1995 Edition

Area

total area: 131,940 sq km land area: 130,800 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Alabama

Climate

temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

Coastline

13,676 km

Environment

current issues: air pollution; water pollution natural hazards: severe earthquakes international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea

International disputes

complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Turkey in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; dispute with The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over name, symbols, and certain constitutional provisions; Greece is involved in a bilateral dispute with Albania over border demarcation, the treatment of Albania's ethnic Greek minority, and migrant Albanian workers in Greece

Irrigated land

11,900 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 1,210 km, Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 228 km

Land use

arable land: 23% permanent crops: 8% meadows and pastures: 40% forest and woodland: 20% other: 9%

Location

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

Map references

Europe

Maritime claims

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 6 nm

Natural resources

bauxite, lignite, magnesite, petroleum, marble

Note

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

Terrain

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

Age structure

0-14 years: 18% (female 904,374; male 947,494) 15-64 years: 67% (female 3,601,029; male 3,565,931) 65 years and over: 15% (female 919,044; male 709,639) (July 1995 est.)

Birth rate

10.56 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate

9.31 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

8.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Labor force

4.077 million by occupation: services 52%, agriculture 23%, industry 25% (1994)

Languages

Greek (official), English, French

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 77.92 years male: 75.39 years female: 80.59 years (1995 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1991) total population: 95% male: 98% female: 93%

Nationality

noun: Greek(s) adjective: Greek

Net migration rate

5.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Population

10,647,511 (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate

0.72% (1995 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

1.46 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Administrative divisions

52 prefectures (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,

Capital

Athens

Chamber of Deputies (Vouli ton Ellinon)

elections last held 10 October 1993 (next to be held by NA October 1997); results - PASOK 46.88%, ND 39.30%, Political Spring 4.87%, KKE 4.54%, and Progressive Left (replaced by Coalition of the Left and Progress) 2.94%; seats - (300 total) PASOK 170, ND 111, Political Spring 10, KKE 9

Constitution

11 June 1975

Digraph

GR

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Loucas TSILAS chancery: 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-5800

Executive branch

chief of state: President Konstantinos (Kostis) STEPHANOPOULOS (since 10 March 1995) election last held 10 March 1995 (next to be held by NA 2000); results - Konstantinos STEPHANOPOULOS was elected by Parliament head of government: Prime Minister Andreas PAPANDREOU (since 10 October 1993) cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime minister

FAX

[1] (202) 939-5824 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco consulate(s): New Orleans

[30] (1) 645-6282 consulate(s) general: Thessaloniki

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

Independence

1829 (from the Ottoman Empire)

Judicial branch

Supreme Judicial Court, Special Supreme Tribunal

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, FAO, G- 6, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Names

conventional long form: Hellenic Republic conventional short form: Greece local long form: Elliniki Dhimokratia local short form: Ellas former: Kingdom of Greece

National holiday

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

Political parties and leaders

New Democracy (ND; conservative), Miltiades EVERT; Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Andreas PAPANDREOU; Communist Party (KKE), Aleka PAPARIGA; Ecologist-Alternative List, leader rotates; Political Spring, Antonis SAMARAS; Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos), Nikolaos KONSTANTOPOULOS

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Type

presidential parliamentary government; monarchy rejected by referendum 8 December 1974

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas M.T. NILES embassy: 91 Vasilissis Sophias Boulevard, 10160 Athens mailing address: PSC 108, Athens; APO AE 09842 telephone: [30] (1) 721-2951, 8401

Voiotia, Xanthi, Zakinthos, autonomous region

Agion Oros (Mt. Athos)

Agriculture

including fishing and forestry, accounts for 12% of GDP; principal products - wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes; self-sufficient in food except meat, dairy products, and animal feedstuffs

Budget

revenues: $28.3 billion expenditures: $37.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.2 billion (1994)

Currency

1 drachma (Dr) = 100 lepta

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-81), $525 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.39 billion

Electricity

capacity: 8,970,000 kW production: 35.8 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,257 kWh (1993)

Exchange rates

drachmae (Dr) per US$1 - 238.20 (January 1995), 242.60 (1994), 229.26 (1993), 190.62 (1992), 182.27 (1991), 158.51 (1990)

Exports

$9 billion (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: manufactured goods 53%, foodstuffs 34%, fuels 5% partners: Germany 24%, Italy 14%, France 7%, UK 6%, US 4% (1993)

External debt

$26.9 billion (1993)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis and limited opium; mostly for domestic production; serves as 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; transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route

Imports

$19.2 billion (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: manufactured goods 72%, foodstuffs 15%, fuels 10% partners: Germany 16%, Italy 14%, France 7%, Japan 7%, UK 6% (1993)

Industrial production

growth rate 3.2% (1993 est.); accounts for 18% of GDP

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

10.9% (1994 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $93.7 billion (1994 est.)

