Background: Greece achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829. 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-Communists 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 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 in 2001. In 2010 the prospect of a Greek default on its euro-denominated debt created severe strains within the EMU and raised the question of whether a member country might voluntarily leave the common currency or be removed.

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N 22 00 E

Map reference: Europe

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

Land boundaries
Total: 1228 km
Border countries: (4) Albania 282 km; Bulgaria 494 km; Turkey 206 km; Macedonia 246 km

Coastline: 13,676 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate: temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers

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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Olympus 2,917 m

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

Land use
Arable land: 20.45%
Permanent crops: 8.59%
Other: 70.96% (2005)

Irrigated land: 15,500 km² (2008)

Total renewable water resources: 72 km³ (2005)

Natural hazards: severe earthquakes
Volcanism: Santorini (elev. 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 2000 islands

Population: 10,760,136 (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 76
Growth rate: 0.083% (2011 est.)
Growth rate rank: 184
Below poverty line: 20% (2009 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Greek
Adjective: Greek

Ethnic groups: population: Greek 93% other (foreign citizens) 7% (2001 census)
Note: percents represent citizenship since Greece does not collect data on ethnicity

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

Religions: Greek Orthodox (official) 98% Muslim 1.3% other 0.7%

Age structure
0-14 years: 14.2%
15-64 years: 66.2% (male 3,555,447/female 3,567,383)
65 years and over: 19.6% (male 923,177/female 1,185,630) (2011 est.)

Median age
Total: 42.5 years
Male: 41.4 years
Female: 43.6 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.083% (2011 est.)
Rank: 184

Birth rate: 9.21 births/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 205

Death rate: 10.7 deaths/1000 population (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 44

Net migration rate: 2.32 migrant(s)/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 36

Urbanization
Urban population: 61% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 0.6% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Environment
Current issues: air pollution; water pollution
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

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.064 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 5 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 182
Male: 5.49 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 4.48 deaths/1000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 79.92 years
Rank: 30
Male: 77.36 years
Female: 82.65 years (2011 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.38 children born/woman (2011 est.)
Rank: 202

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 6.043 physicians/1000 population (2008)
Rank: 3

Hospital bed density: 4.77 beds/1000 population (2008)
Rank: 43

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 128
People living with hivaids: 8,800 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 103
Deaths: fewer than 500 (2009 est.)
Deaths rank: 86

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 22.5% (2003)
Rank: 17

Education expenditures: 4% of GDP (2005)
Rank: 104

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 96%
Male: 97.8%
Female: 94.2% (2001 census)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 17 years
Male: 16 years
Female: 17 years (2007)

Country name
Conventional long form: Hellenic Republic
Conventional short form: Greece
Local long form: Elliniki Dhimokratia
Local short form: Ellas or Ellada
Former: Kingdom of Greece

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

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 (Western Greece) Dytiki Makedonia (Western 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)

Independence: 1829 (from the Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Independence Day 25 March (1821)

Constitution: 11 June 1975; amended March 1986 and April 2001

Legal system: civil legal system based on Roman law

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Karolos PAPOULIAS
Head of government: Interim Prime Minister Lukas PAPADEMOS(since 10 November 2011)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
Elections: president elected by parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 3 February 2010 (next to be held by February 2015); president appoints leader of the party securing plurality of vote in election to become prime minister and form a government
Election results: Karolos PAPOULIAS reelected president; number of parliamentary votes 266 out of 300

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Elections: last held on 4 October 2009 (next to be held by 2013)
Election results: percent of vote by party - PASOK 43.9% ND 33.5% KKE 7.5% LAOS 5.6% SYRIZA 4.6% other 4.9%; seats by party - PASOK 160 ND 91 KKE 21 LAOS 15 SYRIZA 13; note - seats by party as of 15 December 2010 - PASOK 156 ND 86 KKE 21 LAOS 15 SYRIZA 9 DISY 5 Democratic Left 4 independents 4 (DISY and Democratic Left entered parliament as members of ND and SYRIZA respectively and the independents entered parliament as members of PASOK); 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

Judicial branch: Supreme Civil and Criminal Court; all judges are appointed for life by the president after consultation with a judicial council; Supreme Administrative Court and Court of Auditors; Courts of Appeal; Courts of First Instance

Political parties and leaders: Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow or ANTARSYA [Petros KONSTANTINOU]; Coalition of the Radical Left or SYRIZA [Alexis TSIPRAS]; Communist Party of Greece or KKE [Aleka PAPARIGA]; Democratic Left [Fotis KOUVELIS]; Democratic Alliance or DISY [Theodora BAKOGIANNI]; Ecologist Greens [Nikos CHRYSOGELOS]; Golden Dawn [Nikolaos MICHALOLIAKOS]; New Democracy or ND [Antonis SAMARAS]; Panhellenic Socialist Movement or PASOK [Georgios PAPANDREOU]; Popular Orthodox Rally or LAOS [Georgios KARATZAFERIS]

