Greece

Greece is a southeastern European country with the capital and largest city of Athen. The history of Greece can be traced back to ancient Greek civilization and is regarded as the cradle of Western civilization. Greece is also the birthplace of the western philosophy, the Olympic Games, western literature, history, political science, democracy, science and mathematics, and Western drama. The cultural and technological progress of Greece had a great influence on the world’s history and spread to the eastern world and the western world through Alexander and the Empire of Rome.



People: According to the official research done by Greece in 2011, the population in Greece was around 11million. The birth rate decreased from 9.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2003 to 14.5 per 1,000 in 1981. The mortality rate increased from 8.9 per 1,000 inhabitants to 9.6 per 1,000 inhabitants in the same time period. This trend is estimated to continue in the next decade.

Climate: Greece has Mediterranean weather type. The winter in Greece is mild and wet while the summer is hot and dry. The weather in Greece is also significantly affected by the Pindus mountain range. The west area of the mountain is much wetter than the east part. The temperature in winter is between 6℃ and ~13℃, while in summer it is between 23℃ and ~33℃.

Language: Greek is the official language of Greece. There is evidence shows that Greek exists since 15th century BC.

Economy: According to World Bank statistics in 2013, Greece has the 43rd largest economy in terms of nominal gross domestic product at $242 billion and 52nd largest in terms of purchasing power parity at $284 billion. Additionally, Greece is the 15th largest economy in the 27-member European Union. By per capita income, Greece is number 38th for nominal GDP at $21,910 and number 40th for purchasing power parity at $25,705 in the world.

Time: Eastern European Time (UTC+2) in winter, Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) in Summer (DST)

Capital: Euro (€) (EUR)

How to get there: The Elefthérios Venizélos International Airport in Athen is the largest and busiest airport in Greece. It helped serve more than 15 million passengers in 2006. The other major international airports in Greece are, in order of passengers served per year, Heraklion (Nikos Kazantzákis Int'l), Thessaloniki (Makedonia Int'l), Rhodes (Diagóras), and Corfu (Ioánnis Kapodístrias).