Greece

Athens serves as the political, cultural and economic heart of Greece, positioned in Southern Europe. As the seat of government and often the most populous city, it concentrates the country's main institutions, universities and cultural landmarks. Beyond the capital, major cities include Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion — each a hub of regional culture, economy and history. Athens contains the Acropolis as a functioning presence rather than a dead monument — its Parthenon visible from every direction across the city basin, an architectural perfection achieved in marble between 447 and 432 BC whose optical illusions (every column slightly curved, the platform not perfectly horizontal) correcting the way human eyes perceive geometry were discovered only in modern times.

With a population of approximately 10.7M, Greece is a vibrant society with a rich mix of traditions and communities. The official language is Greek, which reflects the country's cultural heritage and connects it with a wide international community. Internationally, Greece is reached via the dialling code +30. Greeks maintain a relationship with antiquity that is neither sentimental nor distant — the same words used by Homer appear in modern Greek newspapers, and the debate about whether the Elgin Marbles belong in London or Athens is not an academic question but a live political issue that Greek schoolchildren learn as a formative injustice.

Greece spans 131,990 km², in the Southern Europe subregion of Europe. Geographically centred around 39.0°N, 22.0°E, the country offers a diverse range of landscapes shaped by its location, climate and geology. Road traffic follows the right-hand rule, in line with surrounding Europe convention.

The official currency is the euro (€), used for everyday transactions and commerce throughout the country. Greece's economy is shaped by its geography, natural resources and trade relationships. Business and daily life operate under UTC+02:00, aligning the country with its regional neighbours.

The emblematic dish of Greece is Moussaka. Greek cuisine's genius is in its ingredients rather than technique — extra-virgin olive oil pressed from Kalamata olives whose cultivation dates to 3,500 BC, feta cheese with a protected designation of origin specifying Sheep and goat milk from specific Greek regions, and the taverna culture where food is inseparable from the slow, multi-hour social ritual of the Greek meal.

Football / Basketball holds a special place in the heart of Greece's national identity. Greece hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896 and the centenary games in 2004, but the country's greatest sporting achievement is arguably the Euro 2004 football championship — won as 150-1 outsiders against Portugal in Lisbon in a tournament that generated shock sufficient to briefly eclipse Greece's ongoing economic anxieties.

The highest point in Greece is Mount Olympus, rising to 2,918 metres above sea level. Mount Olympus at 2,917 metres is Greece's highest peak and the mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods — its summit concealed in clouds for much of the year, a meteorological reality that gave ancient Greeks who had never climbed it every reason to believe divine beings lived in the mist above them.