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Greece lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is heir to the heritages of classical Greece, the Byzantine Empire, and nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule. Regarded as the cradle of western civilization and being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, western literature, political science, major scientific principles and drama (including both tragedy and comedy), Greece has a particularly long and eventful history and a cultural heritage which has been considerably influential in Northern Africa and the Middle East and fundamentally formative for the culture of Europe and what is now called the West. Today, 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 1951, the OECD since 1960, the WEU since 1995, and the ESA since 2005. Athens is the capital; Thessaloniki, Piraeus and Patras are some of the country's other major cities. History The shores of Greece's Aegean Sea saw the emergence of the first advanced civilizations in Europe whose impact is inseparable from today's western institutions and western cultural and political development. In the wake of the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations, there emerged across the Greek peninsula and islands poleis, or city-states, each with their own distinct social and governmental infrastructure, uniting under Athens and Sparta to repel Persian advance. The conditions had been created for the flowering of Athens and birth of Classical civilization, drawing to a close only with the culmination of the perennial conflict between Athens and Sparta, the Peloponnesian War. Within a century the Greek tribes had been united under the rule of Alexander the Great to roll back Persian gains and herald the Hellenistic era, itself brought only partially to a close with the establishment of Roman rule in 146 BC. Administrative Divisions Administratively, Greece consists of thirteen peripheries subdivided into a total of fifty-four prefectures (nomoi, singular nomos). There is also one autonomous area, Mount Athos (Agio Oros, "Holy Mountain"), in Macedonia Periphery: Attica Athens, Central Greece Lamia, Central Macedonia Thessaloniki, Crete Iraklio, East Macedonia and Thrace Komotini, Epirus Ioannina, Ionian Islands Corfu, North Aegean Mytilene, Peloponnese Tripoli, South Aegean Ermoupoli, Thessaly Larissa, West Greece Patras, West Macedonia Kozani, Mount Athos (Autonomous) Karyes. Geography Greece consists of a mountainous and craggy mainland jutting out into the sea at the southern end of the Balkans. The Peloponnesus peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth); and numerous islands (around 2,000), including Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Chios, the Dodecanese and the Cycladic groups of the Aegean Sea as well as the Ionian Sea islands. Greece has the tenth longest coastline in the world with 14,880 km; its land boundary is 1,160 km (721 mi). Four-fifths of Greece consist of mountains or hills, making the country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Western Greece contains a number of lakes and wetlands and it is dominated by the Pindus mountain range. Pindus has a maximum elevation of 2,636 metres (8,648 ft) and it is essentially a prolongation of the Dinaric Alps. The range continues through the western Peloponnese, crosses the islands of Kythera and Antikythera and find its way into southwestern Aegean, in the island of Crete where it eventually ends. (the islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once constituted an extension of the mainland). Pindus is characterized by its high, steep peaks, often dissected by numerous canyons and a variety of other karstic landscapes. Most notably, the impressive Meteora formation consisting of high, steep boulders provides a breathtaking experience for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the area each year. Special lifts transfer visitors to the scenic monasteries that lie on top of those rocks. Meteora is situated in the Trikala prefecture. The Vikos-Aoos Gorge is yet another spectacular formation. The Vikos-Aoos Gorge is a popular hotspot for those fond of extreme sports. The mythical Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in the country, located in the southwestern Pieria prefecture, near Thessaloniki. Mytikas in the Olympus range has a height of 2,920 metres (9,570 ft) at its highest peak. Once considered the throne of the Gods, it is today extremely popular among hikers and climbers who deem its height as a challenge. Moreover, northeastern Greece features yet another high altitude mountain range, the Rhodope range, spreading across the periphery of East Macedonia and Thrace; this area is covered with vast, thick, ancient forests. The famous Dadia forest is in the prefecture of Evros, in the far northeast of the country. Expansive plains are primarily located in the prefectures of Thessaly, Central Macedonia and Thrace. They constitute key economic regions as they are among the few arable places in the country. Volos and Larissa are the two largest cities of Thessaly. Rare marine species such as the Pinniped Seals and the Loggerhead Sea Turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to the endangered brown bear, the lynx, the Roe Deer and the Wild Goat. Part of the information are from www.wikipedia.org respecting the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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