Greece occupies a strategic location at the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa. It is located on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, and shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine geographical regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south