Greece

Greece achieved 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, most with Greek-speaking populations. In World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy (1940) and subsequently occupied by Germany (1941-44); fighting endured in a protracted civil war between supporters of the king and Communist rebels. Following the latter's defeat in 1949, Greece joined NATO in 1952. In 1967, a group of military officers seized power, establishing a military dictatorship that suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country. In 1974, democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy. In 1981, Greece joined the EC (now the EU); it became the 12th member of the European Economic and Monetary Union in 2001. In 2010, the prospect of a Greek default on its euro-denominated debt created severe strains within the EMU and raised the question of whether a member country might voluntarily leave the common currency or be removed.

Economical characteristics

• Currency: Euro (ISO code: EUR)
• Central bank discount rate: 3% (31 December 2008)
• Commercial banks lending rate: 8.65% (31 December 2008)
• Stock of money (M1): $NA
• Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA

Statistics

Statistic / Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (million USD)	134 408	125 558	131 032	147 388	193 465	230 757	245 797	267 479	312 302	355 876
Govt. debt (% of GDP)	108.473	123.547	126.354	127.172	123.441	126.201	125.440	117.994	114.100
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)	39.660	41.549	39.478	39.058	38.007	36.773	36.885	37.981	39.048
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)	40.532	44.196	43.537	42.821	42.215	42.566	41.382	40.272	41.808
Debt to revenue (years)	2.735	2.973	3.201	3.256	3.248	3.432	3.401	3.107	2.922

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

External links

• Greece on Wikipedia
• Central bank of Greece
• BBC country profile