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Vassilis KASKARELIS
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 general: Boston Chicago Los Angeles New York San Francisco Tampa
In the us consulate: Atlanta Houston New Orleans
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel Bennett SMITH
From the us embassy: 91 Vasilisis Sophias Avenue 10,160 Athens
From the us mailing address: PSC 108 APO AE 9,842-0108
From the us telephone: [30] (210) 721-2,951
From the us fax: [30] (210) 645-6,282
From the us consulate general: 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; the exact shade of blue has never been set by law and has varied from a light to a dark blue over time

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

National anthem
Name: 'Ymnos eis tin Eleftherian'
Lyricsmusic: Dionysios SOLOMOS/Nikolaos MANTZAROS
Note: adopted 1864; the anthem is based on a 158 verse poem by the same name which was inspired by the Greek Revolution of 1821 against the Ottomans; Cyprus also uses 'Hymn to Liberty' as its anthem

Economy overview: Greece has a capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP about two-thirds that of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 15% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force mainly in agricultural and unskilled jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP. The Greek economy grew by nearly 4.0% per year between 2003 and 2007 due partly to infrastructural spending related to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and in part to an increased availability of credit which has sustained record levels of consumer spending. But the economy went into recession in 2009 as a result of the world financial crisis tightening credit conditions and Athens' failure to address a growing budget deficit which was triggered by falling state revenues and increased government expenditures. The economy contracted by 2% in 2009 and 4.8% in 2010. Greece violated the EU's Growth and Stability Pact budget deficit criterion of no more than 3% of GDP from 2001 to 2006 but finally met that criterion in 2007-08 before exceeding it again in 2009 with the deficit reaching 15.4% of GDP. Austerity measures reduced the deficit to 10.5% of GDP in 2010. Public debt inflation and unemployment are above the euro-zone average while per capita income is below; unemployment rose to 12% in 2010. Eroding public finances a credibility gap stemming from inaccurate and misreported statistics and consistent underperformance on following through with reforms prompted major credit rating agencies in late 2009 to downgrade Greece's international debt rating and has led the country into a financial crisis. Under intense pressure by the EU and international market participants the government has adopted a medium-term austerity program that includes cutting government spending reducing the size of the public sector decreasing tax evasion reforming the health care and pension systems and improving competitiveness through structural reforms to the labor and product markets. Athens however faces long-term challenges to push through unpopular reforms in the face of often vocal opposition from the country's powerful labor unions and the general public. Greek labor unions are striking over new austerity measures but the strikes so far have had a limited impact on the government's will to adopt reforms. An uptick in widespread unrest however could challenge the government's ability to implement reforms and meet budget targets and could also lead to rioting or violence. In April 2010 a leading credit agency assigned Greek debt its lowest possible credit rating; in May the International Monetary Fund and Eurozone governments provided Greece emergency short- and medium-term loans worth $147 billion so that the country could make debt repayments to creditors. In exchange for the largest bailout ever assembled the government announced combined spending cuts and tax increases totaling $40 billion over three years on top of the tough austerity measures already taken. Greece however struggled to boost revenues and cut spending to meet 2010 targets set by the EU and the IMF especially after Eurostat - the EU's statistical office - revised upward Greece's deficit and debt numbers for 2009 and 2010. Greece's lenders are calling on Athens to step up efforts in 2011 to increase tax collection shore up public enterprises and rein in health spending and are planning to give Greece more time to repay its EU-IMF loan. Greece responded by introducing major structural reforms but investors still question whether Greece can sustain fiscal efforts in the face of a bleak economic outlook and public discontent.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 39
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 211

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 47
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 3.3%
Industry: 17.9%
Services: 78.8% (2010 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: -5.7% (2010 est.)
Rank: 166

Labor force: 5.013 million (2010 est.)
Rank: 73
By occupation agriculture: 12.4%
By occupation industry: 22.4%
By occupation services: 65.1% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9.4% (2009 est.)
Rank: 133

Population below poverty line: 20% (2009 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.5%
Highest 10: 26% (2000 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 35.4 (1998)
Rank: 101

Budget
Revenues: $119.6 billion
Expenditures: $151.5 billion (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -10.4% of GDP (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 197

Taxes and other revenues: 39.2% of GDP (2010 est.)
Rank: 47

Public debt: 127.5% of GDP (2009 est.)
Rank: 4

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.2% (2009 est.)
Rank: 144

Central bank discount rate: 1.75% (31 December 2009)
Rank: 114
Note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 6.055% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 146

Stock of narrow money: $177.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 23
Note: see entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 17 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circulating within their own borders

Stock of broad money: $379 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 27

Stock of domestic credit: $383.7 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 28

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 52

Current account balance: -$35.97 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 186

