Greece | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff
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Facts & Figures

  • President: Prokopis Pavlopoulos (2015)

    Prime Minister: Alexis Tsipras (2015)

    Land area: 50,502 sq mi (130,800 sq km); total area: 50,942 sq mi (131,940 sq km)

    Population (2014 est.): 10,775,557 (growth rate: .01%); birth rate: 8.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 11/1000; life expectancy: 80.3

    Capital (2011 est.): Athens, 3.414 million

    Other large cities: Thessaloníki, 883,000

    Monetary unit: Euro (formerly drachma)

    National name: Elliniki Dimokratia

    Current government officials

    Languages: Greek 99% (official), English, French

    Ethnicity/race: Greek 93%, other 7%; note: numbers represent citizenship, since Greece does not collect data on ethnicity

    Religions: Greek Orthodox 98%, Islam 1.3%, other .7%

    Literacy rate: 97.3% (2011 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013) est.): $267.1 billion; per capita $23,600. Real growth rate: –3.8%. Inflation: -0.8%. Unemployment: 27.9%. Arable land: 18.95%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes; beef, dairy products. Labor force: 4.918 million; agriculture 12.4%, industry 22.4%, services 65.1% (2005 est.). Industries: tourism, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products; mining, petroleum. Natural resources: lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential. Exports: $30.39 billion (2013 est.): food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles. Imports: $50.58 billion (2013 est.): machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals. Major trading partners: Germany, Italy, China, Bulgaria, Turkey, France, Netherlands, Russia, Iraq (2013).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 5.461 million (2012); mobile cellular: 13.354 million (2012). Broadcast media: Broadcast media dominated by the private sector; roughly 150 private TV channels, about ten of which broadcast nation-wide; 1 government owned terrestrial TV channel with national coverage; 3 privately owned satellite channels; multi-channel satellite and cable TV services available; upwards of 1,500 radio stations, all of them privately owned; government owned broadcaster has 2 national radio stations (2014). Internet hosts: 3.201 million (2012). Internet users: 4.971 million (2009).

    Transportation: Railways: total: 2,548 km (2009). Highways: total: 116,960 km (including 1,091 km of expressways); unpaved: 75,603 km (2010). Waterways: 6 km; note: Corinth Canal (6 km) crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; shortens sea voyage by 325 km (2012). Ports and harbors: Agioitheodoroi, Aspropyrgos, Pachi, Piraeus, Thessaloniki. Airports: 77 (2013).

    International disputes: Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Turkey; 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.

    Major sources and definitions

See also: