Greece is located in southeastern Europe and is the only European Union member state on the Balkan Peninsula. The Greek mainland is bounded on the north by Bulgaria, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Albania; on the east by the Aegean Sea and Turkey; and on the west and south by the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas. The country consists of a large mainland; the Peloponnese Peninsula, connected to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth; and more than 1,400 islands, including Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, and the Dodecanese and Cycladic groups. Greece has more than 14,880 kilometers (9,300 mi.) of coastline and a land boundary of 1,160 kilometers (726 mi.).

About 80% of Greece is mountainous or hilly. Much of the country is dry and rocky; only 28% of the land is arable. Western Greece contains lakes and wetlands. Pindus, the central mountain range, has an average elevation of 2,650m. Mt. Olympus, the legendary home of Zeus and other gods of Greek mythology, is the highest point in Greece at 2,917m above sea level.

Greece has mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Temperatures are rarely extreme, although snowfall does occur in the mountains and occasionally in Athens during the winter.