Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan range, it sits plainly at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, each continent bringing a unique influence to this historic and ancient nation. The Greek mainland is surrounded by between 1200-6000 island (depending on your definition), of which only 227 are inhabited. Crete is the largest and most populous of these, but Lesvos and Rhodes follow close behind.
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The climate of Greece is primarily Mediterranean, featuring mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. This climate system occurs in all coastal locations, including the capital Athens, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, the island of Crete, the Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands, as well as parts of the Central Continental Greek region.
Greece is well known for its mountainous terrain - almost 80% of the country is made up of mountains. The islands of the Aegean sea are in fact peaks of underwater mountains that once constituted an extension of the mainland. This unique topography has also led to the country's highly indented coastline, which when combined with all the islands gives Greece the 11th longest coastline in the world.
Although in modern times the horse has fallen from favour in Greece, these animals have always played a key role in the countries ancient past. Due to poor grazing and rough terrain, the horses of ancient Greece were small yet sturdy animals suited as well to pulling chariots as they were to racing - a sport which, arguably, finds its routes in the Olympic sports of ancient Greece. These horses were generally categorised into 8 sub-breeds distinguished mainly by which island they originated from and bore a striking resemblance to the modern Haflinger horse of today. Horses also played a key role in Greek mythology, the most notable of which is the winged horse of the Greek gods - Pegasus.
