The country consists of a large mainland, the southern end of the Balkans, and the Peloponnesus peninsula, connected to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth. With the mostly internal Aegean Sea there are numerous islands, including Crete, Rhodes, Euboea, and the Dodecanese and Cycladic groups. Greece has more than 14,880 kilometres of coastline and a land boundary of 1,160 kilometres.

About 80% of Greece is mountainous or hilly. Much of the country is dry and rocky; only 28% of the land is arable. Western Greece contains lakes and wetlands. Pindus, the central mountain range, has an average elevation of 2,650 m. The legendary Mount Olympus is the highest point in Greece at 2,917 m above sea level.

Greece's climate features mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Temperatures are rarely extreme, although snowfalls do occur in the mountains and occasionally even in Athens in the winter.

Greece

The Hellenic Republic is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula. Bound on land by Bulgaria, the FYR Macedonia, and Albania to the north, to the east by Turkey and the waters of the Aegean Sea and to the west and south by the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas. Regarded by many as the cradle of Western civilisation, Greece has a long and rich history during which it spread its influence over three continents.

Peripheries and Prefectures

Greece consists of 13 administrative regions known as peripheries, which are further subdivided into 51 prefectures (nomoi, singular - nomos)

Beyond these there is one autonomous region, Mount Athos (Ayion Oros - Holy Mountain), a monastic state under Greek sovereignty.

Attica: Attica Central Greece: Euboea Evritania Fokis Fthiotis Viotia Central Macedonia Khalkidhiki Imathia Kilkis Pella Pieria Serres Thessaloniki Crete Chania Heraklion Lasithi Rethimno East Macedonia and Thrace Drama Evros Kavala Thassos Rodhopi Xanthi Epirus Arta Ioannina Preveza Thesprotia Ionian Islands Corfu Kefallinia Levkas Zakinthos

North Aegean Chios Lesbos Samos Peloponnesus Arcadia Argolis Corinth Laconia Messinia South Aegean Cyclades Dodecanese Thessaly Kardhitsa Larisa Magnesia Trikala West Greece Achaea Aitolia-Acarnania Ilia West Macedonia Florina Grevena Kastoria Kozani