Greece

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Southern Europe with Greece in red. Greece and its many islands is located in southern Europe. On the coast it is bordered by three seas: the Aegean, the Ionian, and the Mediterranean; there are approximately 2,000 islands in the Greek archipelago of which about 170 are inhabited. On land it is bordered by Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Greece is slightly smaller than Alabama.

The country is a parliamentary republic; the president is elected by the parliament for a five-year term with eligibility for a second term. The Greek Constitution limits the president to two terms.

Athens is the capital of Greece and is located at the southern tip of the mainland. The country is part of the European Union and, as of January 1, 1999, uses the Euro as its currency.

The July 2007 estimate of the population was 10,706,290. Greece has a very small population growth rate of 0.16 percent. The current life expectancy is 79.38 years with women outliving men by over five years.

Greek is the official language of the country with a little English and French spoken. Greece has an 96 percent literacy rate of people over the age of 15 with almost three and a half percent more men being literate than women. Greek Orthodox is the majority religion at 98 percent.

It is believed that the Ancient Olympic Games began in Greece in 776 BC although there is some evidence that the games may have begun as early as the tenth century BC. The Ancient Olympic Games ran through 393 AD. The first games of the Modern Olympics were held in Athens in 1896.

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