Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Romanization: Ellinikí Dimokratía) is a sovereign country, member of the European Union.

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Modern Greece has its origin in the civilization of ancient Greece, considered the cradle of Western civilization. In fact, for the West it is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature and the study of history, politics and the most important principles of mathematics and science. Its legacy is reflected in the 17 sites considered

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Heritage of humanity by unesco.

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At present Greece is a developed state with a very high Human Development Index. Greece has also been a member of the European Union since 1981 and of the Monetary and Economic Union since 2001, of NATO since 1952 and of the European Space Agency since 2005. It is also a founding partner of the

United Nations, the OECD and the Black Sea Cooperation Organization. In addition to Athens, which is its capital, other important cities are Thessaloniki, Piraeus, Patras, Heraklion and Lárisa.