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Home > Sports > Athens 2004



The hosts

All Greek to you?

Rediff.com helps you know the host nation a little better.

Country name: Hellenic Republic
Conventional short form: Greece
Short form in Greek: Ellas or Ellada
Long form in Greek: Elliniki Demokratia

Form of Government: Parliamentary Democracy

Legal system: Based on the constitution of 11 June, 1975 (amended March 1986 and April 2001)

Electoral system: Universal direct suffrage from the age of 18

President of the Republic: Konstantinos Stefanopoulos

Prime Minister: Kostas Karamanlis

Area: 131,944 sq km (51,458 sq mi)
Population: 10.3 million

Main cities: Greater Athens (3.7 million), Thessaloniki (1 million), Patras & district (300.000), Heraklion & district (300.000), Larissa & district (280.000)

Language: Greek

Religion: 98% Greek Orthodox, 1.3% Muslim, 0.7% other

GDP per capita: US$12,889 (2002)
Annual GDP growth: 3.8% (2002)
Inflation: 3.9% (2002)

HDI Rank (UN Human Development Indicator): 24th out of 175 countries (2003)
Major products/industries: tourism, shipping, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products, petroleum products
Major trading partners: Germany, Italy, France, UK, USA

Average life expectancy: 78.1 years
Adult literacy rate (% age 15 and above): 97.3

Climate: Mediterranean climate; Hot, dry summers and wet, mild winters
Time zone: GTM +2; March 28 - Oct 31 GTM +3 (2004)


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