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-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.

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

slightly smaller than Alabama

temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

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

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

air pollution; water pollution

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

population: Greek 93%, other (foreign citizens) 7% (2001 census)

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

Greek Orthodox (official) 98%, Muslim 1.3%, other 0.7%

10,767,827 (July 2012 est.)

9.08 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

10.8 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

2.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

ATHENS (capital) 3.252 million; Thessaloniki 834,000 (2009)

3 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

1.39 children born/woman (2012 est.)

6.043 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

4.77 beds/1,000 population (2008)

fewer than 500 (2009 est.)

parliamentary republic

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)

1830 (from the Ottoman Empire)

Independence Day, 25 March (1821)

11 June 1975; amended March 1986, April 2001, and May 2008

civil legal system based on Roman law

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

unicameral Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)

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

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]; Independent Greeks or ANEL [Panos KAMMENOS]; New Democracy or ND [Antonis SAMARAS]; Panhellenic Socialist Movement or PASOK [Evangelos VENIZELOS]; Popular Orthodox Rally or LAOS [Georgios KARATZAFERIS]

Civil Servants Confederation or ADEDY [Spyros PAPASPYROS]; Federation of Greek Industries or SEV [Dimitris DASKALOPOULOS]; General Confederation of Greek Workers or GSEE [Ioannis PANAGOPOULOS]

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, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

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

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

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 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% 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. The economy contracted by 2.3% in 2009, 3.5% in 2010, and 6.0% in 2011. 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% of GDP. Austerity measures reduced the deficit to 11% of GDP in 2010 and about 9% in 2011. Eroding public finances, inaccurate and misreported statistics, and consistent underperformance on 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 from the EU and international market participants, the government adopted a medium-term austerity program that includes cutting government spending, decreasing tax evasion, reworking the health-care and pension systems, and reforming the labor and product markets. Athens, however, faces long-term challenges to push 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; in May 2010, 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 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, calls for Greece's creditors to write down a significant portion of their Greek government bond holdings. In exchange for the second loan Greece has promised to introduce an additional $7.8 billion in austerity measures during 2013-15. However, these massive austerity cuts are lengthening Greece's economic recession and depressing tax revenues. Greece's lenders are calling on Athens to step up efforts to increase tax collection, privatize public enterprises, and rein in health spending, and are planning to give Greece more time to shore up its economy and finances. Many investors doubt that Greece can sustain fiscal efforts in the face of a bleak economic outlook, public discontent, and political instability.

$298.1 billion (2011 est.)

$320.1 billion (2010 est.)

$331.7 billion (2009 est.)

$303.1 billion (2011 est.)

4.959 million (2011 est.)

14.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

42.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

-9.6% of GDP (2011 est.)

161.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

144.9% of GDP (2010 est.)

1.75% (31 December 2011)

1.75% (31 December 2010)

7% (31 December 2011 est.)

5.984% (31 December 2010 est.)

$126.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$151.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$269.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$316.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$425 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$442.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$33.65 billion (31 December 2011)

$72.64 billion (31 December 2010)

$54.72 billion (31 December 2009)

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

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

-$29.32 billion (2011 est.)

-$30.48 billion (2010 est.)

$28.16 billion (2011 est.)

$22.66 billion (2010 est.)

food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles

Italy 9.6%, Germany 8%, UK 6.5%, Italy 6.2%, Bulgaria 5.6%, US 5.1%, China 5.1%, Switzerland 4.7%, Belgium 4.7%, Poland 4.4% (2011)

$66.04 billion (2011 est.)

$60.19 billion (2010 est.)

machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals

Germany 10.7%, Italy 9.3%, China 7.1%, China 5.7%, Netherlands 5.5%, France 5.1%, Austria 4.5%, Russia 4.2%, Czech Republic 4.1% (2011)

$6.9 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$583.3 billion (30 June 2011)

$532.9 billion (30 June 2010)

$35.45 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$35.03 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$41.67 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$42.62 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar -

57.11 billion kWh (2010 est.)

58.71 billion kWh (2009 est.)

2.571 billion kWh (2010 est.)

8.517 billion kWh (2010 est.)

14.36 million kW (2009 est.)

70.5% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

17% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

8.5% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

1,751 bbl/day (2011 est.)

19,960 bbl/day (2009 est.)

355,600 bbl/day (2009 est.)

10 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

440,200 bbl/day (2009 est.)

343,400 bbl/day (2011 est.)

161,400 bbl/day (2009 est.)

140,800 bbl/day (2009 est.)

1 million cu m (2010 est.)

4.737 billion cu m (2011 est.)

4.762 billion cu m (2011 est.)

991.1 million cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

92.99 million Mt (2010 est.)

5.685 million (2011)

12.128 million (2011)

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 available; upwards of 1,500 radio stations, nearly all of them privately-owned; state-run broadcaster has 7 national stations, 2 international stations, and 19 regional stations (2007)

3.115 million (2010)

4.971 million (2009)

gas 1,240 km; oil 75 km (2010)

6 km (the 6 km long Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; it shortens a sea voyage by 325 km) (2012)

Agioi Theodoroi, Aspropyrgos, Pachi, Piraeus, Thessaloniki

Hellenic Army (Ellinikos Stratos, ES), Hellenic Navy (Elliniko Polemiko Navtiko, EPN), Hellenic Air Force (Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia, EPA) (2011)

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)

4.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

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

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