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Greece, the southernmost of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. Geography has greatly influenced the country’s development. Mountains historically restricted internal communications, but the sea opened up wider horizons. The total land area of Greece (one-fifth of which is made up of the Greek islands) is comparable in size to England or the U.S. state of Alabama.
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Greece has more than 2,000 islands, of which about 170 are inhabited; some of the easternmost Aegean islands lie just a few miles off the Turkish coast. The country’s capital is Athens, which expanded rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. Attikí (ancient Greek: Attica), the area around the capital, is now home to about one-third of the country’s entire population.
A Greek legend has it that God distributed soil through a sieve and used the stones that remained to build Greece. The country’s barren landscape historically caused the people to migrate. The Greeks, like the Jews and the Armenians, traditionally have been a people of diaspora, and several million people of Greek descent live in various parts of the world. Xeniteia, or sojourning in foreign lands, with its strong overtones of nostalgia for the faraway homeland, has been a central element in the historical experience of the Greek people.
Greece is a country that is at once European, Balkan, Mediterranean, and Near Eastern. It lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa and is heir to the heritages of Classical Greece, the Byzantine Empire, and nearly four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule. Britannica QuizCountries & Their Features
Land
coastal islands, Aegean Sea, Greece
Coastal islands and bays of the Aegean Sea, Greece.
Greece is bordered to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and to the west by the Ionian Sea. Only to the north and northeast does it have land borders (totaling some 735 miles [1,180 km]), with, from west to east, Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia (see Researcher’s Note: Macedonia: the provenance of the name), Bulgaria, and Turkey. The Greek landscape is conspicuous not only for its rugged beauty but also for its complexity and variety. Three elements dominate: the sea, the mountains, and the lowland. The Greek mainland is sharply indented; arms and inlets of the sea penetrate so deeply that only a small, wedge-shaped portion of the interior is more than 50 miles (80 km) from the coast. The rocky headlands and peninsulas extend outward to the sea where there are many island arcs and archipelagoes. The southernmost part of mainland Greece, the Pelopónnisos (ancient Greek: Peloponnese) peninsula, connects to the mainland only by the narrow isthmus at the head of the Gulf of Korinthiakós (Corinth). Greece’s mountainous terrain covers some four-fifths of the country, much of which is deeply dissected. A series of mainland mountain chains running northwest-southeast enclose narrow parallel valleys and numerous small basins that once held lakes. With riverine plains and thin, discontinuous strips of coastal plain, these interior valleys and basins constitute the lowland. Although it accounts for only about one-fifth of the country’s land area, the lowland has played an important role in the life of the country.
Relief
Thíra (Thera), Greece.
Three characteristics of geology and structure underlie these landscape elements. First, northeastern Greece is occupied by a stable block of ancient (Hercynian) hard rock. Second, younger and weaker rocks, the majority of which are of limestone origin, make up western and southern Greece. These were heavily folded during the Alp-building phase of the Paleogene and Neogene periods (about 66 to 2.6 million years ago), when Earth movements thrust the softer sediments east-northeast against the unyielding Hercynian block and produced a series of roughly parallel tectonic zones that gave rise to the mountain-and-valley relief. Third, both the Hercynian block and the Hellenidic (Alpine) ranges were subsequently raised and fractured by tectonic movements. These dislocations created the sunken basins of the Ionian and Aegean seas as well as the jagged edges so typical of Greece’s landscape. Earthquakes are frequent reminders that similar earth movements continue, particularly along the major fault lines. One result of the region’s geologic instability is the widespread presence of marble, which is limestone that has been altered by pressure and heat. Seismic disturbances are sometimes associated with volcanic explosions, especially those involving the island of Thíra (ancient Greek: Thera; also called Santoríni), which was virtually destroyed by a major eruption in the 2nd millennium bce. The vents of the Kaméni islands in the sea-filled explosion crater of Thíra remain active. The island of Mílos (Melos), which rises to 2,465 feet (751 metres) above sea level, is composed of young volcanic rocks.
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Relief and geology provide the basis for describing the Greek landscape in terms of six major regions: central, northeastern, eastern, southern, and western mainland Greece, along with the islands.
