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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country insoutheastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. Fourfifths of Greece consists of mountains or hills, making the country one of themost mountainous in Europe. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and theformer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east. TheAegean Sea lies to the east and south of mainland Greece, while the Ionian Sealies to the west. Both parts of the Eastern Mediterranean basin feature a vastnumber of islands.

The climate of Greece can be categorized into three types(the Mediterranean, the Alpine and the Temperate) that influence well-definedregions of its territory. Greece lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia and Africa.It is heir to the heritages of ancient Greece, the Roman and Byzantine Empires,and nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule. Greece is the birthplace ofdemocracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature andhistoriography, political science, major scientific and mathematicalprinciples, and Western drama including both tragedy and comedy.

Greece operates a mixed economy that produced a GDP of$305.595 billion in 2006. Its principal economic activities include tourism andshipping industries, banking and finance, manufacturing and construction andtelecommunications. The country serves as the regional business hub for many ofthe world's largest multinational companies.

The people of Greece enjoy a high standard of living. Greeceranks 24th in the 2006 HDI, 22nd on The Economist's 2005 world-widequality-of-life index, and, according to the International Monetary Fund it hasan estimated average per capita income of $35,166 for the year 2007, comparableto that of Germany, France or Italy and approximately equal to the EU average.Greece's present prosperity is largely owed to the post-World War II"Greek economic miracle" (when GDP growth averaged 7% between 1950and 1973), the implementation of a number of structural and fiscal reforms,combined with considerable European Union funding over the last twenty-fiveyears and increasing private consumption and investments. The latter facts havecontributed to a consistent annual growth of the Greek GDP that was surpassingthe respective one of most of its other EU partners.

Today, the service industry (74.4%) makes up the largest,most vital and fastest-growing sector of the Greek economy, followed byindustry (20.6%) and agriculture (5.1%). The tourism industry is a major sourceof foreign exchange earnings and revenue accounting for 15% of Greece’s totalGDP and employing (directly or indirectly) 659,719 people (or 16.5% of totalemployment). Additionally Greek banks have invested heavily in the Balkanregion: most notably the National Bank of Greece in 2006 acquired 46% of theshares of Finansbank in Turkey and 99.44% of Serbia's Vojvođanska Bank. Themanufacturing sector accounts for about 13% of GDP with the food industryleading in growth, profit and export potential. High-technology equipmentproduction, especially for telecommunications, is also a fast-growing sector.Other important areas include textiles, building materials, machinery,transport equipment, and electrical appliances. Construction (10%GDP) andagriculture (7%) are yet two other significant sectors of the Greek economicactivity. Greece is the leading investor in all of her Balkan neighbors.

Greece is known for being in the top three holidaydestinations for British holiday makers. Foreign investment on buying andletting property is permitted from all nationals that are a part of the EU withno restrictions. Another noteworthy fact is that the government is liftingrestrictions with better air access and increased available mortgage financewhich is making Greece increasingly more popular.