Part 287

Map ---

Location: 39 00 N, 22 00 E -- Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey

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

Geography ---------

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 area: 131,940 sq km land area: 130,800 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Alabama

Land boundaries: total: 1,210 km border countries: Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 228 km

Coastline: 13,676 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 6 nm

International disputes: complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Turkey in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; dispute with The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over name; border demarcation with Albania, the treatment of Albania's ethnic Greek minority, and migrant Albanian workers in Greece remain unresolved issues

Climate: temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain: mostly mountains with ranges extending into sea as peninsulas or chains of islands lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Olympus 2,917 m

Natural resources: bauxite, lignite, magnesite, petroleum, marble

Land use: arable land: 23% permanent crops: 8% meadows and pastures: 40% forest and woodland: 20% other: 9%

Irrigated land: 11,900 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: air pollution; water pollution natural hazards: severe earthquakes international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Desertification

Geographic note: strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands

People ------

Population: 10,538,594 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 16% (male 899,029; female 837,308) 15-64 years: 68% (male 3,571,918; female 3,542,556) 65 years and over: 16% (male 736,818; female 950,965) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.42% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 9.78 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 9.53 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 3.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female all ages: 0.98 male(s)/female (1996 est.)