Central Greece: the Píndos Mountains
Píndos (Pindus) Mountains, Greece.
The central mountain range, the Píndos (ancient Greek: Pindus) Mountains, forms the core of mainland Greece. Following the general northwest-southeast trend of the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, the Píndos sweep down from the Albanian and North Macedonian frontiers, creating a powerful barrier. The two passes of Métsovon and Mount Timfristós divide the range into three units: a fairly open segment in the north where impervious shales and sandstones have weathered and formed into extensive upland valleys and gently inclining hills; the Píndos proper in the centre, some 20 miles (32 km) wide and predominantly limestone; and an almost uncrossable zone in the south, about 50 miles (80 km) wide, deeply cut by winding rivers and composed of a mixture of limestone, slates, and sandstones. The range’s highest point, Mount Smólikas, 8,652 feet (2,637 metres) high, is found in the north.
Northeastern Greece: Makedonía and Thráki
Several topographic regions surround the main mountainous core and are often penetrated by extensions of it. The northernmost part, roughly the regions of Greek Makedonía (Macedonia) and Thráki (Thrace), extends in a long, narrow, east-west band between the Aegean coast and the frontier with the countries of North Macedonia and Bulgaria. It consists of forest-clad, crystalline mountain massifs and plateaus created by the fracturing of the Hercynian block and separated from each other by the alluvial deposits of the five great rivers of northern Greece: the Maritsa (Évros), Néstos, Strymónas (Struma), Vardaráis (Vardar; Axiós;), and Aliákmonos (Aliákmon). The fracturing of the Hercynian also accounts for the odd three-pronged shape of the Chalkidikí (Chalcidice) Peninsula, on whose easternmost prong is located Mount Athos (Holy Mountain), which is the famous site of Greek Orthodox monastic communities. Along and beyond the Bulgarian border rise the Rodópi (Rhodope) Mountains, mainly composed of sharp-edged and sloping plateaus, reaching 7,260 feet (2,213 metres) at Mount Órvilos. The Maritsa River, in its low-lying, marshy valley, marks the Turkish border. From there to the lower Strymónas River extends a succession of plains, some of which are often swampy, such as the deltaic plain of the lower Néstos, and others have been turned into fertile agricultural land, as is the case in the former Lake Akhinós. Inland there are basins of structural origin, such as the Plain of Drámas (Drama). Lakes Koróneia (Korónia) and Vólvi, which separate the Chalkidikí Peninsula from the rest of the coastal region, also occupy structural depressions. Farther west, the large plain drained by the Vardaráis and lower Aliákmonos rivers is being continually extended as the river deltas push out into the Gulf of Thermaïkós (Thérmai). The forested Vérmion (Vérmio) Mountains and, beyond them, the barren inland basins around Lakes Vegorítida (Vegorrítis) and Kardítsa mark the boundary with the Píndos Mountains.
Eastern Greece: Thessalía and Attikí
Mount Olympus (Ólympos) on the border of the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thessaly.
The western part of this region contains the massive limestone formations so characteristic of northern and western Greece, while to the east the peninsula of Attiikí (Attica) represents the western margin of the Hercynian crystalline rocks of the Aegean shores. Essentially an upland area, its relief is articulated by four northwest–southeast-trending spurs thrusting out from the main Píndos mass. A number of distinctive basins and plains lie amid these upland ribs. The northernmost, a rather broken spur called the Kamvoúnia Mountains, runs along the coast of the Gulf of Thermaïkós and continues south to form the peninsula bounding one side of Vólou Bay. Among its peaks are Mount Ólympos (Olympus)—the mythical seat of the gods, whose often cloud-topped summit rises to 9,570 feet (2,917 metres), the highest point in Greece—and the equally fine peaks of Mounts Kisszavos (Ossa) and Pílios (Pelion). The next spur to the west is the Óthris mountain range, which continues across the narrow Oreón Channel in the northern sector of the long, narrow island of Évvoia (Euboea). Between the two spurs lie the ancient basins (formerly the site of lakes) of Thessalía (Thessaly), Tríkala, and Lárisa, drained by the Pineiós (Piniós) River. Just to the south the basin of Almyrós (Almirós), of similar origin, lies around Vólou Bay.
