FACTBOX: Key facts about Greece and its economy

(Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside Greece's parliament on Tuesday and socialist opposition leader George Papandreou called for elections to end four days of riots.

Here are some key facts about Greece:

* THE ECONOMY:

-- The government also faces a general strike on Wednesday over its welfare reforms and economic policy.

-- Greek industrialists said earlier this month the government had done too little, too late to avert a steep economic downturn and urged structural reform to boost the flagging productivity of the economy.

-- The conservative government has forecast Greece's economic growth rate will fall to 2.7 percent in 2009 from 3.2 percent this year, but many economists have said this is too optimistic. The OECD predicts 2.0 percent growth in 2009.

-- Economic growth was 3.1 percent in the third quarter, slower than the second quarter of 2008 and weaker than expected.

-- Greece has approved a 28 billion euro ($36 billion) plan to increase liquidity at banks to help them weather the credit crunch and limit its impact on the 240 billion euro economy. -- Greece's manufacturing sector shrank at a record pace in November due to a fall in new orders. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 42.3 points from 48.1 in October, reflecting a fall in both domestic and foreign demand. -- Greece's 2009 budget, submitted to parliament last month, foresaw a deficit below the 3 percent EU limit, at an ambitious 2 percent of GDP, from 3.5 percent in 2007 and an estimated 2.5 percent this year.

* THE COUNTRY: SOME DETAILS:

POPULATION: 11.2 million. (2007)

ETHNICITY: Most people are of Greek origin. There are small Turkish, Albanian, Macedonian and Roma minorities.

RELIGION: About 98 percent of Greeks are baptized Greek Orthodox Christians, according to official figures. About 1.3 percent are Muslim.

CAPITAL: Athens: Almost half the population live in Athens or the surrounding Attica region.

LANGUAGE: Greek.

GEOGRAPHY: Area: 131,900 sq km (50,930 sq miles), including more than 2,500 islands in the Aegean and the Ionian sea. Mainland Greece is bordered by Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

POLITICS:

-- Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and his conservative New Democracy party won a second term in national parliamentary elections in September 2007. Its majority was cut to one seat by the dismissal of a dissident legislator last month.

-- Karamanlis had led his party to a clear 2004 election win and his government won praise from the European Union for slashing budget deficits, pushing on with unpopular reforms and privatizations and putting the economy on a steady growth track.

-- However, his efforts were often met with violent street protests. Financial and political scandals, as well as this week's riots, have eroded his party's popularity.