Facts about Greece...

OFFICIAL NAME: Hellenic Republic

CAPITAL: Athens

AREA: 131,951 sq. km. (50,949 sq. mi.

CLIMATE: Mediterranean; mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers

TERRAIN: Mostly mountains with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands. About a fifth of Greece consists of islands and no part of Greece is more than 85 miles from the sea.

SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary Republic

CURRENCY: Euro

ESTIMATED POPULATION: 11 million

RELIGION: The official religion is Greek Orthodox Christianity which accounts for 98% of the population and there is also a small minority of Muslims which account for 1.5% of the population.