Thermopýles (Thermopylae), central Greece.
To the southwest the third spur leaving the Píndos is that of the Oíti, which continues in the Óchi (Ókhi) Mountains of southern Évvoia. Just before the Oíti reaches the sea, near the head of the Gulf of Maliakós, is the pass of Thermopýles (Thermopylae, scene of the famous battle of antiquity). The last (and perhaps the most important) of the four spurs thrusting down into eastern Greece is the one that curves away to the southeast through the twin-peaked mass of Mount Parnassós (Parnassus). This mountain, rising to an elevation of 8,061 feet (2,457 metres), was held to be the home of the Muses. The view from its summit at sunrise, with a broad expanse of the heart of Greece gradually unfolding, is regarded as one of the finest in the world. The range continues as the backbone of the peninsula lying between the Gulf of Évvoia and the Gulf of Korinthiakós (Corinth), and it reaches as far as Mount Párnis, just to the north of Athens. To its north lie the plains of Fokída (Phocis) and Voiotía (Boeotia), and around its southern tip lie the hotter and more arid depressions of Attiikí.
Southern Greece: the Pelopónnisos
church of St. Sophia, Mistra, Greece
The church of St. Sophia at the ruined Byzantine city of Mistra, Greece, on a spur of the Táygetos (Taïyetos) Mountains overlooking olive groves in the Evrótas River valley, in the Pelopónnisos (Peloponnese).
The entire southern portion of mainland Greece forms a peninsula lying to the south of the Gulf of Korinthiakós. Technically, this region, the Pelopónnisos, also known as the Morea, is now an island, for the 3.9-mile (6.3-km) Korinthiakós Canal cuts across the narrow neck of land that formerly separated the Gulf of Korinthiakós from that of Aígina (Aíyina). The Pelopónnisos consists of an oval-shaped mountain mass with peaks rising to 7,800 feet (2,400 metres) and four peninsular prongs, which point southward toward the island of Crete (Modern Greek: Kríti). At its heart are the arid limestone plateaus of Arkadía (Arcadia), where streams disappear underground into the soluble rock and from which the barren upland of the Táygetos (Taïyetos) Mountains, reaching an elevation of 7,800 feet, extends southward to form the backbone of one of the southern peninsulas. A thin fringe of fertile coastal plain in the north and west, together with the larger alluvial depressions forming the Gulfs of Lakonia (Laconia), Messenía (Kalamata), and Argolikós (Árgolis), surrounds this mountainous core. The coast is indented and has some harbours.
Western Greece: Ípeiros and Akarnanía
Western Greece consists of Ípeiros (Epirus) and Akarnanía (Acarnania), which is the area north of the Gulf of Korinthiakós to the Albanian frontier, and is often considered to include the offshore Iónia (Ionian) Islands. The distinctiveness of western Greece is enhanced by the fact that the barrier effect of the Píndos and the ameliorating climatic influences from the west result in a quite different landscape from that of the rest of Greece. The west’s physical attributes have exaggerated its historical isolation from the other areas of mainland Greece. Fertile basins are not well developed, constricted as they are by the parallel ranges of the coastal mountains. The mountain regions themselves, however, are adequately supplied with precipitation. The flat, alluvial plain of Árta, built up from detritus brought down by the Árachthos (Árakhthos) River has become, with irrigation, a fertile agricultural region.
The islands of Greece
island of Corfu (Kérkyra), Greece
Olive and cypress trees against the mountainous background of northern Corfu (Kérkyra), Greece.
Island of Kefaloniá (Cephallenia), Greece.
