s: Konstandinos STEPHANOPOULOS elected president;
percent of Parliament vote--NA

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon
(300 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve
four-year terms)
elections: elections last held 22 September 1996 (next to be held by
NA September 2000)
election results: percent of vote by party--PASOK 41.5%, ND 38.1%,
KKE 5.6%, Coalition of the Left and Progress 5.1%, DIKKI 4.4%,
Political Spring 2.9%; seats by party--PASOK 162, ND 108, KKE 11,
Coalition of the Left and Progress 10, DIKKI 9; note--seating has
subsequently changed as a result of disciplinary actions by PASOK,
ND, and DIKKI; 1998 seating is PASOK 162, ND 105, KKE 11, Coalition
of the Left and Progress 10, DIKKI 8, independents 4

Judicial branch: Supreme Judicial Court, judges appointed for
life by the president after consultation with a judicial council;
Special Supreme Tribunal, judges appointed for life by the president
after consultation with a judicial council

Political parties and leaders: New Democracy or ND (conservative)

International organization participation: Australia Group, BIS,
BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EU, FAO, G- 6, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO,
MTCR, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE,
PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNOMIG, UPU,
WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Alexandre PHILON
chancery: 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and
San Francisco
consulate(s): Atlanta, Houston, and New Orleans

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador R. Nicholas BURNS
embassy: 91 Vasilissis Sophias Boulevard, 10160 Athens
mailing address: PSC 108, APO AE 09842-0108
consulate(s) general: Thessaloniki

Flag description: 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

Economy

Economy--overview: Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the
public sector accounting for about half of GDP, a