Map of Greece | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Greece achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830. During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it gradually added neighboring islands and territories, most with Greek-speaking populations. In World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy (1940) and subsequently occupied by Germany (1941-44); fighting endured in a protracted civil war between supporters of the king and other anti-communist and communist rebels. Following the latter's defeat in 1949, Greece joined NATO in 1952. In 1967, a group of military officers seized power, establishing a military dictatorship that suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country. In 1974 following the collapse of the dictatorship, democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy. In 1981, Greece joined the EC (now the EU); it became the 12th member of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 2001. Greece has suffered a severe economic crisis since late 2009, due to nearly a decade of chronic overspending and structural rigidities. Beginning in 2010, Greece entered three bailout agreements - with the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), the IMF, and the third in 2015 with the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - worth in total about $300 billion. The Greek Government formally exited the third bailout in August 2018.


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Location: Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N, 22 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 131,957 km²
Land: 130,647 km²
Water: 1310 km²
Rank: 97
Comparative: slightly smaller than Alabama

Land boundaries
Total: 1110 km
Border countries: (4) Albania 212 km; , Bulgaria 472 km; , Macedonia 234 km; , Turkey 192 km

Coastline: 13,676 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain: mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands

Elevation
Mean elevation: 498 m
Lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
Highest point: Mount Olympus 2,917
Note: Mount Olympus actually has 52 peaks but its highest point, Mytikas (meaning 'nose'), rises to 2,917 meters; in Greek mythology, Olympus' Mytikas peak was the home of the Greek gods

Natural resources: lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential

Land use
Agricultural land: 63.4% (2011 est.)
Forest: 30.5% (2011 est.)
Other: 6.1% (2011 est.)

Irrigated land: 15,550 km² (2012)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: severe earthquakesvolcanism: Santorini (367 m) has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; although there have been very few eruptions in recent centuries, Methana and Nisyros in the Aegean are classified as historically active

Geography
Note: strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands


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Population
Distribution: one-third of the population lives in and around metropolitan Athens; the remainder of the country has moderate population density mixed with sizeable urban clusters: 10,607,051 (July 2020 est.)
Rank: 86
Growth rate: -0.31% (2020 est.)
Growth rate rank: 219
Below poverty line: 36% (2014 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Greek(s)
Adjective: Greek

Ethnic groups: Greek 91.6%, Albanian 4.4%, other 4% (2011)
Note: data represent citizenship; Greece does not collect data on ethnicity

Languages: Greek (official) 99%, other (includes English and French) 1%

Religions: Greek Orthodox (official) 81-90%, Muslim 2%, other 3%, none 4-15%, unspecified 1% (2015 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 14.53% (male 794,918/female 745,909)
15-24 years: 10.34% (male 577,134/female 519,819)
25-54 years: 39.6% (male 2,080,443/female 2,119,995)
55-64 years: 13.1% (male 656,404/female 732,936)
65 years and over: 22.43% (male 1,057,317/female 1,322,176) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 56.1
Youth dependency ratio: 21.3
Elderly dependency ratio: 34.8
Potential support ratio: 2.9 (2020 est.)

Median age
Total: 45.3 years
Male: 43.7 years
Female: 46.8 years (2020 est.)
Rank: 9

Population growth rate: -0.31% (2020 est.)
Rank: 219

Birth rate: 7.8 births/1000 population (2020 est.)
Rank: 224

Death rate: 12 deaths/1000 population (2020 est.)
Rank: 17

Net migration rate: 0.9 migrant(s)/1000 population (2020 est.)
Rank: 60

Population distribution: one-third of the population lives in and around metropolitan Athens; the remainder of the country has moderate population density mixed with sizeable urban clusters

Urbanization
Urban population: 79.7% of total population
Note: (2015-20 est.)
Rate of urbanization: 0.22% annual rate of change

Major urban areas
Population: 3.153 million ATHENS (capital), 812,000 Thessaloniki (2020)

Environment
Current issues: air pollution; air emissions from transport and electricity power stations; water pollution; degradation of coastal zones; loss of biodiversity in terrestrial and marine ecosystems; increasing municipal and industrial waste
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.11 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 29.9 years (2017 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 3.7 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 4 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 3.3 deaths/1000 live births (2020 est.)
Rank: 193

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 81.1 years
Male: 78.5 years
Female: 83.8 years (2020 est.)
Rank: 38

Total fertility rate: 1.38 children born/woman (2020 est.)
Rank: 216

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source
Urban: 0% of population
Rural: 0% of population
Total: 0% of population (2017 est.)

