Tourist Travel Information about Greece
Greece’s official name is the Hellenic Republic. It is also known as Ellas or Ellada. It is located in Southern Europe, on the southernmost tip of the Balkan peninsula, with extensive coastlines and islands in the Aegean, Ionian, and Mediterranean Seas. Over 17 million tourists visit Greece each year, more than the country’s entire population. Tourism constitutes nearly 16% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP.)
Greece boasts a very long history, with the Greek language being present in the country for nearly 4,000 years. Its ancient culture has had a significant influence on the arts, language, philosophy, politics of western society, including western alphabets, Platonic ideals and the Socratic method, democracies, and republics, and the Olympics. It is an incredibly appealing place to visit, with a mountainous mainland and idyllic island beaches. No point in Greece is more than 85 miles (137 kilometers) from the water. Greece has about 9,000 miles of coastline, the 10th longest in the world.
Greece’s highest elevation is the legendary home of Zeus and other Olympian gods and goddesses, Mount Olympus at 9,750 feet (2,917 meters). Its lowest elevation is the Mediterranean Sea or sea level. This beautiful Mediterranean country enjoys on average more than 250 days of sunshine—or three thousand sunny hours—a year, which makes it one of the sunniest countries in the world and the brightest in Europe.
Greece has more than three thousand islands and islets, of which only about 130 are inhabited, with a number of these being some of the most famous in the world. Among them, Santorini has been named the most beautiful island in the world multiple times.