Ελλάδα

	Athens
	10 957 740 (2014)
	131 957 km² 50 949 mi²
	2 917 m 9 570 ft Mount Olympus

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, 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. Since 2010, the prospect of a Greek default on its euro-denominated debt has created severe strains within the EMU and raised the question of whether a member country might voluntarily leave the common currency or be removed.

temperate
mild, wet winters
hot, dry summers

Europe
Southern Europe

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

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

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

Mount Olympus
2 917 m
9 570 ft

Mediterranean Sea
0 m
0 ft

Mount Olympus	Mount Everest

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

Severe earthquakes

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

air pollution
water pollution

131 957 km²
50 949 mi²


130 647 km² 50 443 mi²	1 310 km² 506 mi²


0.44 %	0.3 %	1.3 %	0.53 %	0.74 %	1.72 %	0.94 %	0.03 %

1110 km
690 mi

Albania 212 km/132 mi
Bulgaria 472 km/293 mi
Macedonia 234 km/145 mi
Turkey 192 km/119 mi

13 676 km/8 498 mi

30.90 %

19.70 %

63.10 %

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

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

10 957 740	-0.64%	51.2 %	48.8 %
	0-14 14.6 %	15-64 64.5 %	65+ 20.9 %
	83.04 / km² 215.07 / mi²	77.68% 8 511 753	22% 2 445 987
	78.00 yrs	83.40 χρόνια	80.76 χρόνια


0.99 %	0.25 %	1.48 %	2.07 %	2.83 %	29.05 %		0.15 %

Greek (official) 99%
Other (includes English and French) 1%

Greek Orthodox (official) 98%
Muslim 1.3%
Other 0.7%

Population: Greek 93%
Other (foreign citizens) 7% (2001 census)

Ελλάδα

Greece

Grèce

Grecia

ギリシャ

Parliamentary republic

Unicameral Hellenic Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; 288 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 12 seats are filled from nationwide party lists; 50 seats allocated to the party with the highest total valid vote count and remaining seats are apportioned according to each party's or coalition's vote pecentage; members serve 4-year terms)

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	"Ymnos eis tin Eleftherian" (Hymn to Liberty)	Greek cross (white cross on blue field, arms equal length) National colors: blue, white
President Karolos PAPOULIAS (since 12 March 2005)	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 Independence Day, 25 March (1821)	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
Athens 37 59 N, 23 44 E UTC+2 ATHENS 3.052 million

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)

77 (2013)

Aspropyrgos, Pachi, Piraeus, Thessaloniki

4.8
beds/1,000 population (2009)

Hellenic Supreme Court of Civil and Penal Law (consists of 56 judges)

18 years of age
universal and compulsory

Hellenic Army (Ellinikos Stratos, ES), Hellenic Navy (Elliniko Polemiko Navtiko, EPN), Hellenic Air Force (Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia, EPA) (2013)

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. Austerity measures reduced the deficit to about 4% in 2013, including government debt payments, but the deficit spiked to 12.7% of GDP in 2014. 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 adopted a medium-term austerity program that includes cutting government spending, decreasing tax evasion, overhauling the health-care and pension systems, and reforming the labor and product markets. Athens, however, faced long-term challenges to continue pushing through unpopular reforms in the face of widespread unrest 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 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. European leaders and the IMF agreed in October 2011 to provide Athens a second bailout package of $169 billion. The second deal however, called for holders of Greek government bonds to write down a significant portion of their holdings. As Greek banks held a significant portion of sovereign debt, the banking system was 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 loan, Greece promised to introduce an additional $7.8 billion in austerity measures during 2013-15. However, the massive austerity cuts have prolonged Greece's economic recession and depressed tax revenues. Greece's lenders have continually called on Athens to step up efforts to increase tax collection, dismiss public servants, privatize public enterprises, and rein in health spending. ++ Investor confidence began to show signs of strengthening by the end of 2013, and the decline in GDP slowed to 3.9% that year, GreeceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s best performance since 2009. Greece subsequently marked three significant milestones in 2014: balancing its 2013 budget - not including debt repayments; re-entering financial markets in April with the first issue of government debt since 2010; and posting its first quarter of positive growth since 2008. Buoyed by GreeceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s success, Prime Minister Antonios SAMARAS in October announced plans to exit its bailout program early, provoking a plunge in the Greek stock and debt markets that pushed Greece back to the negotiating table with its creditors and ultimately resulted in an agreement to extend the EU portion of GreeceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s bailout through February 2015. The Greek economy posted an annual economic growth rate of 0.8 percent in 2014, the first year of positive growth since 2008. However, widespread discontent with austerity measures resulted in a victory for the anti-austerity SYRIZA in the January 2015 parliamentary elections. In February, Greece reached a tentative agreement with its creditors that would provide emergency liquidity to Greece in exchange for significant economic reforms. Uncertainty regarding GreeceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s future in the Eurozone has dampened investor confidence and lowered growth projections for 2015.

283 554 731 863.0
$USD

25 877.1
$USD

+0.65
%


machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals	Germany 10.2% Russia 10% Iraq 8.2% Italy 8.1% China 5.2% Kazakhstan 5.1% Netherlands 5% France 4.6%	food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles	Turkey 12.2% Italy 9.4% Germany 6.8% Bulgaria 5.3% Cyprus 5%

euros (EUR) per US dollar 0.7489 (2014 est.)		-1.5% (2014 est.)

116 960 km 72 676 mi	2 548 km 1 583 mi	6 km 4 mi (the 6-km-long Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; it shortens a sea voyage by 325 km)
48 per 100 people country code - 30 landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Europe, Middle East, and Asia	114.96 / 100	63.21 / 100 .gr