Greece - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Greece. Strategic location dominating the Aegean Sea and southern approach to Turkish Straits; a peninsular country, with an archipelago of about 2,000 islands. Mother's mean age at first birth is 30.7 years (2020 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 5 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Geographical data of Greece
| Location | Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 39 00 N, 22 00 E |
| Map references | Europe |
| Tarrain | mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands |
| Natural Resources | lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential |
| Natural Hazards | severe earthquakes volcanism: Santorini (367 m) has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Methana and Nisyros in the Aegean are also classified as historically active |
| Irrigated Land | 12,191 sq km (2021) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 1,110 km |
| Border Countries | Albania 212 km; Bulgaria 472 km; North Macedonia 234 km; Turkey 192 km |
| Coastline | 13,676 km |
| Climate | temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 130,647 sq km |
| Water Area | 1,310 sq km |
| comparative Area | slightly smaller than Alabama |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 6 nm |
| Continental shelf | 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Mount Olympus 2,917 |
| Lowest point | Mediterranean Sea 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 498 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 44.3% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 14.1% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 8% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 22.3% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 30.3% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 25.4% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
One third of the population lives in and around metropolitan Athens; the remainder of the country has moderate population density mixed with sizeable urban clusters
People and Society
In Greece, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Greek 91.6%, Albanian 4.4%, other 4% (2011 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | -0.35% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 7.4 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 12 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 4.2 beds/1,000 population (2019 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.41 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.68 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 54.1% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | |
| Education expenditures | |
| Net Migration rate | 1.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Greek | Greek(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Greek Orthodox 81-90%, Muslim 2%, other 3%, none 4-15%, unspecified 1% (2015 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 13.8% (male 742,131/female 699,079) |
| 15-64 years | 62.6% (male 3,278,906/female 3,267,140) |
| 65 years and over | 23.6% (2024 est.) (male 1,096,825/female 1,377,010) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 59.8 (2024 est.) |
| Youth dependency ratio | 22 (2024 est.) |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 37.8 (2024 est.) |
| Potential support ratio | 2.6 (2024 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 46.5 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 44.6 years |
| Female | 48.3 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 80.7% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 0.11% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 3.154 million ATHENS (capital), 815,000 Thessaloniki (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.07 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.8 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 3.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 3.8 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 3 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 81.9 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 79.4 years |
| Female | 84.6 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 6.33 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 2.13 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 2.66 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 1.45 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.08 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 27.3% (2025 est.) |
| Male | 30.3% (2025 est.) |
| Female | 24.6% (2025 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Greece
Want to know more about Greece? Check all different factbooks for Greece below.
