Geography

Why Geography is important?? For Ancient Greece, geography played a very important role in society. It isolated Greek City-States Each city-state was independent Greece is largely a peninsula This resulted in Ancient Greece to depend heavily on the water for travel and communication.

The Sea The Sea shaped Greek civilization The Black Sea and the Aegean Sea served as “liquid highways” to link Greece together. Made trading very important due to lack of land to grow crops.

The Land About ¾ of Ancient Greece was covered by mountains Did not allow for a single unified Greece Each City-State had its own specific culture Only 20% of Greek Land was arable Did not allow for a large population Based diet on olives, grains, and grapes

The Climate Temperatures varied from 48 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees in the summer Supported outdoor life for Ancient Greeks Often met to discuss politics and news

Ancient Greece

Balkan and Peloponnesus Peninsulas Greece was divided by two distinct peninsulas The Balkan The Peloponnesus These 2 peninsulas aligned Greece in times of war

Ancient Greek City-States The land shaped how each City-State established itself. Athens was near the water so it was very trade and navy oriented. Sparta was located in the mountains, so it remained isolated from other city-states.

The Dardanelles This was a strait used to travel to the Black Sea for trade and communication.