Conventional Long Name: Hellenic Republic
Capital City: Athens
Type of Government: Parliamentary Republic
Date of Independence: February 3, 1830
National Holidays: Independence Day- March 25
Chief of State: President Prokopios
Capital City: Athens
Type of Government: Parliamentary Republic
Date of Independence: February 3, 1830
National Holidays: Independence Day- March 25
Chief of State: President Prokopios
Executive Branch/Powers: Head of government with cabinet appointed by the president, president is elected for a 5 year term
Legislative Branch/Powers: unicameral Hellenic Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; 288 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 12 seats are filled from nationwide party lists; 50 seats allocated to the party with the highest total valid vote count and remaining seats are apportioned according to each party's or coalition's vote percentage; members serve up to 4 years)
Judicial Branch/Powers: Judges selected by the Supreme Judicial Council, which includes the president of the Supreme Court, other judges, and the prosecutor of the Supreme Court; judges appointed for life following a 2-year probationary period
Suffrage: Women can vote
Ambassador to the US: Theocharis Lalakos
Location of Embassy to US: Washington, DC
Location of Consulates to US: Atlanta, GA
US ambassador to Greece: Geoffrey R. Pyatt
Location of Embassy to Greece: Athens
Location of Consulates to Greece: Athens
UN Representative: Aikaterini Boura
Legislative Branch/Powers: unicameral Hellenic Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; 288 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 12 seats are filled from nationwide party lists; 50 seats allocated to the party with the highest total valid vote count and remaining seats are apportioned according to each party's or coalition's vote percentage; members serve up to 4 years)
Judicial Branch/Powers: Judges selected by the Supreme Judicial Council, which includes the president of the Supreme Court, other judges, and the prosecutor of the Supreme Court; judges appointed for life following a 2-year probationary period
Suffrage: Women can vote
Ambassador to the US: Theocharis Lalakos
Location of Embassy to US: Washington, DC
Location of Consulates to US: Atlanta, GA
US ambassador to Greece: Geoffrey R. Pyatt
Location of Embassy to Greece: Athens
Location of Consulates to Greece: Athens
UN Representative: Aikaterini Boura
Description of Flag: White cross represents Greek Orthodoxy
International Disputes: Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; Greece rejects the use of the name Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia; the mass migration of unemployed Albanians still remains a problem for developed countries, chiefly Greece and Italy
National Symbols: Coat of Arms: The national emblem features a blue escutcheon with a white cross totally surrounded by two laurel branches
Number of Refugees: 1,033,169
Number of IDPs: 198
Number of Stateless people:
Human Trafficking issues: NA
Drug Trafficking use: a gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West and precursor chemicals to the East; some South American cocaine transits or is consumed in Greece
National Symbols: Coat of Arms: The national emblem features a blue escutcheon with a white cross totally surrounded by two laurel branches
Number of Refugees: 1,033,169
Number of IDPs: 198
Number of Stateless people:
Human Trafficking issues: NA
Drug Trafficking use: a gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West and precursor chemicals to the East; some South American cocaine transits or is consumed in Greece