Geography of Greece

[Patrick Moore]

Greece is considered to be a large nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 131,957 km² (approx. 50,949 mi²). Continental shelf of Greece is approximately 81,451 km² (around 31,448 mi²). Greece is located in Europe. Europe is a continent whose borders date back to the period of antiquity. European countries include, but are not limited to, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Malta, and The Vatican. Greece has 4 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia. Greece is not a landlocked country. It means that is is bordered by at least one major body of water. The average elevation range of Greece is 498 m (1,634 ft).

Neighbors

Total length of land borders of Greece is 1110 kilometers (~429 miles). Greece shares its land borders with 4 different countries, and has the same number of unique land boundaries to neigbouring territories. As in the case of Greece, if a country has the same number of unique neighboring territories as number of land borders, than that country has no non-contiguous sections of a land border. This is in contrast to several countries that have multiple non-contiguous sections of land borders. Greece has 4 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Macedonia. The lengths of the land borders of Greece with its neighbouring countries are as follows:

• Albania - 282 km (175 mi),
• Bulgaria - 494 km (307 mi),
• Turkey - 206 km (128 mi),
• Macedonia - 246 km (153 mi).

Cities

The capital city of Greece is Athens. The largest city in Greece is Athens.

Elevation

The average elevation range of Greece is 498 m (1,634 ft). The highest point of Greece is Mount Olympus, with its official height being 2919 m (9,577 ft). The lowest point of Greece is Mediterranean Sea. The elevation difference between the highest (Mount Olympus) and lowest (Mediterranean Sea) points of Greece is 2919 m (2 ft).

Area

The total land area of Greece is 131,957 km² (approx. 50,949 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 505,572 km² (~195,202 mi²). The continental shelf of Greece is approximately 81,451 km² (around 31,448 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of Greece is approximately 637,529 km² (~246,150 mi²). Greece is considered to be a large nation because of its total area.

Forest and arable land

37,520 km² of Greece's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 28% of all the land in the country. There are 26,749 km² of arable land in Greece, and it comprises 20% of the country's total territory.

Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.

Natural resources

The most notable natural resources found in Greece are lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential.