Greece

Country name: conventional long form: Hellenic Republic
conventional short form: Greece
local long form: Elliniki Dimokratia 

                          local short form: Ellas or Ellada

Map of Greece

former: Kingdom of Greece

Capital:: Athens
geographic coordinates: 37 59 N, 23 44 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Government type: parliamentary republic

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: 131,957 sq km land: 130,647 sq km water: 1,310 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Alabama
Land boundaries	total: 1,228 km border countries: Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km, Macedonia 246 km
Coastline	13,676 km
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
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	lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential
Land use	arable land: 20.45% permanent crops: 8.59% other: 70.96% (2005)
Irrigated land	15,500 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	72 cu km (2005)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 8.7 cu km/yr (16%/3%/81%) per capita: 782 cu m/yr (1997)
Natural hazards	severe earthquakes volcanism: Santorini (elev. 367 m) has been deemed a "Decade Volcano" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; although there have been very few eruptions in recent centuries, Methana and Nisyros in the Aegean are classified as historically active
Environment - current issues	air pollution; water pollution
Environment - international agreements	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
Geography - note	strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands