Classical Greece included
a smaller area than today's Greece. It basically included only
the bottom part of the peninsula and many islands. It consisted
of bare rocks and tiny plains. As you came onshore from the sea you were
hit almost immediately by mountains. This mountainous structure
covers 80 percent of classical Greece and is made of limestone.
Today's Greece has a land
area of 131,944 sq km or 50,944 miles. As a comparison this is
smaller than Alabama. Greece is bordered by Bulgaria and Albania
in the north, the Ionian sea in the west, the Mediterranean sea
in the south, and the Aegean sea and Turkey in the west. Greece
is made up of a peninsula surrounded by over two thousand islands.
The main peninsula consists of highlands or mountains surrounded
by lowland at the coast.
The mountains of Greece generally
go from northwest to southeast. The mountain ranges proceed directly
into the ocean forming islands. The highest mountain is Mount
Olympus: it rises to 2,917m or 9,573 ft.
Greece does not have a great
number of rivers. Many of them are so small that they actually
dry up during the summer. Rivers such as the Vardar and the Struma, which
flow through the north of Greece, do have substantial drainage
during the summer months. Because most of the lakes dry up during
the winter, they usually are not used in irrigation. The larger
rivers in the mountains form basins because of the soft limestone
that they run through.
Study Questions
What is the highest mountain
in Greece? What images does it bring to mind?
Why don't the Greeks use
ocean water for irrigation?
Drawing Question
Draw your own picture of Greece
labeling as much information as possible.