| Location | Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey |
| Geographic coordinates | 39 00 N, 22 00 E |
| Map references | Europe |
| Area | total: 131,957 sq km land: 130,647 sq km water: 1,310 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Alabama |
| Land boundaries | total: 1,110 km border countries (4): Albania 212 km, Bulgaria 472 km, Macedonia 234 km, Turkey 192 km |
| Coastline | 13,676 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 6 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Climate | temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers |
| Terrain | mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Mount Olympus 2,917 lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m mean elevation: 498 m note: Mount Olympus actually has 52 peaks but its highest point, Mytikas (meaning "nose"), rises to 2,917 meters; in Greek mythology, Olympus' Mytikas peak was the home of the Greek gods |
| Natural resources | lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential |
| Land use | agricultural land: 63.4% (2018 est.) arable land: 19.7% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 8.9% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 34.8% (2018 est.) forest: 30.5% (2018 est.) other: 6.1% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 15,550 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 68.4 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | severe earthquakes volcanism: Santorini (367 m) has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; although there have been very few eruptions in recent centuries, Methana and Nisyros in the Aegean are classified as historically active |
| Geography - note | strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
