy of Greece is between the 32nd or 37th largest in the world by nominal gross domestic product or purchasing power parity respectively, according to World Bank statistics for the fiscal year 2009–2010. A developed country, the economy of Greece mainly revolves around the service sector (85.0%) and industry (12.0%), while agriculture makes up 3.0% of the national economic output.