6-26-11

Greece Breakdown:

Location:South Eastern Europe. Neighbors are Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Bordered by Aegeen Sean on the east and the Indian Sea on the west.

Capitol: Athens

Population: 11,100,000 (comparable to Ohio)

Size: 50,949 square miles (comparable to Alabama)

Religion: Greek Orthodox prevails, but there is freedom of religion.

Language: Greek

Government: Unitary Parliamentary Republic.  President Karolos Papoulias is the official head of state who is elected from the Parliament. Most power is in the hands of Prime Minister Giogos Papandreou who is the current leader of PASOK, the social-democratic political party voted on by parliament.

Economy: Use Euro; export manufactured goods, chemicals

Fun Facts: These smarties are 98% literate, and holy cow, what a history!  Architecture, philosophy, Olympics, democracy and togas all originated here. Vast sections of preserved environment entice tourists to experience it all. Greece hosted the 2004 Olympics.

Not so Fun Facts: They have been having trouble with economy since the late 2000’s recession.  Lately, their economy has been so bad that it threatens the entire European Union.

In the news:

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=137404302&m=137434476 On the state of the recession, the EU’s plan to reform Greece’s economy, and the implications that Greece is financially screwed no matter what happens from here on out.