Greece
Situated at the crossroads between the West and the East, Greece has been subjected to multiple and contradictory political, economic, and cultural influences since it became an independent state in 1830. Although for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Greek economy was predominantly agricultural and Greek society bore traditional characteristics, the country modernized rapidly during the second half of the twentieth century. Since the 1950s Greece has grown economically, and in 1974 a successful transition to democracy opened the way for the firm placement of the country among the core Western democracies. Greece was admitted to the European Community
(now the European Union) in 1981, became a member of the euro zone (by which the euro became the legal currency) in 2001, and hosted the Olympic Games in August 2004.
Basic Country Characteristics
Greece is a relatively small country situated in southeastern Europe. Its land area is only 4.1 percent of the total area of the European Union (i.e., the fifteen original member states). Greece is known for its naval tradition, including naval commerce, and has benefited significantly from tourism directed toward its coasts and islands. To the north of the country lies the mainland of the Balkan peninsula; to the south, the Mediterranean Sea; to the west, the Ionian Sea; and to the east, the Aegean Sea.
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