Geography and Climate

Question 1

Where is Greece? What parallels? What countries border it?

Answer 1

-Occupies the southernmost end of the Balkan peninsula.
-Tucked between the 34th and 42nd parallels
-Bordered by Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and North Macedonia

Question 2

What % of Greece is covered by mountains?

Answer 2

70%
-Europe’s third most mountainous country after Switzerland and Austria

Question 3

What is the Pindos? Where does it lie? Extend?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What is the tallest peak of Greece? Elevation? Where is it located?

Answer 4

Mount Olympus
3,000 meters (9,850 feet)
-located on the eastern edge of the country, close to the Aegean Sea.

Question 5

What seas surround Greece?

Answer 5

Aegean to the east
Ionian to the west
Libyan to the south

Question 6

What are the two main camps the islands are dividided into?

Answer 6

Ionian (Cephalonia is the most important)
Aegean

Question 7

How are the Aegean islands divided?

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

How is mainland Greece divided?

Answer 8

-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

Question 9

What island belongs to Central Greece?

Answer 9

Evia

Question 10

What area appends Central Greece and surrounds Athens?

Answer 10

Attica

Question 11

What separates Peleponnese from mainland Greece?

Answer 11

Corinthian Gulf

Question 12

What are the main soils of Greece? Why?

Answer 12

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)

Question 13

What is the climate of Greece?

Answer 13

Predominately Mediterranean
-abundant sunshine
-hot, dry, extended summers
-mild winters
-shortened springs

Question 14

What areas feature continental climates with more defined seasons and cooler, wetter winters?

Answer 14

-Epirus
-The central part of the Peloponnese
-Western Thessaly
-Western Macedonia

Question 15

What is the hottest and driest part of Greece?

Answer 15

Attica

Question 16

What are the coolest parts of Greece?

Answer 16

Epirus
Amynteo (Macedonia)

Question 17

What are the differences in temperature between inland areas and coastal areas?

Answer 17

Winter:
Inland areas - range from 32 to 41 degrees F
Coastal Area - range from 41to 50 degrees F

Summer:
Temperatures are more even across the county, with the national average around 84 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

Question 18

Where are rains most abundant in Greece?

Answer 18

In the north and the west
(eastern edge of the mainland and the Aegean Islands are dry)

Question 19

When does rain occur the most in Greece?

Answer 19

Between October and March

Question 20

When do Thrace and Macedonia get the most rain?

Answer 20

Summer or harvest

Question 21

Is irrigation allowed in Greece? Any exceptions?

Answer 21

Not allowed (but still widely practiced)
-the government grants exceptions for newly planted vines and times of extreme drought or heat.

Question 22

What serves to mitigate the extreme heat in Greece?

Answer 22

Elevation
-many of the finest wines coming from the highest slopes

Cool winds from the north and proximity to the seas

Question 23

What is the Meltimi?

Answer 23

A wind that regularly sweeps the Aegean
-blows very dry air from the north, typically between mid-May and late September, which has an especially profound effect on Santorini

Question 24

Why are many of Crete’s vineyards planted on the northern part of the island?

Answer 24

Hot winds that come off the coast from Africa in the south
-mountain spine that runs west to east across the island acts as a natural barricade