Greece (Hellenike Demokratía) is a Presidential Parliamentary Democracy situated in Southeastern Europe, it comprises the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula and the Ionian Island archipelago in the Ionian Sea and Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Chios, the Dodecanese and the Cycladic groups in the Aegean Sea. It borders Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east and south of mainland Greece, while the Ionian Sea lies to the west. Greece is a member of the European Union since 1981. Athens is the capital; Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Volos and Larissa are some of the country's other major cities.

Four-fifths of Greece consist of mountains or hills, Western Greece is dominated by the Pindus mountain range, Pindus has a maximum elevation of 2,636 metres.  Mount Olympus, once considered the throne of the Gods, is the highest mountain in the country, located near Thessaloniki, Mytikas in the Olympus range has a height of 2,919 m at its highest peak.