thousands of islands dotting the blue Aegean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Ionian Sea

the mainland, the islands, and Peloponnese, the peninsula south of the mainland.

three geographical regions

prime minister has the most power

3,600 feet

Mount Olympus

9,570 feet

home of the gods.

Greece abolished their monarchy in 1975 and became a parliamentary republic

e Pindus mountain range on the mainland contains one of the world's deepest gorges

president and a prime minister

president selects cabinet ministers who run government departments

he parliament, called the Vouli, has only one house with 300 members who are elected every four years. Greece became part of the European Union in 1981.

The first great civilization in Greece was the Minoan culture on the island of Crete around 2000 B.C

Minoans were conquered by the Myceneans from the mainland in 1450 B.C.

city-states, which were ruled by noblemen

Athens became the most powerful, and in 508 B.C

Greece won independence in 1832.

The first Olympic Games were held in the southern city of Olympia in 700 B.C. to honor Zeus, the king of the gods.

banned by the Romans in A.D. 393, but began again in Athens in 1896.

reece was ruled by foreigners for over 2,000 years beginning with the Romans conquering the Greeks in the 2nd century.

new system of rule by the people called democracy