1. (noun)Greece, Hellenic Republic, Ellas a republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan peninsula; known for grapes and olives and olive oil
1. Greece a kingdom of S. Europe occupying the southern portion of a peninsula which projects into the Mediterranean between the peninsula of Italy and the mainland of Turkey in Asia; the N. is bounded by Turkey in Europe; it is made up of the N. and S. divisions connected by the narrow and canalled isthmus of Corinth, the Ionian Islands in the W., and the Cyclades and Sporades in the E.; it is a mountainous region, and many of the peaks are rich in classic associations, e. g. Olympus, Parnassus, and Helicon; the rivers are of no great size, and the lakes though numerous are inconsiderable; in the valleys the soil is fertile and agriculture is actively engaged in, although the methods adopted are still somewhat primitive; but favoured by a delightful climate the vine, olive, and other fruit-trees flourish; currants are the chiefarticle of export, and textiles and cereals the principal imports; milling, dyeing, distilling, and tanning are important industries; various minerals are found, and the marble from Paros is famed as the finest for statue carving; there is a considerable mercantile marine, and a busy shippingtrade of a smallkind among the islands and along the deeply indented coast, and also valuablecoral and sponge fisheries; the government is a limited and hereditary monarchy, and the legislative power is vested in an elected chamber of, at least, 150 paid representatives, called the Boul[=e]; universalsuffrage obtains, and the period of election is for four years; the bulk of the people belong to the established Greek Church, but in Thessaly and Epirusthere are about 25,000 Mohammedans; education is free and compulsory, but is badly administered, and a gooddeal of illiteracy exists; the glory of Greece lies in her past, in the imperishable monuments of her ancientliterature and art; by 146 B.C. she had fallen before the growingpower of the Romans and along with the rest of the Byzantine or Eastern empire was overrun by the Turks in A.D. 1453; her renascence as a modernnation took place between 1821 and 1829, when she threw off the Turkishyoke and reasserted her independence, which she had anew to attempt by arms in 1897, this time with humiliation and defeat, till the other powers of Europe came to the rescue, and put a check to the arrogance of the high-handed Turk.
Definitions of Greece 
