Location: Balkan State, Southern Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea between Turkey and Bulgaria

Map references: Africa, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 131,940 sq km
land area: 130,800 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Alabama

Land boundaries: total 1,210 km, Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 228 km

Coastline: 13,676 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 6 nm, but Greece has threatened to claim 12 nm

International disputes: air, continental shelf, and territorial water disputes with Turkey in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; dispute with The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over name and symbol implying territorial claim

Climate: temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain: mostly mountains with ranges extending into sea as peninsulas or chains of islands

Natural resources: bauxite, lignite, magnesite, petroleum, marble

Land use:
arable land: 23%
permanent crops: 8%
meadows and pastures: 40%
forest and woodland: 20%
other: 9%

Irrigated land: 11,900 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: air pollution; water pollution
natural hazards: subject to severe earthquakes
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea

Note: strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.