Current health expenditure: 8% (2017)

Physicians density: 5.48 physicians/1000 population (2017)

Hospital bed density: 4.2 beds/1000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access
Urban: 0% of population
Rural: 0% of population
Total: 0% of population (2017 est.)

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2017 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 97
People living with hivaids: 14,000 (2017 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 93
Deaths note: <100 (2017 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 24.9% (2016)
Rank: 54

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures
Note: NA

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 97.7%
Male: 98.5%
Female: 96.9% (2015)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 20 years
Male: 20 years
Female: 20 years (2018)

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Hellenic Republic
Conventional short form: Greece
Local long form: Elliniki Dimokratia
Local short form: Ellas or Ellada
Former: Hellenic State, Kingdom of Greece
Etymology: the English name derives from the Roman (Latin) designation Graecia, meaning Land of the Greeks; the Greeks call their country Hellas or Ellada

Government type: parliamentary republic

Capital
Name: Athens
Geographic coordinates: 37 59 N, 23 44 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October: etymology: Athens is the oldest European capital city; according to tradition, the city is named after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom; in actuality, the appellation probably derives from a lost name in a pre-Hellenic language

Administrative divisions: 13 regions (perifereies, singular - perifereia) and 1 autonomous monastic state* (aftonomi monastiki politeia); Agion Oros* (Mount Athos), Anatoliki Makedonia kai Thraki (East Macedonia and Thrace), Attiki (Attica), Dytiki Ellada (West Greece), Dytiki Makedonia (West Macedonia), Ionia Nisia (Ionian Islands), Ipeiros (Epirus), Kentriki Makedonia (Central Macedonia), Kriti (Crete), Notio Aigaio (South Aegean), Peloponnisos (Peloponnese), Sterea Ellada (Central Greece), Thessalia (Thessaly), Voreio Aigaio (North Aegean)

Dependent areas

Independence: 3 February 1830 (from the Ottoman Empire); note - 25 March 1821, outbreak of the national revolt against the Ottomans; 3 February 1830, signing of the London Protocol recognizing Greek independence by Great Britain, France, and Russia

National holiday: Independence Day, 25 March (1821)

Constitution
History: many previous; latest entered into force 11 June 1975
Amendments: proposed by at least 50 members of Parliament and agreed by three-fifths majority vote in two separate ballots at least 30 days apart; passage requires absolute majority vote by the next elected Parliament; entry into force finalized through a special parliamentary resolution; articles on human rights and freedoms and the form of government cannot be amended; amended 1986, 2001, 2008

Legal system: civil legal system based on Roman law

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Greece
Dual citizenship recognized: yes
Residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

Suffrage: 17 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Ekaterini SAKELLAROPOULOU (since 13 March 2020)
Head of government: Prime Minister Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS (since 8 July 2019)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister 
Electionsappointments: president elected by Hellenic Parliament for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 22 January 2020 (next to be held by February 2025); president appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party or coalition in the Hellenic Parliament
Election results: Katerina SAKELLAROPOULOU (independent) elected president by Parliament - 261 of 300 votes; note - SAKELLAROPOULOU is Greeces first woman president

Legislative branch
Description: unicameral Hellenic Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; 280 members in multi-seat constituencies and 12 members in a single nationwide constituency directly elected by open party-list proportional representation vote; 8 members in single-seat constituencies elected by simple majority vote; members serve up to 4 years);  note - only parties surpassing a 3% threshold are entitled to parliamentary seats; parties need 10 seats to become formal parliamentary groups but can retain that status if the party participated in the last election and received the minimum 3% threshold
Elections: last held on 7 July 2019 (next to be held by July 2023)
Election results: percent of vote by party - ND 39.9%, SYRIZA 31.5%, KINAL 8.1%, KKE 5.3%, Greek Solution 3.7%, MeRA25 3.4%, other 8.1%; seats by party - ND 158, SYRIZA 86, KINAL 22, KKE 15, Greek Solution 10, MeRA25 9; composition - men 244, women 56, percent of women 18.7%

