Greece

With the cleanest waters in the Mediterranean, over 250 days of sunshine annually and unparalleled antiquities, Greece ranks as a world class vacation destination.

Lying in a strategic nexus between three continents (Europe, Africa, and Asia Minor) allowed Greece to rise as an early empire. The same location, however, led to centuries of subjugation by various foreign occupiers, including the Romans, Venetians, Genoese, Ottomans, Franks, Germans, and Italians.

Greece is a relatively small country, about the size of Alabama, with only 11 million inhabitants. By comparison, its neighbor to the west, Italy, has 58 million citizens, while its neighbor to the east, Turkey, looms large with 71 million people.

Yet, Greece is endowed with a remarkably varied and dramatic landscape and seascape. You can stand anywhere on Greek territory and be within 100 kilometers of the sea. The land is blessed with 1,400 islands and islets, several snowy mountain ranges, 15,000 kilometers of coastline, dozens of thermal healing waters, and Europe's richest flora and fauna with over 6,500 species and subspecies.

It is here that the ancients chose to settle and make their profound contributions to modern human history. Our early Greek ancestors knew how to choose an exceptional terrain with a perfect climate where they could live in a healthy environment — a locale which proved suitable to ingenious thinking and provocative ideas that spurred Greece to greatness and cemented its role as the cradle of Western Civilization.