Questions – Geography and Climate of Ancient Greece
Ann Lian
2. Identify the dominant topographical feature of the Greek (Balkan) Peninsula.
The dominant topographical feature is mountainous in the
Greek Peninsula. Three – fourths of it was covered by
mountains.
3. What types of climate and agricultural cultivation is found in the Aegean region?
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The climate in Greece is mostly warm and dry. The
temperature is about 48 ℉ in the winter and 80 ℉ in the
summer.
Only 20﹪ of ancient Greece was good for farming, and small
rivers or streams could not support large – scale irrigation
objects. The ancient Greeks planted grains, grapes, and
olives on the hinterland inside their city–states, although
they could not get enough food.
4. What advantages and disadvantages does the geography pose for the ancient Greek
peoples?
Advantages:
 The ancient Greeks lived around the seas, which provided
convenient water highways for transportation and
communication or trading with other civilizations.
 There were skilled sailors.
 They could also trade crops and natural resources with the
other civilizations.
 The climate was warm and dry, so they could have an
outdoor life in the winter.
 The coastline provided defense lines for them.
Disadvantages:
 The mountainous geography made them travel across the
land difficultly.
 Mountains divided the land into many pieces, so they built
many small city-states. It’s difficult to organize all the ancient
Greeks together with same laws.
 The lack of suitable farmlands caused a small population.
 They could not build large-scale irrigation objects by using
small streams.
5. From your knowledge of ancient civilizations, how did the areas settled by the
Greeks differ from the early settlements of the Fertile Crescent region, the Nile River
Valley, the Indus River Valley, and ancient China?
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First of all, the early civilizations I have learnt before began
around rivers and the people lived on land; however, the
ancient Greek civilization began around the seas and
mountains.
There were not enough farmlands in ancient Greece. The
early civilizations developed depend on fertile soil near the
rivers.
The ancient Greeks could not build large-scale irrigation
objects while there were small streams.
There were not enough natural resources in ancient Greece
after the early groups lived there have depleted them.
The ancient Greeks lived in independent communities due to
the mountainous geography. The other civilizations lived in
whole countries.
There was not a large population in ancient Greece due to the
lack of food.
6. List the ways that geography and climate shaped Greek life and possibly Greek
history.
The geography shaped Greek traditions and customs directly.
Living around the seas:
 Transportation – convenient water highways
 Skilled sailors
 Communication with other civilizations
 Trading natural resources and crops
 Available coastlines = natural resources & defense lines
The land:
 Mountains = many pieces of city-states & each city-state had
its own laws
 Transportation - difficult to travel
 Streams = no large-scale irrigation objects
 Farmland – the city-states were built around a farmland
 Not enough food = small population
 Wars – seeking for more suitable lands to farm & raise
domesticated animals
The climate:
 Moderate climate = outdoor life
 Leisure time – public events & exchange news & public
activities