Honeymoon Tours Travel

Greece is one of the most visited countries in Europe, yet remains one of the least known. Although most visitors will be familiar with the images of Ancient Greece, the modern Greek state dates only from 1830. Situated at a geographical crossroads, Greece combines cultural elements of the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

For a small country, Greece possesses marked regional differences. Nearly three quarters of the land is mountainous uninhabited, or uncultivated. On the mainland, fertile agricultural land supports tobacco farming in the north- east with orchard fruits and vegetables grown farther south. A third of the population lives in the capital, Athens, cultural, financial, and political center. where ancient and modern stand side by side. Of the myriad islands, only about a hundred are today inhabited.

For centuries a large number of Greeks have lived abroad. Currently there are over half as many Greeks outside the country as in, although recent years have seen reverse immigration, with expatriates returning home, especially to the islands.

Rural and urban life in contemporary Greece has been transformed since start of the 20th century, despitelgn occupation and civil war. Until the 1960s, the country remained underdeveloped, with many rural areas lacking basic amenities. Since then, a number of improvements, including the growth of tourism, the country's largest hard-currency earner, have helped Greece develop into a relatively wealthy, modern state.