top of pageBackground: 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. Since 2010 Greece has entered three bailout agreements with the European Commission the European Central Bank (ECB) and the IMF. The Greek Government agreed to its current $96 billion bailout in July 2015 which will conclude in August 2018.
Climate: temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers
Terrain: mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands
Natural resources: lignite petroleum iron ore bauxite lead zinc nickel magnesite marble salt hydropower potential
Natural hazards: severe earthquakes
Volcanism: Santorini 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
GeographyNote: strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country possessing an archipelago of about 2000 islands
top of pageEthnic groups: population: Greek 93% other (foreign citizens) 7% (2001 census)
Note: data 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%
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 pockets of urban agglomeration
EnvironmentCurrent 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
Drinking water source:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility access:
urban: 99.2% of population
rural: 98.1% of population
total: 99% of population
urban: 0.8% of population
rural: 1.9% of population
total: 1% of population (2015 est.)
top of pageAdministrative 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)
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
Constitution: many previous; latest entered into force 11 June 1975; amended 1986 2001 2008 (2016)
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branchChief of state: President Prokopis PAVLOPOULOS
Head of government: Prime Minister Alexis TSIPRAS ; note - Vassiliki THANOU-CHRISTOFILOU served as interim prime minister beginning on 27 August 2015 after the resignation of Alexis TSIPRAS on 20 August 2015; she was Greece's first female prime minister
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
Electionsappointments: president elected by Hellenic Parliament for a 5-year term ; election last held on 18 February 2015 (next to be held by February 2020); president appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party or coalition in the Hellenic Parliament
Election results: Prokopios PAVLOPOULOS elected president by Parliament - 233 of 300 votes
Legislative branchDescription: unicameral Hellenic Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon
Elections: last held on 20 September 2015 ; note - snap elections were called because of upheaval in the governing SYRIZA party over a new bailout deal with international creditors
Election results: percent of vote by party - SYRIZA 35.5% ND 28.1% Golden Dawn 7.0% PASOK-DIMAR 6.3% KKE 5.6% To Potami 4.1% ANEL 3.7% EK 3.4% other 6.3%; seats by party - SYRIZA 145 ND 75 Golden Dawn 18 PASOK-DIMAR 17 KKE 15 To Potami 11 ANEL 10 EK 9; 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
Judicial branchHighest court: Hellenic Supreme Court of Civil and Penal Law
Judge selection and term of office: judges selected by the Supreme Judicial Council 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
Subordinate courts: Supreme Administrative Court; Courts of Appeal; Courts of First Instance; Court of Auditors
Political parties and leaders:
Panhellenic Socialist Movement or PASOK [Fofi GENIMMATA]
Popular Unity [Panagiotis LAFAZANIS]
To Potami (The River) [Stavros THEODORAKIS]
Union of Centrists or EK [Vassilis 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
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 colors: blue white
National anthemName: 'Ymnos eis tin Eleftherian'
Lyrics and music: 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 ; Cyprus also uses 'Hymn to Liberty' as its anthem
top of pageEconomy overview:
Greece has a capitalist economy with a 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 18% 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 averaged growth of about 4% per year between 2003 and 2007 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. By 2013 the economy had contracted 26% compared with the pre-crisis level of 2007. Greece met the EU's Growth and Stability Pact budget deficit criterion of no more than 3% of GDP in 2007-08 but violated it in 2009 with the deficit reaching 15% of GDP. Deteriorating public finances inaccurate and misreported statistics and consistent underperformance on reforms prompted major credit rating agencies to downgrade Greece's international debt rating in late 2009 and led the country into a financial crisis. Under intense pressure from the EU and international market participants the government accepted a bailout program that called on Athens to cut government spending decrease tax evasion overhaul the civil-service health-care and pension systems and reform the labor and product markets. Austerity measures reduced the deficit to 3% in 2015. Successive Greek governments however failed to push through many of the most unpopular reforms in the face of widespread political opposition including from the country's powerful labor unions and the general public.
