FACTBOX: Key facts about next Greek PM Papandreou

ATHENS (Reuters) - Socialist leader George Papandreou's party won a snap national election on Sunday after more than five years in opposition.

Here are some key facts about Papandreou:

-- He is the eldest son of late prime minister Andreas Papandreou, who founded PASOK and led Greece from 1981 to 1989 and 1993 to 1996. He was hand-picked by then-prime minister Costas Simitis to lead the party in early 2004.

-- A calm, discreet politician often compared with the towering figure of his father, Papandreou has been a foreign and education minister. He has liberal views on soft drugs and decriminalizing marijuana.

-- He says he wants "green growth," saying an economic model that respects the environment and invests in renewable energy is the only way out of the crisis for Greece.

-- Papandreou was born in the United States on June 16, 1952, and educated in Sweden as well as in Canada, the United States and Greece.

-- Married to Ada, an aeronautical engineer, with two children, he is an avid sportsman -- often riding his bicycle in congested Athens -- and was part of the bid team that secured the 2004 Olympics for Athens.

-- He has 18,000 "friends" on Facebook, compared to the prime minister's 13,300. His website is www.papandreou.gr .

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)