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Hey everybody, I am your host, Barby.

Greece is sometimes seen as kind of the cradle and birthplace of European civilization and thought.

SO much of everything your see today has some kind of correlation to Greece.

Pretty heavy for a relatively small country in the Balkans, eh?

Let's find out how it all went down.

(POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY)

So, let's just jump into it.

Greece is located in the southernmost part of the Balkan peninsula

that stretches into the Ionian, Mediterranean, and Aegean Seas,

bordered by 4 countries in the north and east.

The country is divided into 13 regions, with 1 autonomous state that we'll talk about later,

and the capital of Athens, one of the oldest capitals in the world,

where nearly 40% of the entire population lives.

Now, despite the administrative makeup,

Greece is generally divided into 9 geographic regions.

Thrace, Macedonia,

(not to be confused with this place that we already talked about)

Thessaly, Peloponnese, Epirus, Central Greece, Ionian Islands, the Aegean Islands, and Crete.

As you can probably tell from it's makeup,

Greece is one of, if not the most, seafaring marine emphasized countries in the world.

I mean, they do have the world's largest merchant marine fleet after Japan.

And at any given point in Greece, you are at no point more than 85 miles, or 137 km, from the sea.

Greece has about 2000 island, in which only about 220 are inhabited,

and about 4,000 extra islets, keys, and sea rocks.

Even the ones that are, like, right off the coast of Turkey.

In fact, the only 2 significant islands belonging to Turkey

in the Aegean are Imbros (or Çanakkale)

and Tenedos (or Bozcaada).

Now, keep in mind, the Peloponnesian Peninsula is not an island,

it's actually just BARELY connected by the Corinthian Isthmus,

in the city of Corinth, which has a huge canal going through it.

After independence from the Ottoman times,

Greece was VERY intent on making sure they kept everything in the Aegean.

This has historically led to some controversy with Turkey, in regards to things like

the limitation of territorial waters, airspace, the executive economic zones, and the militarization of the islands.

Nonetheless, they've been able to work stuff out...

...kind of...

but some things are still left in a gray zone,

with the only land disputes being over these 2 small scraps of land,

the Imia/Kardak islands.

Finally, let's talk about the one autonomous state.

See this little guy right here?

The third finger on the weird monster claw-looking peninsula?

Well, that peninsula is called Halkidiki, and the third finger is Mt. Athos.

With a population of only about 2,000,

Mt. Athos, or "Holy Mountain" is interesting because it's an isolated monastic state,

completely run by monks and priests.

Getting in is a little tough.

The number of daily visitors is restricted, you must have a special permit,

and you have to be a dude. No women allowed.

Although, historically, some women have accidentally or intentionally got in,

including this former Greek beauty pageant winner, who dressed up as a man and snuck in.

The three largest cities are, of course,

Athens, the capital,

Thessaloniki,

and Patras.

However, the 3 largest and busiest airports are

Athens Int.,

Herakilon Int., on Crete,

and then Thessaloniki Int. coming in at 3rd.

Speaking of Crete, each inhabitant island in Greece kind of has its own charm.

Of course, there are too many things to list,

but a few to consider might be things like:

Corfu, being the most family-friendly island.

Delos, known for being the legendary birthplace of Apollo.

Skyros and Hydra are kind of like the quiet islands, where more people use mules than cars.

Rhodes once held the Colossus, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

Ikaria once tried to become its own country at one point in time.

Naxos and Paros are known for kind of being the windy islands, great for sailing in water sports.

Santorini, with its ridiculously picturesque white marble villas,

and Patmos, the incredibly significant religious sight

in which Jesus's disciple, John, was exiled and wrote the Book of Revelations.

Speaking of which, Greece has the most archaeological sites per capita than any other country in the world,

only ranking behind a few other countries like Turkey and Mexico, in terms of overall sites.

Now, we all know Greece is a a tourist hotspot,

and like France, more tourists than the entire population of Greece visit Greece every single year.

Now, we all know about the Acropolis and the Parthenon,

but other cool sites that stick out include:

The Meteora Pillar Cliff Monasteries,

the Necromanteion of Ephyra,

the Oracle of Delphi,

St. Theodora's Chapel, with 17 oak trees sprouting with no visible evidence of roots,

the sculpted face on the shore of Nisi,

the Chios, former Leper Colony Building,

the Place of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes,

and of course, hundreds and hundreds of other sights,

there are too many to list,

and if you know of any, please write them down in the comments below and share.

In the meantime, we gotta get down to the foundations of the country.

The land.

(PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY)

Now, there's an old Greek saying.

When God made the world, he took the leftover rocks, threw it over his shoulder, and that's how Greece was made.

I-I kind of paraphrased that a little bit, don't quote me on it.

Brandon: Too late, it's a quote now.

*barby has the crushing realization that he, in fact, has a quote now*

Now, Greece is funny because land-wise, they don't exactly score high on the soil performance index,

and overland transportation has always been an issue.

But when you pretty much dominate the maritime trading sector,

you can kind of turn a semi-arid rock zone into a flourishing agrarian hub.

Just wait until we get to the Israel episode.

They've done quite an interesting-

*israel episode live preview*

First of all,

the country is about 80% mountainous, on both the mainland Balkan region and the islands.

2 main mountain chains form among the Balkan mainland,

the Pindus in the west and the Rhodopes in the northeast Macedonia/Thrace regions.

