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(placeholder) Brought to you by EdGate and Griffin Publishing Athens 2004
   

Athens, is the capital of Greece and was the site of the first modern Olympic games in 1896. Half of Greece's 10,000,000 people live in Athens, which is its economic, political, industrial and cultural center. Many people visit Athens each year to enjoy its warm, sunny weather and the ancient monuments for which it is so famous.

Learn more about the ancient city that has the honor of hosting this year's Olympic Games.

Click a link to read more about About Greece | Facts, Figures, Maps | History
Languages | Virtual Tours | Weather | Time

About Greece

The first Olympic Games were held in Greece more than two thousand years ago.  When the Modern Games were revived in 1896, founder  Pierre de Coubertin again chose Athens as the host city.  In 2004, the games will return to their birthplace for a third time.

Greece’s official name is the Hellenic Republic.  It gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829.  Greece is located in Southern Europe between Albania and Turkey.  It has an area of 81,983 square miles, which is slightly smaller than Alabama. Greece has 8,947 miles of coastline and is made up of a mainland and about 2,000 islands scattered throughout the Aegean, Ionian and Mediterranean Seas, and the Sea of Crete. 

Athens is the home of Acropolis Hill, where monuments dedicated to the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece still stand. The Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, is one of its most famous monuments.

Modern people all over the world still learn from and enjoy the intellectual and cultural contributions of the philosophers and playwrights of Classical Greece.

There is a lot more to learn about Athens and Greece!

History of Greece & Athens

Languages of Greece and the World

 

Facts, figures and maps of Greece

Virtual Tours
Don't just read about Athens, see it! Visit the city and explore the sites of the Olympic Games on these virtual tour sites.

Weather
What's the weather like in Athens? Search these weather sites for competition conditions.

 

Time
Find out the local time in Athens using these time-conversion sites:

Currency
Want to know how far your money will go in Greece? Try these currency calculators. (Hint: Euros)

 

 

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