Geography of Greece

Geography of Greece
ContinentEurope
RegionSouth Europe
Coordinates39°00′N 22°00′E / 39.000°N 22.000°E / 39.000; 22.000
AreaRanked 95th
 • Total131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi)
 • Land99.13%
 • Water0.87%
Coastline13,676 km (8,498 mi)
Borders689.76 km (428.60 mi)
Highest pointMount Olympus
2,918 metres (9,573 ft)
Lowest pointEpitalio
−6 metres (−20 ft)[1][2]
Longest riverHaliacmon
297 kilometres (185 mi)
Largest lakeLake Trichonida
98.6 km2 (38.07 sq mi)
Terrain80% mountainous, plains (east and north-east)
Natural resourcespetroleum, magnetite, lignite, bauxite, hydropower, marble, limestone, fish[3]
Natural hazardsearthquakes, floods, droughts and wildfires
Environmental issuesair pollution, water pollution
Exclusive economic zone505,572 km2 (195,202 sq mi)[4]

Greece is a country in Southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula.[5] It is bordered to the north by Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria; to the east by Turkey, and is surrounded to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the south by the Cretan and the Libyan seas, and to the west by the Ionian Sea which separates Greece from Italy.

The country consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea at the southernmost tip of the Balkans, and two smaller peninsulas projecting from it: the Chalkidiki and the Peloponnese, which is joined to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth. Greece also has many islands, of various sizes, the largest being Crete, Euboea, Lesvos, Rhodes, Chios, Kefalonia, and Corfu; groups of smaller islands include the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. According to the CIA World Factbook, Greece has 13,676 kilometres (8,498 mi) of coastline, the largest in the Mediterranean Basin.[6]

Greece's latitude ranges from 35°N to 42°N and its longitude from 19°E to 28°E. As a result of this and its physical geography, the country has considerable climatic variation.

  1. ^ "Greece topographic map". Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference meteoclub1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference greeka1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference searoundus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES: Working Paper No. 48" (PDF). UN. 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference CIA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).