Search results
Feb 24, 2021 · Greece is a European country on the southern edge of the Balkan Peninsula, bordering the Aegean, Ionian, Cretan, Mediterranean and Thracian seas. It has a mountainous terrain, many islands, ancient volcanoes, rivers, lakes and a rich cultural heritage.
- Greece
Greece is an European country located in the southern part...
- Greece
Greece, [a] officially the Hellenic Republic, [b] is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the ...
- Overview
- Land
- Relief
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.
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 Quiz
Guess the Country by Its Neighbors Quiz
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), ...
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.
Are you a student? Get Britannica Premium for only 24.95 - a 67% discount!
Learn More
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.
Greece is a southern European country with a long coastline and many islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Learn about its geography, people, culture, history, and government from this web page.
Topographic map of Greece. Greece is located in South Eastern Europe, bordering the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It is a peninsular country, with an archipelago of about 3,000 islands. It has a total area of 131,957 km 2 (50,949 sq mi), of which land area is 130,647 km 2 and internal waters (lakes and rivers) account for 1,310 km 2.
Aug 14, 2019 · Greece is an European country located in the southern part of the continent. It is made up of a mainland as well as thousands of islands. The country covers an area of 50,949 square miles and is bordered by Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. Greece is a mountainous country with about 80% of its territory being characterized as mountainous.
People also ask
Is Greece a European country?
Where is Greece located in Europe?
Where is Greece located in the north and South?
Which countries border Greece?
Greece ( Greek: Ελλάδα [eˈlaða] or Ελλάς [eˈlas] ), officially the Hellenic Republic ( Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία [eliniˈkʲi ðimokraˈtia] ), [9] (historically known as Hellas) (Greek: Ελλάς), is a country mostly located in Southeastern Europe with small island territories in Asia. Its capital city is ...
