Greece Country & Tourist Information

Location
Southeast Europe.

Area
131,957 sq km (50,949 sq miles).

Population
11.2 million (2007).

Population Density
84.9 per sq km.

Capital
Athens.
Population: 750,000 (2004 estimate); Greater Athens 3.3 million (2004 estimate).

Government
Republic.

Language
Greek (Ellenika). Most people connected with tourism and those of a younger generation will speak some English, French, German or Italian.

Religion
98% Greek Orthodox, with Muslim, Roman Catholic and Jewish minorities.

Time
GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).

Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz. Round two-pin plugs are used.

Head of Government
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis since 2004.

Head of State
President Karolos Papoulias since 2005.

Recent History
The Greek conservative New Democracy Party, led by Costas Karamanlis, took over the reins from the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) in early March 2004. The New Democracy Party was re-elected in September 2007. Since he came to power, Mr Karamanlis has faced industrial action due to high unemployment and rising inflation as well as government plans for pension and labor reforms. He is also under pressure from the European authorities to cut the budget deficit which is in excess of the level permitted under the Eurozone stability pact.

Despite common membership of NATO, bilateral relations between Turkey and Greece have historically been among the worst between any two European countries. The principal causes are the continuing division of Cyprus and control of territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. In April 2008, Greece vetoed the accession of FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) to NATO, highlighting the ongoing dispute between Greece and FYROM over the latter's official name.

Telephone
Country code: 30, followed by 210 for Athens, 2310 for Thessaloniki and 2810 for Heraklion (all area codes are prefixed with 2 and end with 0). Note that the area code is still used even when dialing from within that area, ie, when dialing an Athens number from Athens, the prefix 210 is still necessary.

Mobile Telephone
Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is excellent.

Internet
Internet cafes are available in the main cities, including Athens, Thessaloniki and the islands of Crete, Kos, Mykonos and Rhodes.

Media
A free press operates in Greece, although material deemed offensive to the president or religious beliefs can lead to the prosecution of editors and publishers. It was only in the late 1980s that the virtual monopoly of state-run broadcasters came to an end, with the introduction of new commercial TV services. Peak-time TV schedules are dominated by news, domestically made variety programs, comedies and game shows. The country hosts about 1,700 private radio and TV stations, many of which are unlicensed, since broadcasting in Greece is relatively unregulated by European standards. An attempt made in 2001 to regulate the FM dial in Athens resulted in a political row.

Post
All letters, postcards, newspapers and periodicals will automatically be sent by airmail. Airmail to Europe takes five days; six to North America; seven to Australia.

Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0730-1400, Sat 0800-1400.

Press
• There are numerous daily newspapers in Athens including Eleftherotypia, Kathimerini and Ta Nea.
• Athens News is published weekly in English.

Radio
• Publicly owned ERA operates ERA1 (entertainment), ERA2 (culture), ERA3 (sport and music) and ERA4 (regional).
• Commercial stations include Antenna FM, Skai 100.3 and Sfera 102.2.
• Municipal Athens station Athena 98.4 was one of the first non-state radio stations.

Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2009-December 2010 period.

2009
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany.
10 Mar Orthodox Shrove Monday.
25 Mar Independence Day.
17 Apr Orthodox Good Friday.
20 Apr Orthodox Easter Monday.
1 May Labor Day.
8 Jun Orthodox Whit Monday.
15 Aug Assumption.
28 Oct Ochi Day.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.

2010
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany.
15 Feb Orthodox Shrove Monday.
25 Mar Independence Day.
2 Apr Orthodox Good Friday.
5 Apr Orthodox Easter Monday.
1 May Labor Day.
24 May Orthodox Whit Monday.
15 Aug Assumption.
28 Oct Ochi Day.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.

Contact Information:

Embassy of Greece (Hellas) in the UK
1A Holland Park, London W11 3TP, UK
Tel: (020) 7229 3850 or 7221 6467 (visa section) or 09065 508 983 (24-hour visa information line).
Website: www.greekembassy.org.uk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1300.

Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) in the UK
4 Conduit Street, London W1S 2DJ, UK
Tel: (020) 7495 9300.
Website: www.gnto.co.uk

Embassy of Greece (Hellas) in the USA
2217 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA
Tel: (202) 939 1300/6 (consular section).
Website: www.greekembassy.org

Greek/Hellenic National Tourism Organization (GNTO) in the USA
Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Avenue, 9th Floor, Suite 903, New York, NY 10022, USA
Tel: (212) 421 5777.
Website: www.greektourism.com


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