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About 80% of Greece consists of mountains or hills, thus making Greece one of the most mountainous countries of Europe. Western Greece contains lakes and wetlands. Pindus, the central mountain range, has a maximum elevation of 2,636 m. The Pindus can be considered as a prolongation of the Dinaric Alps. The range continues by means of the Peloponnese, the islands of Kythera and Antikythera to find its final point in the island of Crete. (Actually the islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once consisted an extension of the mainland). The Central and Western Greece area contains high, steep peaks dissected by many canyons and other karstic landscapes, including the Meteora and the Vikos gorge the later being the second largest one on earth after the Grand Canyon in the US.

We begin to look at the geography of ancient Greece by examining how Greeks lived on their farms, why they traded, road systems, and the plant life that ancient Greece had. Geography has always had a great influence on Greece and its inhabitants. It is largely responsible for numerous continuities in its extensive history. While the mountains that split the Greek lands have contributed to localism they have been a major barrier to unity as a nation. The struggle of communication by land and the significant presence of the sea have made mariners out of Greeks for numerous generations. The natural resources ensure a steady flow of abundance and guarantee sustenance if governed wisely.

The Greeks had their private space that consisted of the agricultural fields in the territory of the polis and their houses compacted in settlements, whether in the central town of the city-state, in smaller towns, or villages. Ancient Greeks preferred to live in such compacted settlements, even when agriculture was their main source of support. Occasionally, there has been evidence of how agricultural land was organized by the residents of the settlements in rectangular and equal lots. The idea was that each family would farm a single plot of land. But, there was a tendency for farmland to become divided and for a landowner to own many plots of land scattered all over the community.

Greece was known as the "Birthplace of Western Civilization"

One factor that can be considered as an integral part of the development of Greek civilization is its geography.

Balcan peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is surrounded by three seas: in the south is the Mediterranean Sea; Ionian Sea in the west; and the Aegean Sea in the east.