In April 2010 a leading credit agency assigned Greek debt its lowest possible credit rating and in May 2010 the International Monetary Fund and euro-zone 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 meet the 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. European leaders and the IMF agreed in October 2011 to provide Athens a second bailout package of $169 billion. The second deal called for holders of Greek government bonds to write down a significant portion of their holdings to try to alleviate Greece’s government debt burden. However Greek banks saddled with a significant portion of sovereign debt were adversely affected by the write down and $60 billion of the second bailout package was set aside to ensure the banking system was adequately capitalized. In exchange for the second bailout Greece promised to step up efforts to increase tax collection to reduce the size of government and to rein in health spending. These austerity measures were designed to generate $7.8 billion in savings during 2013-15 but in fact prolonged Greece's economic recession and depressed tax revenues.
In 2014 the Greek economy began to turn the corner on the recession. Greece achieved three significant milestones: balancing the budget - not including debt repayments; issuing government debt in financial markets for the first time since 2010; and generating 0.7% GDP growth — the first economic expansion since 2007.
Despite the nascent recovery widespread discontent with austerity measures helped propel the far-left Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) party into government in national legislative elections in January 2015. Between January and July 2015 frustrations between the SYRIZA-led government and Greece’s EU and IMF creditors over the implementation of bailout measures and disbursement of funds led the Greek government to run up significant arrears to suppliers and Greek banks to rely on emergency lending and also called into question Greece’s future in the euro zone. To stave off a collapse of the banking system Greece imposed capital controls in June 2015 shortly before rattling international financial markets by becoming the first developed nation to miss a loan payment to the IMF. Unable to reach an agreement with creditors Prime Minister Alexios TSIPRAS held a nationwide referendum on 5 July on whether to accept the terms of Greece’s bailout campaigning for the ultimately successful “no” vote. The TSIPRAS government subsequently agreed however to a new $96 billion bailout in order to avert Greece’s exit from the monetary bloc. On 20 August Greece signed its third bailout which allowed it to cover significant debt payments to its EU and IMF creditors and ensure the banking sector retained access to emergency liquidity. The TSIPRAS government — which retook office on 20 September after calling new elections in late August — successfully secured disbursal of two delayed tranches of bailout funds. Despite the economic turmoil Greek GDP did not contract as sharply as feared with official source estimates of a -0.2% contraction in 2015 boosted in part by a strong tourist season.
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
Central bank discount rate:
0.05% (31 March 2016)
0.15% (11 June 2014)
Note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area
Rank: 146
Stock of narrow money:
$86.69 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$84.03 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
Note: see entry for the European Union for money supply for the entire euro area; the European Central Bank controls monetary policy for the 18 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
Rank: 37
Exports:
$27.5 billion (2015 est.)
$35.6 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 63
Commodities: food and beverages manufactured goods petroleum products chemicals textiles
Partners: Italy 11.2% Germany 7.3% Turkey 6.6% Cyprus 5.9% Bulgaria 5.2% US 4.8% UK 4.2% Egypt 4% (2015)
Imports:
$46.62 billion (2015 est.)
$65.17 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 53
Commodities: machinery transport equipment fuels chemicals
Partners: Germany 10.7% Italy 8.4% Russia 7.9% Iraq 7% China 5.9% Netherlands 5.5% France 4.5% (2015)
Debt external:
$514.4 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
$575.4 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
Rank: 24
Exchange rates:
euros (EUR) per US dollar -
0.885 (2015 est.)
0.7525 (2014 est.)
0.7634 (2013 est.)
0.78 (2012 est.)
0.7185 (2011 est.)
top of pagetop of pageTelephone systemGeneral 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 (2015)
Broadcast media: Broadcast media dominated by the private sector; roughly 150 private TV channels about ten 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 1500 radio stations all of them privately owned; government-owned broadcaster has 2 national radio stations (2014)
top of pageMilitary 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)
top of pageWaterways: 6 km (the 6-km-long Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; it shortens a sea voyage by 325 km) (2012)
Rank: 106
Greece - Transnational issues 2016
top of pageDisputes international: Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime air territorial and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; 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
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