Country of the World Greece

About the country Greece, its location, size, population, leaders and rulers.

NATIONS AND THEIR RULERS

GREECE

NITTY-GRITTY

Lay of the Land: In southeastern Europe, Greece is located at the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula. The rugged hills of the Peloponnesus in the south are joined to the Greek mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth. The mainland also is mountainous but is relieved by plains in the northeast and fertile valleys between ranges.

Size: 50,944 sq. mi. (131,944 sq. km.).

Population: 9.2 million.

Who Rules: Premier Constantine Caramanlis and his cabinet.

Who REALLY Rules: Caramanlis seems to have consolidated his power since he took over from the military dictatorship in 1974. He has pulled the Greek military out of NATO, though he retains political ties with that organization, and has withdrawn permission for the U.S. Navy to use Greek ports as home bases in the Mediterranean. But the aging Caramanlis cannot remain in power much longer, and uncertainty about Greece's future has dried up investment money, both foreign and domestic.

Greece today is among the poorer nations of Europe. Only tourism keeps its balance-of-payment deficit from soaring out of sight.

To reduce its deficit and to discourage needless spending, the government slapped a 200% tax on luxury cars.

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