1992 Edition

Climate

temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

Coastline

13,676 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Alabama

Continental shelf

200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation

Disputes

air, continental shelf, and territorial water disputes with Turkey in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question

Environment

subject to severe earthquakes; air pollution; archipelago of 2,000 islands

Land area

130,800 km2

Land boundaries

1,210 km; Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km, Macedonia 228 km

Land use

arable land 23%; permanent crops 8%; meadows and pastures 40%; forest and woodland 20%; other 9%; includes irrigated 7%

Natural resources

bauxite, lignite, magnesite, crude oil, marble

Note

strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits

Terrain

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

Territorial sea

6 nm, but Greece has threatened to claim 12 nm

Total area

131,940 km2

Birth rate

11 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

Greek 98%, other 2%; note - the Greek Government states there are no ethnic divisions in Greece

Infant mortality rate

10 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

3,657,000; services 44%, agriculture 27%, manufacturing and mining 20%, construction 6% (1988)

Languages

Greek (official); English and French widely understood

Life expectancy at birth

75 years male, 81 years female (1992)

Literacy

93% (male 98%, female 89%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun - Greek(s); adjective - Greek

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

10-15% of total labor force, 20-25% of urban labor force

Population

10,064,250 (July 1992), growth rate 0.2% (1992)

Religions

Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim 1.3%, other 0.7%

Total fertility rate

1.5 children born/woman (1992)

Administrative divisions

52 departments (nomoi, singular - nomos); Aitolia kai Akarnania, Akhaia, Argolis, Arkadhia, Arta, Attiki, Dhodhekanisos, Dhrama, Evritania, Evros, Evvoia, Florina, Fokis, Fthiotis, Grevena, Ilia, Imathia, Ioannina, Iraklion, Kardhitsa, Kastoria, Kavala, Kefallinia, Kerkira, Khalkidhiki, Khania, Khios, Kikladhes, Kilkis, Korinthia, Kozani, Lakonia, Larisa, Lasithi, Lesvos, Levkas, Magnisia, Messinia, Pella, Pieria, Piraievs, Preveza, Rethimni, Rodhopi, Samos, Serrai, Thesprotia, Thessaloniki, Trikala, Voiotia, Xanthi, Zakinthos, autonomous region: Agios Oros (Mt. Athos)

Capital

Athens

Chamber of Deputies

last held 8 April 1990 (next to be held April 1994); results - ND 46.89%, PASOK 38.62%, Left Alliance 10.27%, PASOK/Left Alliance 1.02%, Ecologist-Alternative List 0.77%, DEANA 0.67%, Muslim independents 0.5%; seats - (300 total) ND 150, PASOK 123, Left Alliance 19, PASOK-Left Alliance 4, Muslim independents 2, DEANA 1, Ecologist-Alternative List 1; note - one DEANA deputy joined ND in July, giving ND 151 seats; in November, a special electoral court ruled in favor of ND on a contested seat, at PASOK'S expense; PASOK and the Left Alliance divided their four joint mandates evenly, and the seven KKE deputies split off from the Left Alliance; new

configuration

ND 152, PASOK 124, Left Alliance 14, KKE 7, others unchanged

Chief of State

President Konstantinos KARAMANLIS (since 5 May 1990); -

Communists

an estimated 60,000 members and sympathizers

Constitution

11 June 1975

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Christos ZACHARAKIS; Chancery at 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-5800; there are Greek Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, and a Consulate in New Orleans US: Ambassador Michael G. SOTIRHOS; Embassy at 91 Vasilissis Sophias Boulevard, 10160 Athens (mailing address is APO AE 09842; telephone [30] (1) 721-2951 or 721-8401; there is a US Consulate General in Thessaloniki

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag

nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white; there is a blue square in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolizes Greek Orthodoxy, the established religion of the country

Head of Government

Prime Minister Konstantinos MITSOTAKIS (since 11 April 1990)

Independence

1829 (from the Ottoman Empire)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on codified Roman law; judiciary divided into civil, criminal, and administrative courts

Legislative branch

unicameral Greek Chamber of Deputies (Vouli ton Ellinon)

Long-form name

Hellenic Republic

Member of

AG, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, FAO, G-6, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

National holiday

Independence Day (proclamation of the war of independence), 25 March (1821)

Political parties and leaders

New Democracy (ND; conservative), Konstantinos MITSOTAKIS; Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Andreas PAPANDREOU; Left Alliance, Maria DAMANAKI; Democratic Renewal (DEANA), Konstantinos STEFANOPOULOS; Communist Party (KKE), Aleka PAPARIGA; Ecologist-Alternative List, leader rotates

