home » europe » greece » geography

geography Greece

Geography of Greece

Greece, which is officially named Hellenic Republic, is situated in southeastern Europe, at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Bulgaria, Albania Macedonia and Turkey and has access to the Aegean Sea and the Ionian Sea.Bearing the heritage of Ancient Greece, the Romand and later the Byzanine Empire, Greece is considered the birthplace of democracy and Western philosophy, as well as the political science and the mathematic principles, the Olympic Games, the Western literature and drama. A member of NATO and the European Union, Greece is using euro as its currency. Its capital is Athens and the other major cities include Thessaloniki and Patras, Volos and Ioannina, Larissa and Heraklion.

Greece comprises of a mainland which is quite mountainous, the Peloponnnesus penisnula and a large group of islands.It has long coastline and is one of the top summer destinations for tourists. The western part of the country is dominated by the Pindus mountain range which is characterized with many canyons and steep peaks and goes through the Peloponnese, the islands of Kythera and Antikythera. Here could be found the famous formation Meteora which presents high and very steep boulders featuring an important complex of monasteries included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The highest point in the country, Mytikas peak which is 2917 meters, is located on Mount Olympus and is very popular among the hikers. In the northeastern part of Greece is located the Rhodope range that comes from Bulgaria and is covered with thick and vast forests, home to endangered species such as the brown bear and the lynx, the wild goat and the roe deer. The country has plains as well and they are mainly set in the area of Central Macedonia, Thessaly and Thrace. The mainland part of Greece os surrounded by the Aegean Sea and there live many rare species such as the Loggerhead Sea Turtle for example, and the Pinniped Seals.

Greece has three types of climate despite the small size of its territory; these are Mediterranean, temperate and Alpine and they influence certain regions of the country. The western part of Greece for example is influenced by the Pindus Mountain. The northwestern part of Greece which includes the Central Greece, Thessaly, Epirus and Macedonia, plus the central parts of Peloponnese peninsula are under the Alpine climate which could be quite cool. The Cyclades and the Dodecanese Islands, as well as Crete and the eastern part of Peloponessus are affected by the Mediterranean climate that is characterized with mild winter and hot summer. The Central Macedonia, as well as Thrace and East Macedonia have temperate climate with cold winters and warm, dry summers. The warmest days in Greece are between the mid July and the mid August and then the sun is extremely strong. Due to that most Greeks do not work between one and five oclock daytime and have a kind of siesta.

Tourists are strongly advised to do as the locals and organzie most of their sightseeing in the early hours of the day, and all the walks in the late afternoon. The evening hours during the summer are very pleasant and the many cafes, restaurants and bars are full till very late at night. The demographis statistics show that Greece has approximately eleven million people and only one minority which is recogizned legally, that being the Muslims in Thrace region. This minority comprises approximately one per cent of the total population and consists of Turkish, Roma and Pomak ethnic groups. The other large minorities in Greece are the Armenians and the Jews. In the northern parts of the country there are Slavic groups which identify themselves as Greeks. The official religion in Greece is the Greek Orthodox faith and almost ninety-seven per cent of the population consider themselves Greek Orthodox.