Geography of Greece

The section provides all the information you need to understand the geography of Greece.

Table of contents:
• General Info • Characteristics • By location

General Info

Greece is a peninsular and mountainous country located in Southern-Eastern Europe, in the Balkans peninsula, and has a land area of 128,900 km2 (49,769 sq. miles).
The country has the largest coastline in Europe (13,676km) due to its numerous islands. Greece has a total of 2,000 Greek islands but only 168 are inhabited.
The country is washed to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the west by the Ionian and the south by the Mediterranean Sea.

Population

Greece population is estimated at 10,7 million people in 2020.
In terms of total world population, it represents 0.13% and it is ranked at number 87 of all countries.
The density of Greek population is 81 per km2 (209 people per mi2).
84% of its population leaves in the cities.

Landscape

Two-thirds of the territory is covered with mountains.
The highest mountain peak is at Mount Olympus, at an altitude of 2917m.

Natural Ressources

The country is very rich in natural resources providing petroleum, magnetite, lignite, bauxite, hydropower, and marble.

The geographical position of Greece has marked the development of many civilizations throughout the ages.
The special features of the geography of Greece have formed an equally special natural environment.
Greece has a rich diversity in flora and fauna and many species are original in this country, which means that they are found only there in the world.
These rare species are found in forests, lakes, rivers.
The limestone and the volcanoes have composited the Greek territory and allowed the formation of many caves and canyons.

Our guide proposes information about the natural characteristics of Greece: the geography of the country and the Greek islands.

Characteristics of the geography

Information about the characteristics of the geography of Greece: Athens, the capital of Greece, the different regions in the mainland and the Greek islands.

Athens, the Capital

Athens is the capital of Greece. It belongs to the Prefecture of Attica, located at the center of the Greek territory.
Attica is a peninsula surrounded by four high mountains that form a basin. The city and suburbs of Athens have been constructed in this basin.
The southernmost point of Attica is Cape Sounion, on top of which an ancient temple dedicated to god Poseidon is found. According to the myth, King Aegeus fell from Cape Sounion and got drowned, when he thought that his only son Theseus was killed by the Minotaur in Crete.
On the western side, the Attica peninsula is divided by the Peloponnese with the Corinth Canal, an artificial work that was completed in 1893.

The regions

The Greek mainland consists of the following regions: Sterea (Central Greece), Peloponnese, Thessaly (east-central), Epirus (northwest), Macedonia (north) and Thrace (northeast).
Also, Greece consists of many islands and island complexes: Crete, Cyclades, Dodecanese, Ionian, Sporades, Saronic, and Eastern Aegean islands.

Peloponnese is the most popular region of mainland Greece. It is located in the southern part of Greece and looks like an island connected to the mainland with two bridges: the bridge at the Corinth Canal and the cable bridge of Rio-Antirrio. The "island" is dissected by high mountains that extend southwards towards a landscape of fertile plains, pine forests uplands, and craggy foothills.

Greek islands

There are more than 2,000 large and smaller Greek islands scattered both in the Aegean and the Ionian Sea.
Most of them are located in the Aegean between the mainland and Turkey.
The largest Greek island is Crete and the second largest in Evia. Lesvos and Rhodes come next.
Some of the most famous islands are Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Crete, Zakynthos, and Corfu.

Discover the geography by location