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@Greece

Greece Introduction

Background: Greece achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire
in 1829. During the second half of the 19th century and the first
half of the 20th century, it gradually added neighboring islands and
territories with Greek-speaking populations. Following the defeat of
communist rebels in 1949, Greece joined NATO in 1952. A military
dictatorship, which in 1967 suspended many political liberties and
forced the king to flee the country, lasted seven years. Democratic
elections in 1974 and a referendum created a parliamentary republic
and abolished the monarchy; Greece joined the European Community or
EC in 1981 (which became the EU in 1992).

Greece Geography

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

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N, 22 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 131,940 sq km

land: 130,800 sq km

water: 1,140 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Alabama

Land boundaries: total: 1,210 km

border countries: Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km,
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 228 km

Coastline: 13,676 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation

territorial sea: 6 NM

Climate: temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

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

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m

highest point: Mount Olympus 2,917 m

Natural resources: bauxite, lignite, magnesite, petroleum, marble,
hydropower potential

Land use: arable land: 19%

permanent crops: 8%

permanent pastures: 41%

forests and woodland: 20%

other: 12% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 13,140 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: severe earthquakes

Environment - current issues: air pollution; water pollution

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

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