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Civil and Criminal Court or Areios Pagos (consists of 56 judges, including the court presidents); Council of State (supreme administrative court) (consists of the president, 7 vice presidents, 42 privy councilors, 48 associate councilors and 50 reporting judges, organized into six 5- and 7-member chambers; Court of Audit (government audit and enforcement) consists of the president, 5 vice presidents, 20 councilors, and 90 associate and reporting judges
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by presidential decree on the advice of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which includes the president of the Supreme Court, other judges, and the prosecutor of the Supreme Court; judges appointed for life following a 2-year probationary period; Council of State president appointed by the Greek Cabinet to serve a 4-year term; other judge appointments and tenure NA; Court of Audit president appointed by decree of the president of the republic on the advice of the SJC; court president serves a 4-year term or until age 67; tenure of vice presidents, councilors, and judges NA
Subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal and Courts of First Instance (district courts)

Political parties and leaders: Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow or ANTARSYA [collective leadership]Coalition of the Radical Left or SYRIZA [Alexios (Alexis) TSIPRAS]Communist Party of Greece or KKE [Dimitrios KOUTSOUMBAS]Democratic Left or DIMAR [Athanasios (Thanasis) THEOCHAROPOULOS]European Realistic Disobedience Front or MeRA25 [Yanis VAROUFAKIS]Greek Solution [Kyriakos VELOPOULOS]Independent Greeks or ANEL [Panagiotis (Panos) KAMMENOS]Movement for Change or KINAL [Foteini (Fofi) GENIMMATA] New Democracy or ND [Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS]People's Association-Golden Dawn [Nikolaos MICHALOLIAKOS]Popular Unity or LAE [Panagiotis LAFAZANIS]The River (To Potami) [Stavros THEODORAKIS]Union of Centrists or EK [Vasileios (Vasilis) LEVENTIS]

International organization participation: Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Theocharis LALAKOS (since 27 June 2016)
In the us chancery: 2,217 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 939-1300
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 939-1324
In the us consulate:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Geoffrey R. PYATT (since 24 October 2016)
From the us telephone: [30] (210) 721-2,951
From the us embassy: 91 Vasillisis Sophias Avenue, 10,160 Athens
From the us mailing address: PSC 108, APO AE 9,842-0108
From the us FAX: [30] (210) 645-6,282
From the us consulate: Thessaloniki

Flag description: nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white; a blue square bearing a white cross appears in the upper hoist-side corner; the cross symbolizes Greek Orthodoxy, the established religion of the country; there is no agreed upon meaning for the nine stripes or for the colors
Note: Greek legislation states that the flag colors are cyan and white, but cyan can mean 'blue' in Greek, so the exact shade of blue has never been set and has varied from a light to a dark blue over time; in general, the hue of blue normally encountered is a form of azure

National symbols: Greek cross (white cross on blue field, arms equal length); national colors: blue, white

National anthem
Name: Ymnos eis tin Eleftherian (Hymn to Liberty)
Lyricsmusic: Dionysios SOLOMOS/Nikolaos MANTZAROS
Note: adopted 1864; the anthem is based on a 158-stanza poem by the same name, which was inspired by the Greek Revolution of 1821 against the Ottomans (only the first two stanzas are used); Cyprus also uses 'Hymn to Liberty' as its anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview

Real gdp purchasing power parity
Real:
Real note: data are in 2010 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 145

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2010 dollars
Rank: 63

Gross national saving:
Rank: 159

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 69.6% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 20.1% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 12.5% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: -1% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 33.4% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -34.7% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 4.1% (2017 est.)
Industry: 16.9% (2017 est.)
Services: 79.1% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes; beef, dairy products

Industries: tourism, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products; mining, petroleum

Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (2017 est.)
Rank: 85

Labor force: 4 million (2020 est.)
Rank: 90
By occupation agriculture: 12.6%
By occupation industry: 15%
By occupation services: 72.4% (30 October 2015 est.)

Unemployment rate:
Rank: 183

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 36% (2014 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.7%
Highest 10: 26.7% (2015 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: 97.99 billion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: 96.35 billion (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit: 0.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 36

Taxes and other revenues: 48.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Rank: 17

Public debt:
Rank: 2

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:
Rank: 28

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance:
Rank: 175

Exports:
Rank: 48
Partners: Italy 10.6%, Germany 7.1%, Turkey 6.8%, Cyprus 6.5%, Bulgaria 4.9%, Lebanon 4.3% (2017)
Commodities: food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles

Imports:
Rank: 48
Commodities: machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals
Partners: Germany 10.4%, Italy 8.2%, Russia 6.8%, Iraq 6.3%, South Korea 6.1%, China 5.4%, Netherlands 5.3%, France 4.3% (2017)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
Rank: 80