President

last held 4 May 1990 (next to be held May 1995); results - Konstantinos KARAMANLIS was elected by Parliament

Suffrage

universal and compulsory at age 18

Type

presidential parliamentary government; monarchy rejected by referendum 8 December 1974

Agriculture

including fishing and forestry, accounts for 17% of GDP and 27% of the labor force; principal products - wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes; self-sufficient in food except meat, dairy products, and animal feedstuffs; fish catch of 115,000 metric tons in 1988

Budget

revenues $24.0 billion; expenditures $33.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.3 billion (1991)

Currency

drachma (plural - drachmas); 1 drachma (Dr) = 100 lepta

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-81), $525 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1,390 million

Electricity

10,500,000 kW capacity; 36,420 million kWh produced, 3,630 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates

drachma (Dr) per US$1 - 182.33 (January 1992), 182.27 (1991), 158.51 (1990), 162.42 (1989), 141.86 (1988), 135.43 (1987)

Exports

$6.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: manufactured goods 48%, food and beverages 22%, fuels and lubricants 6% partners: Germany 22%, Italy 17%, France 10%, UK 7%, US 6%

External debt

$25.5 billion (1990)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power equivalent - $77.6 billion, per capita $7,730; real growth rate 1.0% (1991)

Imports

$18.7 billion (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: consumer goods 33%, machinery 17%, foodstuffs 12%, fuels and lubricants 8% partners: Germany 21%, Italy 15%, Netherlands 11%, France 8%, UK 5%

Industrial production

growth rate - 2.4% (1990); accounts for 22% of GDP

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

17.8% (1991)

Overview

Greece has a mixed capitalistic economy with the basic entrepreneurial system overlaid in 1981-89 by a socialist government that enlarged the public sector from 55% of GDP in 1981 to about 70% when Prime Minister Mitsotakis took office. Tourism continues as a major industry, and agriculture - although handicapped by geographic limitations and fragmented, small farms - is self-sufficient except for meat, dairy products, and animal feedstuffs. The Mitsotakis government inherited several severe economic problems from the preceding socialist and caretaker administrations, which had neglected the runaway budget deficit, a ballooning current account deficit, and accelerating inflation. In early 1991, the government secured a $2.5 billion assistance package from the EC under the strictest terms yet imposed on a member country, as the EC finally ran out of patience with Greece's failure to put its financial affairs in order. Over the next three years, Athens must bring inflation down to 7%, cut the current account deficit and central government borrowing as a percentage of GDP, slash public-sector employment by 10%, curb public-sector pay raises, and broaden the tax base.

Unemployment rate

8.6% (1991)

Airports

77 total, 77 usable; 77 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 19 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 23 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

39 major transport aircraft

Highways

38,938 km total; 16,090 km paved, 13,676 km crushed stone and gravel, 5,632 km improved earth, 3,540 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

80 km; system consists of three coastal canals and three unconnected rivers

Merchant marine

977 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 23,450,910 GRT/42,934,863 DWT; includes 15 passenger, 66 short-sea passenger, 2 passenger-cargo, 136 cargo, 24 container, 15 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 18 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 196 petroleum tanker, 18 chemical tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 37 combination ore/oil, 3 specialized tanker, 417 bulk, 19 combination bulk, 1 livestock carrier; note - ethnic Greeks also own large numbers of ships under the registry of Liberia, Panama, Cyprus, Malta, and The Bahamas

Pipelines

crude oil 26 km; petroleum products 547 km

Ports

Piraievs, Thessaloniki

Railroads

2,479 km total; 1,565 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, of which 36 km electrified and 100 km double track, 892 km 1.000-meter gauge; 22 km 0.750-meter narrow gauge; all government owned

Telecommunications

adequate, modern networks reach all areas; 4,080,000 telephones; microwave carries most traffic; extensive open-wire network; submarine cables to off-shore islands; broadcast stations - 29 AM, 17 (20 repeaters) FM, 361 TV; tropospheric links, 8 submarine cables; 1 satellite earth station operating in INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean antenna), and EUTELSAT systems

Branches

Hellenic Army, Hellenic Navy, Hellenic Air Force, Police

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $3.8 billion, 5.6% of GDP (1991)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 2,453,756; 1,883,152 fit for military service; 73,913 reach military age (21) annually