|
Country
|
Greece | 
Latvia |
|
Leader
|
President: Karolos Papoulias
|
President : Andris Berzins
|
|
Population
|
10,767,827
| 2,191,580
|
|
Life Expectancy
|
80.050 years
| 72.930 years
|
|
Capital City
|
Athens
| Riga
|
|
Largest city
|
| Athens (population: 729,137) | Riga (population: 742,572) |
|
Human Development Index
|
0.947
| 0.863
|
| GDP per capita |
$26,600 US
| $15,900 US
|
|
Literacy Rate
|
96%
| 99.7%
|
|
Corruption Perception Index
|
4.7
| 5
|
|
Percentage of Women in Parliament
|
14.7%
| 20%
|
| Wealthiest Citizens |
Spiro Latsis & family ($3.8bn US)
| NA
|
| Unemployment Rate |
17.300%
| 15.400%
|
|
Death Penalty
|
Abolished
| Abolished except for special circumstances
|
| |
|
Political System
|
parliamentary republic
| parliamentary democracy
|
|
Independence date
|
1829 (from the Ottoman Empire)
| 18 November 1918 (from Soviet Russia)
|
| Religions |
Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim 1.3%, other 0.7%
| Lutheran 19.6%, Orthodox 15.3%, other Christian 1%, other 0.4%, unspecified 63.7% (2006)
|
| Languages |
Greek 99% (official), other 1% (includes English and French)
| Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)
|
| Exports |
food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles
| wood and wood products, machinery and equipment, metals, textiles, foodstuffs
|
| External Debt |
$583,300,000,000 $
| $38,370,000,000 US
|
| Exchange Rate |
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6734 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
| lati (LVL) per US dollar - 0.4701 (2008 est.), 0.5162 (2007), 0.5597 (2006), 0.5647 (2005), 0.5402 (2004)
|
| Military Budget as percentage of GDP |
4.300%
| 1.100%
|
| Beijing Olympics Medal Count |
4
| 3
|
| Location |
Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey
| Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania
|
| Area |
131,957 km sq
| 64,589 km sq
|
| Coastline |
13,676 km
| 498 km
|
| Climate |
temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers
| maritime; wet, moderate winters
|
|
|
|
