Greece

Greece is not the word. At least in Greek, where the country is called Ellada. The formal title is the Hellenic Republic.

Greece is a democratic state, member of the European Union and NATO and famous for its history. As Ancient Greece, it was the birthplace of democracy, The Spartan Way (or the name source), Zeus etc., most of the Older Than Feudalism tropes still popular in Western fiction (okay, except for all the biblical and Roman ones) and the Olympic Games. In the last case, they were competed naked. No, women weren't allowed to participate (or watch).

Greece was at the heart of the Byzantine Empire, who despite its distinct Hellenicity continued the traditions of Rome long after the western Empire had fallen, and was the birthplace of Orthodox Christianity. The Empire was defeated gradually by the Ottoman Turks, and the Byzantine capital is now known as Istanbul, from the Turkish (in turn from the Greek) meaning "the city" or "of the city".

Okay, fine, I'll say it. Istanbul, not Constantinople.

In the 1820s, the Greeks rebelled and created a kingdom of their own which gradually grew in size until, at the end of WW 1, it was to include a restored Constantinople and some Greek populated cities on the Turkish coast. This led to a bitter war, at the end of which, in the "Population Exchange", thousands of European Turks and Asiatic Greeks were booted out and the principle of Istanbul, not Constantinople was re-affirmed forever more. Like any of Europe's bucket of ethnic conflicts and past expulsions, the best rule is to not mention this.

During WW 2, the Italians attempted to invade Greece, and found themselves bested and humiliated, necessitating Germany turning up to bail them out. After the war, Greece plunged into a Civil War, narrowly evaded the attentions of the Reds With Rockets... and got a military dictatorship between 1967-1974 instead. But they've done away with that and are now a modern, democratic country.

2004 was a good year for Greek sport - as well as hosting the Olympics in Athens, the Greek football team (which had never before won a match at a major tournament) pulled off a spectacular shock by winning the 2004 European Championships, defeating hosts Portugal in the final. Sadly for the Greek team, the defense of their crown in Austria/Switzerland in 2008 was more of a reversion to type - they lost all of their group games.

For those of you wanting an answer to that ancient question,How much does a Grecian urn? Greece's estimated per capita GDP in 2008 was $32,100. However, that was before the credit crunch and Greece is now suffering from major debt problems, not helped by large-scale tax evasion.

Greece in fiction:

 * The John Le Carre novel, The Little Drummer Girl.
 * For Your Eyes Only
 * My Big Fat Greek Wedding
 * Mamma Mia
 * Axis Powers Hetalia - The Moe Anthropomorphism of Greece is the laid-back, perpetually sleepy Herakles Karpouzi.
 * Captain Corellis Mandolin
 * Zorba the Greek

Fictional Greek people

 * Dimitri Levendis in Spooks is the son of Greek immigrant parents. He works for MI 5.
 * Stella Bonasera in CSI New York is a half-Greek, half-Italian American cop, who self identifies as Greek and speaks the language fluently.

Famous Greeks

 * Alexander the Great
 * Aristotle
 * The Onassis clan, specially Aristotle and Christina
 * Melina Mercouri
 * Nana Mouskouri
 * Vangelis
 * Plato
 * Socrates
 * Vangelis
 * Xenophon