GREECE – 5 MINUTES READ IF YOU PLAN TO TRAVEL.

• Introduction:

Greece or Hellenic Republic is South Eastern European country considered the cradle of Western civilization. It is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, theatre, and the Olympic Games.

It shares its borders with Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey and have Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Sea of Crete, and the Mediterranean Sea as its neighbours. Athens, the capital is its largest city. The country comprises nine traditional geographic regions, has a population of 10.4 million and since it has longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, it features thousands of islands.

Greece is a founding member of United Nations and is the 10th member to join European Union. It is also a member of Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, WTO, and OSCE. The country has 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the 9th most visited country in 2022 for tourism.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou is its President and Kyriakos Mitsotakis is its Prime Minister.

•  Geography:

#Greece consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland and its highly indented coastline which is 11th longest in the world make it one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. The mythical adobe of Greek Gods ‘Mount Olympus’ is located here. The spectacular Vikos Gorge, part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park in the Pindus range, is listed by the Guinness World Records as the deepest gorge in the world.

Rare #marine #species such as the pinniped seals and the loggerhead sea turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to the endangered brown bear, the Eurasian lynx, the roe deer and the wild goat. Greece have approx. 6000 islands.

• Climate:

The climate is Mediterranean featuring mild to cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The mountainous areas and the higher elevations of northwestern Greece get heavy snowfalls during the winter. Snowfalls occur every year in the mountains and northern areas, and brief periods of snowy weather are possible even in low-lying southern areas, such as Athens.

•  Tourism:

Tourism is one of the most important sectors of Greece contributing 20.6% of the GDP (2018). It is the 9th most visited country in the world hosted 24.2 million tourists in 2014 to 34 million in 2019, and after Covid 15.2 million in 2021, which boosted to 29.8 million tourists in 2022.

Top tourist destinations include Athens, the islands of Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu and Crete, and the peninsula of Chalkidice. The Greek capital, Athens, has many archaeological sites, the most famous being the Acropolis, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Ancient Athenian cemetery of Kerameikos, the Philopappou Hill, the Tower of the Winds, Plato's Academy and the Ancient Agora.

Central Greece is the location of Thebes, an ancient city that once rivalled Athens, and featured in Greek myth. Delphi has a distinguished ancient theatre, the site of the Oracle. Thermopylae is primarily known for the battle that took place in 480 BC, in which an outnumbered Greek force of 7000 (including the famous 300 Spartans) held off a substantially larger force of Persians estimated in the range 70,000 to 300,000 under Xerxes.

There are 444 hotels which have 5-star ratings, 1412 are 4-stars, 2472 are 3-star, 3990 are 2-star, and 1412 are 1-star hotels.

The country has a modernized road and rail network and its motorway is the most advance in Europe. Athens International Airport (AIA) is the largest international airport in Greece and is a member of Group 1 of Airports Council International. It is the 18th busiest airport in Europe and largest in Balkans. It has 144 check-in desks, 14 jet bridges and 11 belt conveyors for luggage. ‘Hall A’ is used for flights to Non-schengen countries and Non-European countries, while ‘Hall B’ handles flights to Intra-schengen countries as well as domestic services.

The top 20 cities of Greece are: Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Piraeus, Heraklion, Larisa, Volos, Ioannina, Trikala, Chalcis, Serres, Chania Alexandroupoli, Xanthi, Katerini, Kalamata, Kavala, Lamia, Komotini, and Rhodes.

Greek is the official language, while English, Turkish, Bulgarian and Romani are also spoken. There are about 20 top universities which makes Greece 41st in the world for higher education. National Technical University of Athens , Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , and National and Kapodistrian University of Athens are among the top.

 If you are planning to travel from India, then flights are available round the clock with just 1 stop and a 10-hour journey with ticket prices ranging from INR 20,000 to INR 54,000 one way. You will apply for a “Schengen Short Stay (Type C)” visa costing INR 7,200 only. Apart from this, a “Service Fee” of INR 2700 (plus 18% GST) will be applicable. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (Article 15) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009”, which entered into force on April 5, 2010, applicants must purchase a travel insurance product before they apply for a travel visa. Purchasing adequate travel insurance is one of the requirements of the Schengen visa.

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