The Ionian Islands off the western coast of Greece structurally resemble the folded mountains of Ípeiros. Of the six main islands, Corfu (Modern Greek: Kérkyra), opposite the Albanian frontier, is the northernmost; it is fertile and amply endowed with well-watered lowland. The other islands, Paxoí (Paxos), Lefkáda (Leucas), Itháki (Ithaca), Kefalonía (Cephallenia), and Zákynthos (Zacynthus), lie farther south; lack of rainfall accentuates their gaunt, broken limestone relief, although Lefkáda and Zákynthos have sheltered eastern plains. A seventh island, Kýthira (Cythera), is grouped with the Ionian Islands for administrative purposes but is geographically discrete. The Aegean islands, also exhibiting the characteristic landforms of the mainland, are situated in distinct clusters in the Aegean Sea, east of the Greek mainland.
In the north, off Thráki (Thrace), lie Thásos, an oval block of ancient mineral rocks similar in composition to neighbouring blocks on the mainland, and harbourless Samothráki (Samothrace), an island of volcanic origin. Límnos (Lemnos), situated midway between Asia Minor and the Mount Athós peninsula, is almost cut in two by the northern Pourniás Bay and the deep southern harbour afforded by the Bay of Moúdros (Moúdhrou).
The harbour and town of Mytilene, view from the citadel, Lésbos, Greece.
Portico of Philip V, Dílos, Greece.
Portico of Philip V, Dílos (Delos), Greece.
To the southeast the rocky but sheltered islands of Lésbos (Lésvos), Chíos (Khíos), and Sámos lie close to the Turkish coast and are extensions of peninsulas on the coast of Asia Minor. Across the central Aegean, near northern Évvoia, lie the Northern Sporades (“Scattered Islands”); their crystalline rocks are similar to those of the Greek mainland. Farther south, in the heart of the Aegean, lie the Kykládes (Cyclades; “Islands in a Circle”). These roughly centre on Dílos (Delos) and represent the tips of drowned mountain ridges continuing the structural trends of Évvoia and the region around Athens.
The western coast of the island of Ródos (Rhodes), Greece.
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Finally, the long narrow shape of Crete stands to the south at the entrance of the Aegean. With an area of 3,190 square miles (8,262 square km), it is by far the largest of the Aegean islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean. Crete is geologically linked to the south and west of mainland Greece. Its rugged, deeply ravined, asymmetrical limestone massif, falling steeply to the south, from a distance resembles four separate islands: the westernmost Lefká (Levká) Mountains; the central Psíloreítis (Ídi) Mountains, with Crete’s highest point, the summit of Mount Psíloreítis, called Timios Stavrós, 8,058 feet (2,456 metres) high; the east-central Díkti Mountains; and the far eastern Tryptí (Thriptís) Mountains. Another range, the Asteroúsia (Kófinas) Mountains, runs along the south-central coast between the Mesarás Plain and the Libyan Sea. Of Crete’s 650 miles (1,050 km) of rocky coastline, it is the more gradual slope on the northern side of the island that provides several natural harbours and coastal plains.
Drainage
bridge, Árachthos River, Greece
A 17th-century bridge over the Árachthos River, Árta, Greece.
The main rivers of Greece share several characteristics: in their upper courses most flow in broad, gently sloping valleys; in their middle courses they plunge through a series of intermontane basins in narrow, often spectacular gorges; and in their lower courses they meander across the coastal plain to reach the sea in marshy, ever-growing deltas. Most rivers are short. In limestone districts a generally permeable surface with sinkholes (katavóthra) leading to underground channels complicates the drainage network. River regimes in all regions are erratic, unsuitable for navigation, and of limited usefulness for irrigation. The Vardaráis, Strymónas, and Néstos, which cross Greek Makedonía and Thráki to enter the northern Aegean, are the major rivers, but only because they drain large regions beyond the Greek frontier. Also in the northeast are the eastward-flowing Aliákmonos and Piniós, and in the Pelopónnisos is the Evrótas, which flows southeastward into the Gulf of Lakonia.
Soils
Throughout the rocky highland areas of Greece, which are characterized by their limestone formations, the soil is thin and relatively poor. The valley areas contain claylike soil known as terra rosa, reddened earth that originates from the residue of limestone rocks. These areas are adequate for farming. The most fertile regions, however, are along coastal plains and beside rivers. The clay and loam soils that predominate there may even require drainage prior to cultivation.
Climate of Greece
temple of Aphaea, Aíyina, Greece
The temple of Aphaea, Aíyina (Aegina), Greece.
