Country profile: Greece

The historical and cultural heritage of Greece continues to resonate throughout the modern Western world - in its literature, art, philosophy and politics.

Situated in the far south of the Balkan peninsula, Greece combines the towering mountains of the mainland with over 1400 islands, the largest of which is Crete.

Overview

• Overview
• Facts
• Leaders
• Media

Post-World War II Greece has seen rapid economic and social change. Major contributors to the economy are tourism and shipping.

Greece has long been at odds with its close neighbour, Turkey, over territorial disputes in the Aegean and the divided island of Cyprus.

Parthenon, Athens: Built at the apex of the city-state's power

Relations warmed after both countries suffered earthquakes in 1999 and offered each other practical help.

Although the disputes remain unresolved, the Greek government gives strong backing to Turkey's EU bid. It sees dividends to be gained from the increased regional stability that it believes membership would bring.

Greece has been in dispute since the early 1990s with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Greece contends that the use of the name Macedonia by the neighbouring country implies a territorial claim over Greece's own region of the same name. The UN is involved in continuing mediation efforts.

Athens stepped into the global spotlight when the Olympic Games returned home in 2004. The games were hailed as a success, despite widely publicised fears that the infrastructure would not be complete in time.

Facts

• Overview
• Facts
• Leaders
• Media

• Full name: The Hellenic Republic
• Population: 11.1 million (UN, 2007)
• Capital: Athens
• Area: 131,957 sq km (50,949 sq miles)
• Major language: Greek
• Major religion: Christianity
• Life expectancy: 77 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 euro = 100 cents
• Main exports: Textiles and clothing, food, oil products
• GNI per capita: US $19,670 (World Bank, 2006)
• Internet domain: .gr
• International dialling code: +30

Leaders

• Overview
• Facts
• Leaders
• Media

President: Karolos Papoulias

Prime minister: Costas Karamanlis

The conservative New Democracy Party led by Costas Karamanlis first took over the reins of government from the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) following a convincing win in elections in early March 2004.

Inflation, rising unemployment have dogged Costas Karamanlis

In August 2007, he called snap elections for 16 September - six months before the end of his government's term - to seek a new mandate for its reform programme.

The subsequent campaign coincided with a spate of wildfires in Greece, which left more than sixty people dead. Despite criticism of his handling of the emergency, Mr Karamanlis won the election with a narrow majority.

Mr Karamanlis, a lawyer by training, is the nephew of former President Constantine Karamanlis, who presided over the restoration of democracy after 1974. He has been party leader since 1996 and had no previous ministerial experience.

Since he came to power in 2004, high unemployment and rising inflation as well as government plans for pension and labour reforms have prompted industrial action.

At the same time, Mr Karamanlis is under pressure from Brussels to cut the budget deficit which is above the level permitted under the eurozone stability pact. Cutting the state bureaucracy and tackling corruption are other priority tasks.

Media

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• Facts
• Leaders
• Media

State-run broadcasters enjoyed a near-monopoly until the late 1980s, when new commercial TV services quickly gained a lion's share of the audience. Public TV lost a large slice of its advertising revenue as a result.

News, domestically-made variety programmes, comedies and game shows dominate the peak-time TV schedules.

Broadcasting is relatively unregulated by European standards, and many of the country's approximately 1,700 private radio and TV stations are unlicensed. An attempt was made in 2001 to impose some order on the crowded FM dial in Athens, prompting a political row.

The media enjoy considerable freedom, although editors and publishers risk prosecution over material deemed offensive to the president or religious beliefs.

The press

• Eleftherotypia - evening daily
• Ta Nea - evening daily
• Kathimerini - morning daily, English-language pages
• Athens News - English-language weekly

Television

• ERT - public, operates entertainment-based ET1, NET, regional and cultural channel ET3
• Mega TV - major private station
• ANT1 - major private station
• Alpha TV - major private station

Radio

• ERA - public, operates main network ERA1, entertainment station ERA2, cultural station ERA3, sport and music station ERA4, regional services, external service Voice of Greece
• Antenna FM - commercial network
• Athena 984 - municipal Athens station, one of the first non-state radios
• Skai 100.3 - commercial network
• Sfera 102.2 - commercial network

News agency

• Athens News Agency - national agency, English-language pages