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GREECE
Greece has a history stretching back almost 4,000 years. The people of the mainland, called Hellenes, organized great naval and military expeditions, and explored the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, going as far as the Atlantic Ocean and the Caucasus Mountains. One of those expeditions, the siege of Troy, is narrated in the first great European literary work, Homer's Iliad. Numerous Greek settlements were founded throughout the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and the coast of North Africa as a result of travels in search of new markets.
From 1974 onwards the Greek people devoted all their efforts to consolidating democracy in the land of its birth and laying the foundations for a better life. In 1981 Greece became the IOth full member of the European Union and in 1981 a new party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), won the general election and became the governing party. At the present time, after a series of social reforms, Greece remains ever faithful to the causes of peace and democracy and continues on Its course of development. It is championing Balkan cooperation, intercedes in world disputes, undertakes peace initiatives within the framework of the EC and NATO and is one of the six countries that have become world-renowned through the "Initiative of the six leaders" for peace and disarmament.
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