Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeastern Europe. It occupies the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, with a population of around 10 million. With nine regions and thousands of islands, it has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean. The Ionian Sea is west of the mainland, Albania northwest, and North Macedonia and Bulgaria north. Turkey is east both by land and the Aegean Sea. The capital, Athens, is the largest Greek city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras.