<item><hi format=bold>Independence:</hi> 1829 (from the Ottoman Empire)
<item><hi format=bold>National holiday:</hi> Independence Day, 25 March (1821) (proclamation of the war of independence)
<item><hi format=bold>Constitution:</hi> 11 June 1975
<item><hi format=bold>Legal system:</hi> based on codified Roman law; judiciary divided into civil, criminal, and administrative courts
<item><hi format=bold>Suffrage:</hi> 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
<item><hi format=bold>Executive branch:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>chief of state:</hi> President Konstantinos KARAMANLIS (since 5 May 1990); election last held 4 May 1990 (next to be held May 1995); results—Konstantinos KARAMANLIS was elected by Parliament
<item>• <hi format=ital>head of government:</hi> Prime Minister Andreas PAPANDREOU (since 10 October 1993)
<item>• <hi format=ital>cabinet:</hi> Cabinet; appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime minister
<item><hi format=bold>Chamber of Deputies (Vouli ton Ellinon):</hi> elections last held 10 October 1993 (next to be held by NA October 1997); results—PASOK 46.88%, ND 39.30%, Political Spring 4.87%, KKE 4.54%, and Progressive Left Coalition 2.94%; seats—(300 total) PASOK 170, ND 111, Political Spring 10, KKE 9
<item><hi format=bold>Judicial branch:</hi> Supreme Judicial Court, Special Supreme Tribunal
<item><hi format=bold>Political parties and leaders:</hi> New Democracy (ND; conservative), Miltiades EVERT; Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Andreas PAPANDREOU; Progressive Left Coalition, Maria DAMANAKI; Democratic Renewal (DIANA), Konstantinos STEFANOPOULOS; Communist Party (KKE), Aleka PAPARIGA; Ecologist-Alternative List, leader rotates; Political Spring, Antonis SAMARAS
<item><hi format=bold>Flag:</hi> nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white; there is a blue square in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolizes Greek Orthodoxy, the established religion of the country