The ancient civilization of Greece was located in southeastern Europe along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
The geography of the region helped to shape the government and culture of the ancient Greeks
Geographical formations including mountains seas and islands form natural barriers between the Greek city-states and
Forced the Greeks to settle along the coast
The region of the Mediterranean where the Greeks first settled is called the Aegean Sea
Greek city-states formed all along the Aegean coast line and on the many islands in the Aegean Sea
The people of Greece used the Aegean to travel from city to city
The Aegean also provided fish for the people to eat
The land of Greece is full of mountains
Around 80% of the Greek mainland is mountainous. This made it difficult to make long journeys by land
the mountains also form natural barriers between the major city-states
the tallest mountain in Greece is not Olympus the
Ancient Greeks believed that their gods the twelve Olympians lived at the top of Mount Olympus
The Aegean Sea is home to over 1,000 islands
the Greeks settled on many of these islands including Crete the largest of the islands Rhodes
chioce and elif's
The climate in ancient Greece generally featured hot summers and mild winters
Because it was so hot. Most people wore light weight clothing throughout most of the year
They would put on a cloak or wrap during the colder days of the winter months
The mountains and seas of ancient Greece formed several natural regions
Lava knees the palapa knees is a large Peninsula located the southern tip of the Greek mainland
It is almost an island and only connects to the mainland by a small strip of land called the Isthmus of Corinth
The palapa knees was home to several major Greek city states including sparta
corinth and argos
Central greece just north of the Peloponnese is central greece
Central greece was home to the famous region of Attica and the city-state of Athens
Northern Greece
Northern Greece is sometimes broken up into three major regions including Thessaly papyrus the Macedonian
Mount Olympus is located in northern Greece
Islands major groupings of the Greek islands include the Cyclades islands
the Dodecanese and the northern Aegean islands
The ancient Greeks spoke the same language and had similar cultures
There were not one large in power
However, but were divided into a number of powerful city states such as Athens Sparta and Thebes
The Greek set up colonies throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea
this included settlements in modern-day Italy France Spain
Turkey and parts of North Africa
These colonies helped to spread the Greek culture throughout the region
Interesting facts about the geography of ancient Greece
The Greeks called their land helis the word Greece comes from the Roman word for the country Grisha
Under the rule of Alexander the Great Greece expanded into a large empire that included Egypt and stretched all the way to India
The pendous mountain range runs north to south along much of mainland Greece it is sometimes called the spine of Greece
The Greek philosopher Plato once said that we live around a sea like frogs around a pond
