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Greece....
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Greece, officially called the Hellenic Republic is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip
of the Balkan peninsula. It has land boundaries with Bulgaria, the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Albania to the north; and with Turkey
to the east. The waters of the Aegean Sea border Greece to the east, and
those of the Ionian and Mediterranean Sea to the west and south. Regarded
by many as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of
democracy, Greece has a long and rich history during which its culture has
proven especially influential in Europe, Asia and Africa.
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The shores of Greece's Aegean Sea saw the emergence of
the first civilizations in Europe, namely the Minoan and Mycenaean
civilizations. After these, a Dark Age followed until around 800 BC, when a
new era of Greek civilization emerged. This Greece of city-states
established colonies along the Mediterranean and partially resisted
Persian
invasions. Greek culture would later become the basis of the Hellenistic
civilization that followed the empire of Alexander the Great. |
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Militarily Greece itself declined to the point that the
Romans conquered the land (168 BC onwards), though
Greek culture would in
turn conquer Roman life. Greece became a province of the Roman Empire, but
Greek culture would continue to dominate the eastern
Mediterranean.
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Acropolis During the
Night
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When the Empire finally split in two the Eastern or
Byzantine Empire, centered on Constantinople, remained Greek in nature, as
well as encompassing Greece itself. From the 4th century to the 15th
century the Eastern Roman Empire survived eleven centuries of attacks from
the west and east until Constantinople fell on May 29, 1453 to the
Ottoman
Empire. Greece proper was gradually conquered by the Ottomans during the
15th century. |
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