Greece vs. Turkey
Geography
| Greece | Turkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey | Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria |
| Geographic coordinates | 39 00 N, 22 00 E | 39 00 N, 35 00 E |
| Map references | Europe | Middle East |
| Area | total: 131,957 sq km land: 130,647 sq km water: 1,310 sq km | total: 783,562 sq km land: 769,632 sq km water: 13,930 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Alabama | slightly larger than Texas |
| Land boundaries | total: 1,110 km border countries (4): Albania 212 km, Bulgaria 472 km, Macedonia 234 km, Turkey 192 km | total: 2,816 km border countries (8): Armenia 311 km, Azerbaijan 17 km, Bulgaria 223 km, Georgia 273 km, Greece 192 km, Iran 534 km, Iraq 367 km, Syria 899 km |
| Coastline | 13,676 km | 7,200 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 6 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation | territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR 12 nm in Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea |
| Climate | temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers | temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior |
| Terrain | mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands | high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges |
| 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 | highest point: Mount Ararat 5,137 m lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m mean elevation: 1,132 m |
| Natural resources | lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential | coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower |
| 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.) | agricultural land: 49.7% (2018 est.) arable land: 26.7% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 4% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 19% (2018 est.) forest: 14.9% (2018 est.) other: 35.4% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 15,550 sq km (2012) | 52,150 sq km (2012) |
| 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 | severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van; landslides; flooding volcanism: limited volcanic activity; its three historically active volcanoes; Ararat, Nemrut Dagi, and Tendurek Dagi have not erupted since the 19th century or earlier |
| Environment - current issues | air pollution; air emissions from transport and electricity power stations; water pollution; degradation of coastal zones; loss of biodiversity in terrestrial and marine ecosystems; increasing municipal and industrial waste | water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; land degradation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic; conservation of biodiversity |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds | party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Environmental Modification |
| 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 | strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link the Black and Aegean Seas; the 3% of Turkish territory north of the Straits lies in Europe and goes by the names of European Turkey, Eastern Thrace, or Turkish Thrace; the 97% of the country in Asia is referred to as Anatolia; Istanbul, which straddles the Bosporus, is the only metropolis in the world located on two continents; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country |
| Total renewable water resources | 68.4 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 211.6 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | one-third of the population lives in and around metropolitan Athens; the remainder of the country has moderate population density mixed with sizeable urban clusters | the most densely populated area is found around the Bosporus in the northwest where 20% of the population lives in Istanbul; with the exception of Ankara, urban centers remain small and scattered throughout the interior of Anatolia; an overall pattern of peripheral development exists, particularly along the Aegean Sea coast in the west, and the Tigris and Euphrates River systems in the southeast |
Source: CIA Factbook
