Greece (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα Elláda), officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Ellīnikî Dīmokratía), is a country in Southeast Europe with population is slightly less than 11 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, its metropolitan area also including the municipality of Piraeus.

Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa and has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).

Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of Ancient Greece, generally considered the cradle of Western civilization. This legacy is partly reflected in the seventeen UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in Greece, ranking it 7th in Europe and 13th in the world. The modern Greek state was established in 1830, following the Greek War of Independence.

Greece is a founding member of the United Nations, has been a member of what is now the European Union since 1981 (and the eurozone since 2001), and has been a member of NATO since 1952. Greece is a developed country with an advanced, high-income economy and is also the largest economy in the Balkans, where Greece is an important regional investor.