Ancient Greek Geography: The country of Greece is situated in southeastern Europe whose peninsula extends from the Balkans into the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water.

Greece also has some smaller peninsulas. Greece has more than 1400 islands. The country has mild winters and long, hot and dry summers.

Greek Agriculture Land

The Greek land is not favorable to agriculture. Much of the land is stony. Most o the population in ancient days lived along the coast where the soil was good for farming. Only some areas are suitable for the cultivation of wheat, barley, citrus, dates, and olives. The climate was hot and dry, and rainfall was limited to the winter months. Because of this, Ancient Greeks, although there were farmers also traded to make their living.

Ancient Greek Geography

Greece, it is said, not a place that is easy to live in. Hills and mountains make traveling difficult. In the ancient days, walking was the common mode of travel. Horses and carts were sometimes used. The rich classes traveled on horseback.

80 % of Greece consists of mountains or hills making it one of the most mountainous countries of Europe. While comparing the Greek Geography to that of today, we see that there is a big difference in the number of trees on the hillside. Most trees are cut down today and hills are bare.

Ancient Greece Climate

Consisting of a large mainland at the southern end of the Balkans; the Peloponnesus peninsula and numerous islands, Greece has the twelfth longest coastline in the world. No part of Greece is more than about forty miles from the sea.

Greece has a very unstable climate.Geographically, ancient Greece may be divided into three geographical regions; northern Greece, central Greece, and the Peloponnese.

Ancient Greece Mountains

Epirus and Thessaly separated by the Pindus mountain range from Northern Greece. It is almost surrounded by mountains. Having an elevation of 8,652 ft at Mt. Smolikas, Pindus has been a barrier to east-west travel.

The Pindus forms the core of mainland Greece and is characterized by its high, steep peaks, often dissected by numerous canyons and a variety of other karstic landscapes.

Thessaly is the largest plains area in Greece surrounded by the mountains, Mount Olympus and Mt Osa. The Vale of Tempe is situated between these two mountains. Mount Olympus is the most famous and the most worshipped of all Greek mountains. It was believed to be the mythical abode of the Greek gods.

Ancient Greece Mountain Ranges

Central Greece has more mountains than northern Greece. Countries of Aetolia, Locris, Acarnania, Doris, Phocis, Boeotia, Attica, and Megaris belong to central Greece. South of Pentelicus is the Hymettus mountain range.

Megaris lies in the Isthmus of Corinth, which separates central Greece from the Peloponnese.South of the Isthmus of Corinth is the Peloponnese whose central region is Arcadia, which is a plateau over mountain ranges.