Geography and Climate Flashcards
Where is Greece? What parallels? What countries border it?
-Occupies the southernmost end of the Balkan peninsula.
-Tucked between the 34th and 42nd parallels
-Bordered by Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and North Macedonia
What % of Greece is covered by mountains?
70%
-Europe’s third most mountainous country after Switzerland and Austria
What is the Pindos? Where does it lie? Extend?
The main mountain range of Greece.
-forms the spine of Greece
-southernmost extension of the central Alps
-extends from the north, through the Peloponnese, under the sea
What is the tallest peak of Greece? Elevation? Where is it located?
Mount Olympus
3,000 meters (9,850 feet)
-located on the eastern edge of the country, close to the Aegean Sea.
What seas surround Greece?
Aegean to the east
Ionian to the west
Libyan to the south
What are the two main camps the islands are dividided into?
Ionian (Cephalonia is the most important)
Aegean
How are the Aegean islands divided?
Cyclades (contains Santorini)
Dodecanese
the North Aegean Islands
-Crete also occupies the Aegean but tends to be considered on its own terms because of its size and history of independence
-Evia is another large Aegean island, though it gets lumped in with Central Greece due to the similarity of its viticulture and its proximity to Athens.
How is mainland Greece divided?
-Macedonia and Thrace occupy the north
-Epirus and Thessaly forming the band just south of them
-Central Greece, also known as Sterea Ellada, south of Epirus and Thessaly
-Peloponnese is the most southernly part of mainland Greece
What island belongs to Central Greece?
Evia
What area appends Central Greece and surrounds Athens?
Attica
What separates Peleponnese from mainland Greece?
Corinthian Gulf
What are the main soils of Greece? Why?
Limestone
-Greece is one of the few places in the world where oceanic crust not only protrudes from the sea but forms mountains
Volcanic (Santorini)
Clay (plains, especially in Sterea Ellada)
Alluvial formations (Coast)
Igneous material (Northern Regions)
What is the climate of Greece?
Predominately Mediterranean
-abundant sunshine
-hot, dry, extended summers
-mild winters
-shortened springs
What areas feature continental climates with more defined seasons and cooler, wetter winters?
-Epirus
-The central part of the Peloponnese
-Western Thessaly
-Western Macedonia
What is the hottest and driest part of Greece?
Attica