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THE GREEK
ISLANDS
The
Greek Islands consist of a collection of over 6,000 islands and
islets that belong to Greece. Only 227 of the islands are
inhabited, and only 78 of those have more than 100 inhabitants. The
large body of land in southern Greece, Peloponnese, is not a Greek
island as it is connected to the mainland by the small Isthmus of
Corinth landbridge.
The
largest Greek island by area is the 260km long island of Crete,
located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea, and serves as an
administrative division (periphery) in of itself. Crete to the
south, along with Greece to the north and west, and Turkey to the
east, make up the rough boundary of the Aegean Sea. The second
largest greek island is Euboea at 150km long. Euboea is located
parallel and close to the east coast of the Greek mainland, and is
administered as part of the central Greece periphery. After the
third and fourth largest Greek Islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, both
near the coast of Turkey, the rest of the islands are at least two
thirds of the area of Rhodes or smaller.
Most
of the Greek islands are in groupings located within the Aegean Sea
or on its southern edge. A final grouping, the Ionian Islands, is
located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea, although one
of these islands, Kythira, is off the southern tip of the mainland,
but still considered part of the Ionian Islands.
The
Aegean island groupings comprise: The North Aegean islands, a loose
grouping off the west coast of Turkey including Lesbos. The
Dodecanese, another loose collection in the south east, between
Crete and Turkey, centred on Rhodes. The Sporades, a small tight
group off the coast of Euboea. The Cyclades are a large but dense
collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea. The
Argo-Saronic Islands are near the southern mainland near
Athens.
The
island groupings are administered as the Ionian Islands periphery
(except Kythira), and the North Aegean and the South Aegean
peripheries, with some islands near the coast administered from the
adjacent mainland periphery.
BASIC FACTS
Official
name
Hellenic
Republic
Capital
Athens
Area
131,957
sq km
50,949 sq mi
Largest
cities (population)
Athens
3,215,000 (2003 estimate)
Salonica 363,987 (2001)
Pireás 175,697 (2001)
Patras 163,446 (2001)
Iráklion 137,711 (2001)
Peristéra 137,288 (1991)
Lárisa 126,076 (2001)
Kallithéa 114,233 (1991)
Níkaia 87,597 (1991)
Vólos 82,439 (2001)
Kaválla 63,293 (2001)
Sérrai 56,145 (2001)
Khaniá 53,373 (2001)
Tríkkala 48,962 (1991)
Khaïdhárion 47,437 (1991)
Population
10,722,816
(2008 estimate)
Population
growth rate
0.15
per cent (2008 estimate)
Population
density
82
persons per sq km (2008 estimate)
212 persons per sq mi (2008 estimate)
Urbanisation
Per
cent urban 61 per cent (2005 estimate)
Per cent rural 39 per cent (2005 estimate)
Life
expectancy
Total
79.5 years (2008 estimate)
Female 82.2 years (2008 estimate)
Male 77 years (2008 estimate)
Infant
mortality rate
5
deaths per 1,000 live births (2008 estimate)
Literacy
rate
Total
97.7 per cent (2005 estimate)
Female 96.8 per cent (2005 estimate)
Male 98.7 per cent (2005 estimate)
Ethnic
divisions
Greek
98 per cent
Other 2 per cent
NOTE: The Greek government states that there are no ethnic
divisions in Greece
Languages
Greek
(official), Romanian, Pontic, Slavic,
Arvanitika
Albanian, Turkish, Romani, Bulgarian, Tosk Albanian
Religions
Greek
Orthodox, Muslim, other
Type
of Government
Parliamentary
republic
Independence
1821
(from the Ottoman Empire)
Constitution
June
11, 1975; amended in 1986 and 2001
Voting
rights
Universal
and compulsory at age 18
Economy
Gross
domestic product (GDP) (US$)308,449 million (2006)
GDP per capita (US$) 27,670.80 (2006)
GDP by economic sector
GDP, agriculture 3.3 per cent (2006)
GDP, industry 20.8 per cent (2006)
GDP, services 75.9 per cent (2006)
National
budget (US$)
Total
revenue 103,487 million (2006)
Total expenditure 93,854 million (2005)
Monetary
unit
1
euro (EUR), consisting of 100 cents
Euro (€) notes and coins replaced the drachma (Dr) as the national
currency on January 1, 2002.
Exports
Manufactured
goods, foodstuffs, fuels, textiles and cotton
Imports
Manufactured
goods, foodstuffs, chemical products, fuels
Major
trading partners for exports
Germany,
Italy, France, United Kingdom, United States, Japan
Major
trading partners for imports
Germany,
Italy, France, United Kingdom, United States
Industries
Tourism,
food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products,
mining, petroleum
Agriculture
Principal
products: wheat, maize, barley, sugar beet, olives, tomatoes, wine,
tobacco, potatoes
Natural
resources
Bauxite,
lignite, magnesite, petroleum, marble, natural gas, iron ore,
nickel, copper, uranium
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