The Mediterranean climate of Greece is subject to a number of regional and local variations based on the country’s physical diversity. In winter the belt of low-pressure disturbances moving in from the North Atlantic Ocean shifts southward, bringing with it warm, moist, westerly winds. As the low-pressure areas enter the Aegean region, they may draw in cold air from those eastern regions of the Balkans that, sheltered by the Dinaric mountain system from western influences, are open to climatic extremes emanating from the heart of Eurasia. This icy wind is known as the boreas. Partly as a result, Thessaloníki (Salonika; Thessalonica) has an average January temperature in the low 40s F (about 6 °C), while in Athens it is in the low 50s F (about 10 °C), and in Iráklieo (Candia) on Crete it is in the low to mid-50s F (about 12 °C). Occasionally the warmer sirocco (shilok) winds are drawn in from the south. The western climatic influences bring plenty of precipitation to the Ionian coast and the mountains behind it; winter rain starts early, and snow lingers into spring. On Corfu, January temperatures average in the low 50s F (10 °C), and the island’s average annual precipitation is about 52 inches (1,320 mm), compared with that on Crete of about 25 inches (640 mm) and that at Athens of about 16 inches (400 mm). Few populated areas have lasting snowfalls, but snow is commonly found on the highest peaks.
In summer, when the low-pressure belt swings away again, the climate is hot and dry almost everywhere. The average July sea-level temperature approaches 80 °F (27 °C), although heat waves can push the temperature well above 100 °F (38 °C) for a day or so. Topography is again a modifying factor: the interior northern mountains continue to experience some precipitation, while along the winding coast the afternoon heat is eased slightly by sea breezes. In other regions, such as Crete, the hot, dry summers are accentuated by the parching meltemi, or etesian winds, which become drier as they are drawn southward.
In all seasons—perhaps especially in summer—the quality of light is one of Greece’s most appealing attractions. However, atmospheric pollution has become a serious problem in the cities, notably Athens, obscuring the sky and posing a hazard to the ancient monuments.
Plant and animal life
As in other Balkan countries, the vegetation of Greece is open to influences from several major biogeographic zones, with the major Mediterranean and western Asian elements supplemented by plants and animals from the central European interior. The subtle but complex vegetation mosaic is a product of the climatic effects of elevation, the contrast between north and south, local relief, and eight or nine millennia of human settlement and land use. Degraded plant associations (areas where the variety and size of species and the density of plant cover are reduced) and soil erosion are common.
Maquis (macchie) vegetation on the Mediterranean coast, near Sithonía, Greece.
Vegetation types from central Europe prevail on the mountain flanks and generally in the north. In central and southern regions and in the narrow belts along the valleys of the mountains, about half the land is under scrub of various kinds; and maquis—the classic Mediterranean scrub, with oleander, bay, evergreen oak, olive, and juniper—is especially prevalent in the Pelopónnisos. Evergreen trees and shrubs and herbaceous plants are found in the lowland, their flowers offering brilliant patterns in springtime. Pines, plane trees, and poplars line the rivers, the higher slopes, and the coastal plains. Forests and scrub are found at the highest elevations; black pine forests cover Mount Ólympos. Oak, chestnut, and other deciduous trees are found in the north, giving way at higher elevations to coniferous forests dominated by the Grecian fir, in which clearings are carpeted in spring and summer with irises, crocuses, and tulips. Greece is home to about 6,000 species of wildflowers, of which some 600 are endemic.
Ancient Greek mosaic showing the sea god Poseidon riding two dolphins.
The forested zones, especially in the north, harbour such European mammals as wildcats, martens, brown bears, roe deer, and, more rarely, wolves, wild boars, and lynx. Animals of the Mediterranean regions include hares, wild goats, and porcupines, all adapted to the heat and lack of moisture. Birds include owls, vultures, pelicans, storks, and herons, and many varieties from farther north spend the winter in Greece, while others stop on Greek land and water while migrating to and from Africa. Reptile and marine life have come under increasing pressure, the former by overdevelopment and the latter by exhaustive fishing.
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