Debt external:
Rank: 23

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access electrification total population: 100% (2020)
Production: 52.05 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Production rank: 53
Consumption: 56.89 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Consumption rank: 45
Exports: 1.037 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Exports rank: 58
Imports: 9.833 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Imports rank: 27
Installed generating capacity: 19.17 million kW (2016 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 46
Generation sources fossil fuels: 57% of total installed capacity (2016 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 136
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 98
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 14% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 105
Generation sources other renewable sources: 29% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 19

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 4,100 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 80
Crude oil exports: 3,229 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 67
Crude oil imports: 484,300 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 20
Crude oil proven reserves: 10 million bbl (1 January 2018 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 90

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 655,400 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products production rank: 28
Products consumption: 304,100 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products consumption rank: 43
Products exports: 371,900 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products exports rank: 22
Products imports: 192,200 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products imports rank: 35

Natural gas
Production: 8 million m³ (2017 est.)
Production rank: 93
Consumption: 4.927 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Consumption rank: 61
Exports: 0 m³ (2017 est.)
Exports rank: 112
Imports: 4.984 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Imports rank: 36
Proven reserves: 991.1 million m³ (1 January 2018 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 100

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 69.37 million Mt (2017 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 51

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 5,080,386
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 47.75 (2019 est.)
Fixed lines rank: 29
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 12,070,571
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 113.45 (2019 est.)
Mobile cellular rank: 75

Telephone system

Broadcast media: broadcast media dominated by the private sector; roughly 150 private TV channels, about 10 of which broadcast nationwide; 1 government-owned terrestrial TV channel with national coverage; 3 privately owned satellite channels; multi-channel satellite and cable TV services available; upwards of 1,500 radio stations, all of them privately owned; government-owned broadcaster has 2 national radio stations

Internet
Country code: .gr
Users total: 7,783,381
Users percent of population: 72.95% (July 2018 est.)
Users rank: 61

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 3,961,864
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 37 (2018 est.)
Rank: 35


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Military expenditures:
Rank: 41

Military and security forces: Hellenic Armed Forces: Hellenic Army (Ellinikos Stratos, ES; includes National Guard reserves), Hellenic Navy (Elliniko Polemiko Navtiko, EPN), Hellenic Air Force (Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia, EPA; includes air defense) (2019)

Military service age and obligation: 19-45 years of age for compulsory military service; during wartime the law allows for recruitment beginning January of the year of inductee's 18th birthday, thus including 17 year olds; 18 years of age for volunteers; conscript service obligation is 1 year for the Army and 9 months for the Air Force and Navy; women are eligible for voluntary military service (2014)

Space program

Terrorist groups: Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); Revolutionary Struggle (2019)
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in a title='Appendix-T' href='../appendix/appendix-t.html'>Appendix-T/a>


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 11 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 97
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 15,125,933 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 21.91 million
Note: mt-km (2018)

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: SX (2016)

Airports: 77 (2013)
Rank: 69
With paved runways total: 68 (2017)
With paved runways over 3047 m: 6 (2017)
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 15 (2017)
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 19 (2017)
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 18 (2017)
With paved runways under 914 m: 10 (2017)
With unpaved runways total: 9 (2013)
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2013)
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 7 (2013)

Heliports: 9 (2013)

Pipelines: 1329 km gas, 94 km oil (2013)

Railways
Total: 2,548 km (2014)
Standard gauge: 1565 km
Note: 1.000-m gauge (2014)
Narrow gauge: 961 km: 22 0.750-m gauge
Rank: 67

Roadways
Total: 117,000 km (2018)
Rank: 42

Waterways: 6 km
Note: (the 6-km-long Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; it shortens a sea voyage by 325 km) (2012)
Rank: 106

Merchant marine
Total: 1308
By type: bulk carrier 180, container ship 6, general cargo 95, oil tanker 375, other 652 (2019)
Rank: 22

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Aspropyrgos, Pachi, Piraeus, Thessaloniki
Oil terminal: Agioi Theodoroi
Container port: Piraeus (4,145,079) (2017)
LNG terminal: Revithoussa


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Disputes international: Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; the mass migration of unemployed Albanians still remains a problem for developed countries, chiefly Greece and Italy

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees: 26,696 (Syria), 17,685 (Afghanistan), 9,614 (Afghanistan) (2019)
Stateless persons: 4,734 (2019)
Note: 1,204,745 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-November 2020); as of the end of December 2019, an estimated 112,300 migrants and refugees were stranded in Greece since 2015-16; 50,215 migrant arrivals in 2018

Illicit drugs: a gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West and precursor chemicals to the East; some South American cocaine transits or is consumed in Greece; money laundering related to drug trafficking and organized crime