Ágion Óros, Greece

Greece is located in Southeast Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, and has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring many islands. The country’s land is made up of nine geographic regions: Macedonia,, Central Greece, Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete and the Ionian Islands. Greece is the birthplace of democracy, Western Philosophy and Literature, historiography, political science, Western drama and the Olympic Games. Known as the cradle of the Western civilization, ancient Greece cultivated major scientific and mathematical principles. From the 8th century BC, Greece was divided into city-states called polis, spanning across the region. During his reign in 4th century BC, Alexander the Great conquered most of the ancient world from the Mediterranean to India; 2nd century BC, Greece was annexed to Rome, and became a part of the Roman Empire. The Greek Orthodox Church helped to shape the identity of modern Greece at the beginning of the 1st century AD. This helped to spread the Greek language, traditions and culture. Greece became formally known as the Hellenic Republic a/k/a Hellas and was founded on March 25, 1821. With many contributions to history, Greece is listed on the UNESCO World History Sites.