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Official Name: Ellinikí
Dhimokratía (Hellenic Republic).
Area: Europe
Size: 131,990 km²
Coastline:
13,676 km
Independence: from the
Ottoman Empire 25 March 1821
Form
of Govt.: Unitary multiparty
republic
Head
of Govt.: Prime Minister
Capital: Athens
Largest City: Athens
Demographics (2005): 11,244,118, 84 /km²
Greek 98%, other 2%
GDP
per Capita (2005): $27,360
Languages: Greek
Geography: It is bound by
Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, Turkey and the Aegean Sea
to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Ionian Sea to
the west. Around 20% of the total land area is accounted for by islands,
of which the largest are Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes, Khios,
Kefallonia, Corfu, Limnos, Samos and Naxos. Mountains and hills dominate
the landscape accounting for nearly 80% of the total land area. In the
northeast, the Macedonian and Thrace regions are separated from Epirus
in the northwest by the Pindhos Mountains, which are a continuation of
the Dinaric Alps. The mountain range along the east coast includes Mt.
Olympus and continues through to include some of the islands. The
Pindhos Mountains continue southeast to Giona and reappear as the
islands of Kea, Kithnos, Serifos and Sifnos.
Climate: Greece has a Mediterranean climate with
long hot dry summers and mild winters when the majority of rainfall
occurs. In the summer the Etesian, a northerly wind, blows across the
Aegean Sea while in the mountainous areas, temperatures are generally
cooler with severe winter temperatures and heavy rainfall. Average
annual precipitation in Athens is 414 mm and the average temperature
ranges are from 6 to 13 degrees in February to 23 to 33 degrees in
August.
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