Exports: $21.34 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 67
Commodities: food and beverages manufactured goods petroleum products chemicals textiles
Partners: Germany 10.9% Italy 10.9% Cyprus 7.3% Bulgaria 6.5% Turkey 5.4% UK 5.3% Belgium 5.1% China 4.8% Switzerland 4.5% Poland 4.2% (2010)

Imports: $64.21 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 44
Commodities: machinery transport equipment fuels chemicals
Partners: Germany 10.6% Italy 9.9% Russia 9.6% China 6.1% Netherlands 5.3% France 4.9% Austria 4.5% (2010)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $5.546 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 81

Debt external: $532.9 billion (30 June 2010)
Rank: 20

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $42.1 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 58

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $39.45 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 34

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 51.5 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Production rank: 47
Consumption: 59.53 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Consumption rank: 40
Exports: 3.233 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Imports: 4.368 billion kWh (2009 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 1 million m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 91
Consumption: 3.824 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 65
Exports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 107
Imports: 3.815 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 36
Proven reserves: 991.1 million m³ (1 January 2011 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 100

Telephones
Main lines in use: 5.203 million (2010)
Main lines in use rank: 30
Mobile cellular: 12.293 million (2010)
Mobile cellular rank: 57

Telephone system
General assessment: adequate modern networks reach all areas; good mobile telephone and international service
Domestic: microwave radio relay trunk system; extensive open-wire connections; submarine cable to offshore islands
International: country code - 30; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Europe Middle East and Asia; a number of smaller submarine cables provide connectivity to various parts of Europe the Middle East and Cyprus; tropospheric scatter; satellite earth stations - 4 (2 Intelsat - 1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean 1 Eutelsat and 1 Inmarsat - Indian Ocean region)

Broadcast media: broadcast media dominated by the private sector; roughly 150 private TV channels about a dozen of the private channels broadcast at the national or regional level; 3 publicly-owned terrestrial TV channels with national coverage 1 publicly-owned satellite channel and 3 stations designed for digital terrestrial transmissions; multi-channel satellite and cable TV services obtainable; upwards of 1500 radio stations broadcasting nearly all of them privately-owned; state-run broadcaster has 7 national stations 2 international stations and 19 regional stations (2007)

Internet
Country code: .gr
Hosts: 2.574 million (2010)
Hosts rank: 31
Users: 4.971 million (2009)
Users rank: 46

Military expenditures: 4.3% of GDP (2005 est.)
Rank: 23

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; 17 years of age for volunteers; conscript service obligation - 1 year for all services; women are eligible for voluntary military service (2008)

Airports: 81 (2010)
Rank: 69
With paved runways total: 67
With paved runways over 3047 m: 6
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 14
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 20
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 18
With paved runways under 914 m: 9 (2010)
With unpaved runways total: 14
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 12 (2010)

Heliports: 9 (2010)

Pipelines: gas 1240 km; oil 75 km (2010)

Railways
Total: 2,548 km
Rank: 64
Standard gauge: 1565 km 1.435-m gauge (764 km electrified)
Narrow gauge: 961 km 1.000-m gauge; 22 km 0.750-m gauge (2009)

Roadways
Total: 116,711 km (2008)
Rank: 37

Waterways: 6 km (the 6 km long Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; it shortens a sea voyage by 325 km) (2010)
Rank: 107

Merchant marine
Total: 886
Rank: 12
By type: bulk carrier 263 cargo 53 carrier 1 chemical tanker 72 container 34 liquefied gas 13 passenger 8 passenger/cargo 116 petroleum tanker 312 roll on/roll off 13 specialized tanker 1
Foreign owned: 62 (Belgium 16 Bermuda 3 Cyprus 4 Italy 5 UK 27 US 7)
Registered in other countries: 2,391 (Antigua and Barbuda 5 Bahamas 209 Barbados 14 Belize 2 Bermuda 2 Brazil 1 Cambodia 2 Cayman Islands 11 Comoros 3 Cyprus 216 Denmark 1 Dominica 9 Egypt 8 Georgia 3 Germany 1 Gibraltar 7 Honduras 4 Hong Kong 22 Indonesia 1 Isle of Man 57 Italy 8 Jamaica 8 Liberia 454 Malta 458 Marshall Islands 358 Mexico 1 Moldova 4 Panama 402 Philippines 4 Portugal 5 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 63 Sao Tome and Principe 1 Saudi Arabia 4 Singapore 19 Slovakia 1 Togo 1 UAE 3 UK 1 Uruguay 1 Vanuatu 4 Venezuela 4 unknown 8) (2010)

Ports and terminals: Agioi Theodoroi Aspropyrgos Pachi Piraeus Thessaloniki

Disputes international: Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime air territorial and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Turkey; Greece rejects the use of the name Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia; the mass migration of unemployed Albanians still remains a problem for developed countries chiefly Greece and Italy

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