Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre and the Olympic Games. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. The country consists of nine traditional geographic regions, and has a population of approximately 10.7 million. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring thousands of islands. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece ( Greek: Ελλάδα, romanized: Elláda, ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. eu domain is also used, as in other European Union member states. Other short formats: dd-mm-yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy.The Church of Greece is recognized by the Greek Constitution as the prevailing religion in Greece, and is the only country in the world where Eastern Orthodoxy is clearly recognized as a state religion.