National product per capita

$8,870 (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate

0.4% (1994 est.)

Overview

Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the basic entrepreneurial system overlaid in 1981-89 by a socialist system that enlarged the public sector from 55% of GDP in 1981 to about 70% in 1989. Since then, the public sector has been reduced to about 60% of GDP. Tourism continues as a major source of foreign exchange, and agriculture is self-sufficient except for meat, dairy products, and animal feedstuffs. Over the last decade, real GDP growth has averaged 1.6% a year, compared with the European Union average of 2.2%. Inflation continues to be well above the EU average, and the national debt has reached 140% of GDP, the highest in the EU. Prime Minister PAPANDREOU will probably make only limited progress correcting the economy's problems of high inflation, large budget deficit, and decaying infrastructure. His economic program suggests that although he will shun his expansionary policies of the 1980s, he will avoid tough measures needed to slow inflation or reduce the state's role in the economy. He has limited the previous government's privatization plans, for example, and has called for generous welfare spending and real wage increases. Athens continues to rely heavily on EU aid, which recently has amounted to about 6% of GDP. Greece almost certainly will not meet the EU's Maastricht Treaty convergence targets of public deficit held to 3% of GDP and national debt to 60% of GDP by 1999. Per capita GDP has fallen below Portugal's level, the lowest among EU members.

Unemployment rate

10.1% (1994 est.)

Radio

broadcast stations: AM 29, FM 17 (repeaters 20), shortwave 0 radios: NA

Telephone system

4,080,000 telephones; adequate, modern networks reach all areas; microwave radio relay carries most traffic; extensive open-wire network; submarine cables to off-shore islands local: NA intercity: microwave radio relay and open wire international: tropospheric links, 8 submarine cables; 2 INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 EUTELSAT ground station

Television

broadcast stations: 361 televisions: NA

Airports

total: 79 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 5 with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 15 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 17 with paved runways under 914 m: 22 with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 1 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3

Highways

total: 130,000 km paved: 119,210 km (116 km expressways) unpaved: 10,790 km (1990)

Inland waterways

80 km; system consists of three coastal canals; including the Corinth Canal (6 km) which crosses the Isthmus of Corinth connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf and shortens the sea voyage from the Adriatic to Piraievs (Piraeus) by 325 km; and three unconnected rivers

Merchant marine

total: 1,046 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 29,076,911 GRT/53,618,024 DWT ships by type: bulk 469, cargo 105, chemical tanker 22, combination bulk 21, combination ore/oil 31, container 40, liquefied gas tanker 5, oil tanker 239, passenger 14, passenger-cargo 3, refrigerated cargo 10, roll-on/roll-off cargo 16, short-sea passenger 67, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 1 note: ethnic Greeks also own 125 ships under Liberian registry, 323 under Panamanian, 705 under Cypriot, 351 under Maltese, and 100 under Bahamian

Pipelines

crude oil 26 km; petroleum products 547 km

Ports

Alexandroupolis, Elevsis, Iraklion (Crete), Kavala, Kerkira, Khalkis, Igoumenitsa, Lavrion, Patrai, Piraievs (Piraeus), Thessaloniki, Volos

Railroads

total: 2,503 km standard gauge: 1,565 km 1.435-m gauge (36 km electrified; 100 km double track) narrow gauge: 887 km 1,000-m gauge; 22 km 0.750-m gauge; 29 km 0.600-m gauge

Branches

Hellenic Army, Hellenic Navy, Hellenic Air Force, National Guard, Police

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $4.1 billion, 5.4% of GDP (1994) ________________________________________________________________________ GREENLAND (part of the Danish realm)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 2,676,152; males fit for military service 2,046,996; males reach military age (21) annually 75,857 (1995 est.)