Geography of Greece

The extreme points of Greece are [8]

• North: Ormenio village (41°45′41″ N, 26°13′15″ E)
• South: Gavdos island (34°48′11″ N, 24°07′25″ E)
• East: Strongyli island (36°06′17″ N, 29°38′39″ E)
• West: Othonoi island (39°51′11″ N, 19°22′41″ E)

Macedonia Thessaly Sporades Islands Epirus Central Greece Thrace Peloponnese Attica Cyclades Dodecanese North Aegean Islands Crete Ionian Islands Albania North Macedonia Bulgaria Turkey Mediterranean Sea Ionian- Sea Aegean- Sea

Regions of Greece

Map of Greece ATHENS Thessaloniki Kavala ---Thasos Alexandroupolis --Samothrace Corfu Igoumenitsa Larissa Volos Ioannina Chalcis Patras Serres Kozani Florina Lamia Arta Agrinio Chania Kalamata Corinth Nafplion Sparta Piraeus Eleusina Lavrion Heraklion M.Olympus (2917 m) Lefkada Kefalonia Zakynthos- Lemnos Lesbos Chios Samos Andros Tinos Mykonos Icaria --Patmos Naxos Milos Santorini--- Kos Rhodes Karpathos Kassos Kythira Gavdos Megisti

Cities and islands of Greece

Greece's cities, main towns, main rivers, islands and selected archaeological sites.

Mainland Greece forms the southernmost part of the Balkan peninsula with two additional smaller peninsulas projecting from it: the Chalkidiki and the Peloponnese. The north of the country includes the regions of Macedonia and Thrace. To the south the mainland narrows and includes the regions of Epirus, Thessaly and Central Greece, where the region of Attica and the capital city Athens are located. Further south, the smaller peninsula of Peloponnese is separated from the rest of the Greek mainland by the Corinthian and Saronic Gulfs, but joined by the Isthmus of Corinth.

Mainland Greece covers about 80% of the total territory and is largely mountainous. The largest mountain range of Greece is the Pindus range, the southern extension of the Dinaric Alps, which forms the spine of the Greek mainland, separating Epirus from Thessaly and Macedonia. The country's tallest mountain is Mount Olympus, which also separates Thessaly from Macedonia. Its highest peak rises to 2,918 m above sea level, making it the second highest of the Balkan peninsula after Musala in the Rila Mountain.

The number of islands vary between 1,200 and 6,000.[9] A figure frequently cited in travel guides is 1,425 islands, of which 166 are said to be inhabited.[10] The Greek Tourism Organization reports a figure of 6,000, with 227 of them inhabited.[11] Paris Match, however, raises this number to 9,841 islands, of which only 169 have a recorded continuous human presence. [12]

The Greek islands account for about 20% of the country's total territory,[13] and vary greatly in size as well as in climate. The country's largest island is Crete, with Euboea being second largest. Other large Greek islands include Rhodes and Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, and Corfu and Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea. Many of the smaller Greek islands form groups or chains, often called archipelagos, with notable examples being the Cyclades and the Sporades in the south and central Aegean Sea respectively.

The islands of the Aegean Sea are situated between mainland Greece to the west and north, Anatolia to the east and the island of Crete to the south. Traditionally, the islands are classified into seven groups, from north to south:

• North Aegean Islands
• Sporades
• Euboea
• Saronic Islands
• Cyclades
• Dodecanese (Southern Sporades)
• Crete

Geographical features

The Ionian Islands are a group of seven islands. The six northern islands lie off the western coast of Greece, in the Ionian Sea. The other island, Kythira, lies off the southern tip of the Peloponnese. Kythira is part of the modern administrative region of Attica, not the Ionian Islands (Ionioi Nisoi). The Ionian Islands are distinct from the historical region of Ionia, which is today part of western Turkey.

NASA photograph of Crete

Crete is the largest island of Greece and the second largest in the Eastern Mediterranean, after Cyprus. The island spans 260 km from east to west and 60 km from north to south at its widest. The island narrows in the region close to Ierapetra, where it is only 12 km wide. Crete covers an area of 8,336 km² (3,219 sq mi), with a coastline of 1046 km. It is surrounded to the north by the Sea of Crete; to the south by the Libyan Sea; to the west by the Myrtoan Sea; and to the east by the Karpathion Sea. It lies about 160 km south of the Greek mainland.

Crete is characterized by a mountain range crossing from west to east, formed by three different subranges:

• The White Mountains or Lefka Ori (2,452 m);
• The Idi Range (Psiloritis (35.18°N 24.82°E / 35.18; 24.82) 2,456 m);
• The Dikti Mountains (2,148 m)

These encompass fertile plateaus, such as Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha; caves such as Diktaion and Idaion; and gorges such as the Samariá Gorge. The protected area of the Samariá Gorge is the home of the Cretan goat, or kri-kri, while the endangered Bearded vulture or lammergeyer lives in the Cretan mountains and gorges.

Crete's rivers include the Ieropotamos River in the southern part of the island.

• Arable land: 19.71%
• Permanent crops: 8.95%
• Other: 71.37% (2012 est.)

Irrigated land: 15,550 km² (2007)