Greece is strategically located at thecrossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of theBalkan peninsula, Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, theRepublic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north and Turkey to the northeast.The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, thePeloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese andCyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands. The Aegean Sea lies to the eastof the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to thesouth. The vast majority of visitors in Greece in 2007 came from the Europeancontinent, numbering 12.7 million whilethe most visitors from a single nationality were those from the United Kingdom,(2.6 million), followed closely by those from Germany million). In 2010, the most visited region ofGreece was that of Central Macedonia, with 18% of the country's total touristflow (amounting to 3.6 million tourists), followed by Attica with 2.6 millionand the Peloponnese with 1.8 million. Northern Greece is the country's most-visitedgeographical region, with 6.5 million tourists, while Central Greece is secondwith 6.3 million.
Turkey officially the Republic of Turkey is aparliamentary republic largely located in Western Asia with the portion ofEastern Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries:Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast;Armenia, Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the east; and Iraqand Syria to the south. The Mediterranean Sea is to the south; the Aegean Sea tothe west; and the Black Sea to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus andthe Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate theboundary between Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.Turkey's location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country ofsignificant geostrategic importance. Turkeyhas 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites