Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. The country has borders with Albania, the FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and Bulgaria to the north, Turkey to the east and Italy to the west. The Aegean Sea lies to the east and south of mainland Greece, while the Ionian Sea lies to the west. Both parts of the Eastern Mediterranean basin feature a vast number of islands, islets and rock islands.
Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of ancient Greece, that considered to be the cradle of Western civilization. As such, it is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, Political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama, including both tragedy and comedy.
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 1952, the OECD since 1961, the WEU since 1995, a founding member of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and a member of ESA since 2005. Athens is the capital of Greece; Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Larissa, Volos, Ioannina, Kavala, Kozani, Kalamata, Trikala, Volos are some of the country’s other major cities.