What was the land like in ancient Greece?

Mainland Greece is a mountainous land almost completely surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Greece has more than 1400 islands. The country has mild winters and long, hot and dry summers.

The ancient Greek peninsula was surrounded by a lot of saltwater and the coastlines were dotted with hundreds of islands. There were also numerous smaller peninsulas along the coastline which were ideal natural harbors. The hundreds of city-states relied heavily on the seas for transportation.

Greece’s steep mountains and surrounding seas forced Greeks to settle in isolated communities. Travel by land was hard, and sea voyages were hazardous. Most ancient Greeks farmed, but good land and water were scarce. They grew grapes and olives, and raised sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens.

Crete and Evia are its two largest islands and major island groups include the Argo-Saronic, Cyclades, Dodecanese, Ionian, Northeast Aegean and Sporades. With the vast percentage of its land comprised of hills and rugged mountains, Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe.

• Greece is one of the sunniest places in the world. …
• The Greek Isles are home to over 6000 beautiful islands. …
• Greece is home to 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. …
• 80% of Greece is made up of mountains. …
• Greece has an impressive coastline… about 16,000 kilometers.

• The Birthplace of Democracy.
• The Beginnings of Philosophy.
• Geometry and the Pythagorean Theorem.
• Western Medicine and the Hippocratic Oath.
• The Olympic Games.
• Drama and the Theatre of Epidaurus.
• Greek Mythology and Mount Olympus.
• Cartography and Map Making.

What was MOST true of ancient Greece? The mountains and seas prevented trade. The limited amount of good farmland led to increased trade and colonization. … The Parthenon sits atop the Acropolis and is one of the great ancient sites of the world.

Ancient Greeks Were Polytheistic The religion of Ancient Greece was classified as polytheistic, which means that they believed in multiple deities. In fact, the gods and goddesses that we know as the Olympian Gods were something that many religious experts accept as being at the core of their belief system.

• Ancient Greece had lots of city-states. …
• Marathons came from Ancient Greek times! …
• About one third of the Ancient Greeks were slaves. …
• The juries were huge! …
• They worshipped many Gods and Goddesses. …
• 12 of the Gods and Goddesses lived on Mount Olympus. …
• Greeks called themselves ‘Hellenes’.

• travel over mountains and seas were hard.
• seas had storms.
• land travel was hard + unpaved, rocky, muddy roads.
• ppl bought food and supplies while traveling.

From about 2000 B.C.E. to 800 B.C.E., most Greek city-states were ruled by monarchs—usually kings (the Greeks did not allow women to have power). At first, the Greek kings were chosen by the people of the city-state. When a king died, another leader was selected to take his place.

Population grew beyond the capacity of its limited arable land (according to Mogens Herman Hansen, the population of Ancient Greece increased by a factor larger than ten during the period from 800 BC to 350 BC, increasing from a population of 700,000 to a total estimated population of 8 to 10 million) .

Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, and the second-highest mountain in the Balkans rising to 9,573 feet above sea level. In Greek mythology, Olympus was the home of the gods on the Mytikas peak. Mount Olympus is a World Biosphere Reserve and has a very rich flora.

Volcanoes of Greece (12)

How did the limited amount of fertile land cause the Greeks to become sea traders? Because farming didn’t produce surpluses, the Greeks came to depend on the sea. People became fishers, sailors, and merchant traders. Greek sailors were highly skilled.