Transcript Where is Greece? - Cranbury School Web Portal

Ancient
Greece:
Geography
Where is Greece?
• Sunny Greece is
located 1,500 miles
southeast of England.
• It’s capital city is
Athens
• It is famous for its
beautiful beaches and
sea!
How has the geography of
Cranbury impacted your lives?
Driving
Vacation
School
Clothing
Recreation
Geography had the same impacts on
Ancient Greeks
The Climate
• The climate is Mediterranean.
• The Mediterranean Sea cools
the air in summer and
provides warmth in winter.
The Climate - Summer
• The Greek summer is
hot and dry.
• On average the sun
shines for 3,000
hours per year.
– leads to drought
– grapes and olives are
one of the few plants
that can survive the
summer droughts
The Climate - winter
• The Greek winter is
moderate. It can be
rainy on costal
regions and snowy in
the mountains.
– allows for limited farming
– grapes and olives
Physical Geography
• There are mountains,
valleys and coasts.
• The high mountains
are separated by
deep valleys through
which rivers flow.
 75% of Greece is
covered by mountains
 Difficult to farm
Ancient Greece - terrain
• No part of Greece is more than
about forty miles from the coast
(a couple of days walking).
• There are lots of islands
surrounding Greece.
• Surrounded by seas
 Made trade easier
 Could get what they could not grow
 Also brought ideas back with them
• Because of the mountainous
terrain, it is said that “all Greeks
are islanders”, separated from
each other by water or land
boundaries.
Soil and Plants
• Vegetation is
dependent on
geographical regions.
• In Ancient Greece,
farmers grew olives,
figs, grain, fruit and
grapes in the fertile
valleys.
Soil and Plants
• However, other parts of Ancient
Greece had drier soil and less
vegetation, particularly around
the cities (only 1/5 land could
be farmed).
• Although surrounded by sea
water, they found it difficult to
find fresh water away from the
valleys.
• The high mountains also
prevented large-scale farming,
so the Greeks were forced to
look beyond their own country
for fertile land. They became
great sailors and traded with far
off lands.
Volcanoes!
• Another important aspect of
the Greek environment is that
it is very unstable.
• Greece is in the middle of a
very volcanic zone, between
the European and African
tectonic plates.
• There are several active
volcanoes and earthquakes
are common.
Where on Earth is Greece?
 Greece is located on a
peninsula that extends into
the Mediterranean Sea.

As you can see in the map
above, Greece is almost
completely surrounded by
water.
 Many islands can be found
around the peninsula.
 The large island at the bottom
of the map is Crete.
Ancient Greek Culture
Because they were cut off by mountains and the seas…
• …they were isolated
– Led to the formation of city-states
– Limited interaction and unity of Ancient Greece
– Created fierce rivalries
• …the sea became a vital link
– Hundreds of bays to provide safe harbor for ships
– Skilled sailors
• Traded olive oil, wine, and marble
• Returned with grains, metals, and ideas
– Adapted the Phoenician alphabet
– Became basis for all Western alphabets
Ancient Greek Culture
What Ancient Greeks did…
• Went to war (each city-state was VERY
patriotic and willing to fight!!)
– Peloponnesian, Trojan, and
Persian Wars
• Developed great thinkers
– Homer, Socrates, Plato
– Herodotus- Father of history
– Archimedes- Archimedes
Screw
• Built temples to the gods and
goddesses
Ancient Greek Culture
Wrote poetry and drama
• Tragedy
– Sophocles
– Euripides
• Comedies
– Aristophanes
• Performed outside with little or no
scenery
• Stadium seating
How did the Geography of Greece
impact Ancient Greeks?
Created
• Great thinkers
• Great architecture
• Skilled traders
• War mongers
• Technology