"Marvelous things happen in Greece," Henry Miller wrote, "marvelous good things which can happen nowhere else on earth." The birthplace of Western culture welcomes us with a salubrious climate, wondrous island and mainland scenery, great food, hearty folks, and thundering history at every turn.

• TOTAL AREA: 131,940 sq km

• LAND AREA: 130,800 sq km

• WATER AREA: 1,140 sq km

• POPULATION: 10,688,058 (July 2006 est.)

• RELIGIONS: Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim 1.3%, other 0.7%

• LANGUAGES: Greek 99% (official), English, French

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: Parliamentary Republic

• CAPITAL CITY: Athens

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: euro (EUR)

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC +2