Greece is a country in southern Europe that is made up of a lot of islands.

Greece has the tenth longest coastline in the world. It is 14,880km in length, mostly because of all the islands that are part of it. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains. Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 meters high. Greece is a country rich in culture. From its myths to its history it has been one of the most renound cultures in the world, along with places such as Rome and ancient Egypt. Greece was the first area where advanced civilization was given home too. Soon after city-states came about in Greece and from there spread. From there it led to a cultural boom in drama, science and philosophy. Greece has 3 climates, the Mediterranean, the Alpine and the Temperate. Mountains, such as the Pindus, strongly affect the climate of the country. It makes the western side of the country wetter than average than the areas lying to the east. In Greece the prominent religion is Greek Orthodox. There constitution guarantees freedom of religion belief. The main language in Greece is Greek. The Muslim minority in Thrace consists of speakers of Turkish, Bulgarian and Romani. Greek is very Mediterranean style. A lot of their food is very fresh. Some of these dishes include moussaka, stifado, Greek Salad, spanakopita and souvlaki. Dishes like skordalia can even be traced back to ancient Greece. The cuisine in Greece is a lot different than parts of the mainland and from island to island. Greece has a population of 10,964,020. Athens is the capital of Greece with a population of 3,192,606. Their prime minister is Mr.Georgios Papandreou. Their currency is euros. The official name of Greece is, actually, the Hellenic Republic. There are about 3000 islands in Greece. However, only a few hundred of them are inhabited. The popular yo-yo toy, the second oldest known toy in the world, originated in the days of ancient Greece, around 3,000 years ago.no part of Greece, being a peninsula, is more than 85 miles from the sea. It is one of the oldest nations in Europe, with it starting 2,500 years ago. The national anthem has an amazing 158 verses! (Which no one has memorized).

In ancient Greece they believed in the gods, including Zeus and Aphrodite. There myths were like our modern day soap opera, with love and betrayal and everything in between. There were 14 Olympian Gods and goddesses in ancient Greece. Music was a big part in Greek culture even in ancient times. They had mixed-gender choruses for spiritual reasons, celebration, and entertainment. In ancient Greece they had instruments like the double reed aulos, and an instrument with strings for plucking called the lyre. Boys were taught music from the time they were six. The Roman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire later changed Greek music. Greeks were very serious about their sports. especially physical athletic competition. They believed that there gods preferred the strong and graceful human bodies, especially the men. The Greeks were the starters of the OlympicGames which still run today, but some sports played today are very much different from that of ancient Greece, and some not. Like the foot-race. which is like todays races. They also did discus throwing which is where the men would hurtle a very heavy disk and see who could throw it the farthest. Greece was a building block to our culture today and is still a booming country.