Right around the area where Thessily meets Macedonia,

you will find Mt. Olympus, the tallest mountain in Greece,

notable for being the legendary home of the ancient Greek gods.

Now, with the small exception of small boats and canoes,

almost all the rivers in Greece are non-navigable, as they are too shallow.

Nonetheless, the largest river, the Aliákmonas River,

flows through the Pindus range and eventually ends into the Thermaic Gulf, right along the monster claw.

Also, Trichonida, the largest lake, can be found in the south-central Greek regions.

Beautiful, right?

Well, it comes at a cost.

Greece is one of the most seismically active countries in the world,

as it lies on 2 major tectonic plate zones,

the North Anatolian Fault,

and the Hellenic Trench.

This means that although frequent,

earthquakes in Greece are relatively mild because they usually have epicenters that are in the sea.

Or, you know, Turkey kind of takes all the biggest hits.

Greece gets about 250 days of pure sunshine a year,

and 7% of the world's marble mines are found in Greece.

They're also the third largest olive oil producer.

Speaking of which, if you've never had Greek food,

you are not allowed to DIE until you do.

Popular dishes like moussaka,

spanakopita,

the classic Greek salad,

pita with yeeros,

(the real kind, not that cheap sleazy stuff down on 14th streets where half the meat is made of cornmeal).

Nonetheless, agriculture only makes up about 4% of their economic output.

Most of the revenue, at over 80%, comes from tourism and service jobs.

Otherwise, some notable spots in nature would be places like:

the Vikos Gorge,

the Sami Cave in Cephalonia,

the Syri Blue-Eyed Spring,

the Volcanic Rocks of Lemnos,

Neda Waterfalls,

Pozar Hot Springs,

AND-SO-MUCH-MORE.

In a nutshell, Greece is kind of a rocky, rugged, seafaring realm of merchant ships and olives.

Could've said that 3 minutes ago and skipped this whole segment.

Welp, on to the next.

(DEMOGRAPHICS)

Winston Churchill once said,

"Greeks don't fight like heroes, heroes fight like Greeks."

Turkey: Tsk. Okay.

First of all,

Greece has about 11 million people

and has one of the most highest aging populations in Europe.

The vast majority of the country, at about 93%, are made up of ethnic Greeks,

and the remaining 7% are mostly made up of other groups like Albanians, Gypsies, and Turks.

They use the Type C and F plug outlets,

they use the Euro(€) as their currency,

although prior to the Euro, they used the Drachma,

which was the oldest consistently used currency in the world,

and they drive on the right side of the road.

Now, pretty much anyone that has been to school at age 12

will know how much Greek history has played a role in the Western world.

The history is too long to explain in detail, but in the quickest way I can put this,

Minoans, Mycenaeans, tribes and city-states, fighting against Persians at Thermopylae,

which was where Gerard Butler came in and did this,

Alexander the Great, ushered in the Macedonian Empire,

Macedonia: Ahem-ahem.

*argument about whether alexander the great was macedonian or greek*

-then there was classical Greece,

Roman Greece,

Byzantine Greece,

Ottoman Greece,

and finally, a revolution led by this guy in 1821 that started the modern version of Greece we have today.

Thanks to Alexander the Great, multiple regions on 3 continents

experienced some form of Hellenization,

or the influence of Greek culture and language,

and it went all the way down into the Byzantine era.

This means, at one point in time, even black Africans were speaking Greek,

or at least the ancient Koine-Greek language.

It became so widespread, that today, almost every language in Europe

invokes some sort of Greek origin and certain vocabulary.

For example, in English, we have "academy", "telephone", "grammar", and even "geography".

Not only that, but Greek has, in one way or another,

been spoken for 3,000 years, making it possibly

the oldest/written consistently spoken language in the world.

Ehhh, the Shang Dynasty...

Eh, moving on.

We could go on and on talking about Greece's explosively fascinating, ancient history,

enshrined with legend, myth, wars, warriors, trade, alliances, gods, beasts, Sparta, sculpture, arts,

leaders, philosophers, games,

and interesting clothing options...

but that'll take too long, and we gotta get through this episode.

About 90% of people in Greece adhere to Christianity, mostly in the Eastern Orthodox Branch,

just like many other countries in the Slavic world.

If you've ever met a Greek person, you'll know that most of them definitely have a unique way of carrying themselves.

Many of you Greek Geograpeeps, or as I like to call you, "Geogra-Greeks,"

have told me that the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

is actually kind of a pretty accurate representation of a typical Greek family upbringing.

A little exaggerated, but nonetheless, not far off.

Big families with strong, opinionated parents you do NOT talk back to,

there's always a weird grandma mumbling something about the Turks,

and one of the cousins is probably lighting something on fire, as your brother is getting into a fight.

But when Grandma brings in the souvlaki and moussaka,

everyone sits down and it's like a beautiful, warm, Norman Rockwell painting.

Or is it the beautiful picture you Geogra-Greeks have painted me, how was that, was that in the ball-park?

So anyway, in Greece, voting is required by law,

as is conscription for men, ages 16...

(yeah, that's right, 16, they get them while they're young)

...up to 45, for a minimum of 9 months in service.

Many people celebrate Name Day instead of their birthdays,

in which they have a party on the day that pertains to the