Geographically, Greece occupies a strategically important position among Western democracies. Thrust like a big sack between the Aegean and Ionian Seas, facing Communist Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria on the north and its traditional rival Turkey to the east, the country watches over trade between North Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe.
真實的希臘突立在巴爾幹半島的南端，像個大袋子的地形隔出了愛琴海、愛奧尼亞海及地中海，向西北走去，可望見阿雨巴尼亞、南斯拉夫、保加利亞等東歐共黨國家，東北則是歷史上宿怨頗深的鄰居土耳其。