Greece
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.[1]
Economical characteristics
- Currency: Euro (ISO code: EUR)
- Central bank discount rate: 3% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Commercial banks lending rate: 8.65% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Stock of money (M1): $NA[1]
- Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA[1]
Statistics
| Statistic / Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (million USD)[2] | 134 408 | 125 558 | 131 032 | 147 388 | 193 465 | 230 757 | 245 797 | 267 479 | 312 302 | 355 876 |
| Govt. debt (% of GDP)[3] | 108.473 | 123.547 | 126.354 | 127.172 | 123.441 | 126.201 | 125.440 | 117.994 | 114.100 | |
| Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[4] | 39.660 | 41.549 | 39.478 | 39.058 | 38.007 | 36.773 | 36.885 | 37.981 | 39.048 | |
| Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[5] | 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.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedCIA_GR - ↑ World Bank. "Greece: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
- ↑ World Bank. "Greece: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
- ↑ World Bank. "Greece: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
- ↑ World Bank. "Greece: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
External links
- Greece on Wikipedia
- Central bank of Greece
- BBC country profile