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 Greece
consists of a mountainous peninsula mainland jutting out into the
sea at the southern end of the Balkans, the Peloponnesus peninsula (separated
from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth), and
numerous islands (1400, 227 of which are inhabited), including Crete,
Euboea, Lesbos, Chios, the Dodecanese and the Cycladic groups of the
Aegean Sea as well as the Ionian Sea islands. Greece has the tenth
longest coastline in the world with 14,880 km (9,246 mi); its land
boundary is 1,160 km (721 mi).
Four fifths of Greece consist of mountains or hills, making the
country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Western Greece
contains a number of lakes and wetlands and it is dominated by the
Pindus mountain range. Pindus has a maximum elevation of 2,636 m
(8,648 ft) and it is essentially a prolongation of the Dinaric Alps.
The range continues through the western Peloponnese, crosses the
islands of Kythera and Antikythera and find its way into
southwestern Aegean, in the island of Crete where it eventually ends.
The islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that
once constituted an extension of the mainland. Pindus is
characterized by its high, steep peaks, often dissected by numerous
canyons and a variety of other karstic landscapes. Most notably, the
impressive Meteora formation consisting of high, steep boulders
provides a breathtaking experience for the hundreds of thousands of
tourists who visit the area each year.
The climate of Greece can be categorised into three types (the
Mediterranean, the Alpine and the Temperate) that influence
well-defined regions of its territory. The Pindus mountain range
strongly affects the climate of the country by making the western
side of it (areas prone to the south-westerlies) wetter on average
than the areas lying to the east of it (lee side of the mountains).
The Mediterranean type of climate features mild, wet winters and hot,
dry summers. The Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Crete, Eastern
Peloponessus and parts of the Sterea Ellada region are mostly
affected by this particular type of climate. Temperatures rarely
reach extreme values along the coasts, although, with Greece being a
highly mountainous country, snowfalls occur frequently in winter. It
sometimes snows even in the Cyclades or the Dodecanese.
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