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Home » Community » Regional chapters and National networks » South-East Europe » Greece – HESP » Introduction Greece

Introduction Greece

Greece is located in the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula, bordered by the Ionian, Aegean and the Mediterranean Seas. Greece has a total area of 131.940 km2 which houses a population of 11,06 million (2013, Eurostat). With its particular features such as geomorphological characteristics and extended coastline, Greece is home to a wide variety of ecosystems and has a rich and varied flora and fauna. Typical ecosystems to be found are a variety of marine, wetland, forest, mountainous, cultivated and urban ecosystems. Greece consists of a large mainland and an archipelagos of around 3.000 islands. The country has a total coastline of 18.000 km and since it is for 80% mountainous, makes Greece one of the most mountainous countries in Europe with the highest peak of 2.919 m at Olympus. There are three different types of climate: a Mediterranean climate (mild, wet winters and hot dry summers), an Alpine climate (Western-North Greece), and a temperate climate with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers. Wildlife consists of bears, wolfs, wild boars, snakes, vultures, eagles and a large number of birds. The variation of plants and trees on Greece is exceptional with over 6.000 species, mostly indigenous. Marine life is also exceptionally varied with some rare and endemic species. Greece constitutes a priceless biological reserve in a European scale with more than 300 bird species, reptiles and mammals, while hundreds of other birds are passing over Greece as migrants (Papaconstantinou et al., 2007; Valakos, et al., 2008; Legakis and Maragou, 2009 in Valavanidis and Vlachogianni, 2012).
Pressures on the environment increases due to accelerated economic growth and rising income levels of the last decades. Developments of the industrial, energy, agricultural , transport and tourism sectors as well as expansion of construction and urbanization strongly influences environmental pollution and degradation of natural resources (Valavanidis and Vlachogianni, 2012).
  • Greece in Numbers
  • Environmental pollution in Greece
  • What are Ecosystem Services?
Currently these webpages are under construction but more content will be added soon.Reference:

Valavanidis A. and Vlachogianni T.  (2012): Environmental crisis in Greece. The consequences of modernity and economic growth without sustainability goals. A review of the main problems related to pollution, environmental protection and management of natural resources in Greece. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Athens, University Campus Zografou 15784 Athens, Greece.

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