moving a repository question

I barely qualify as a novice on git, so my apologies in advance if this is a
stupid question.

Is everything that git needs stored in the .git tree?

In understanding the big picture...
Is there any reason I can't just move or copy the entire .git tree
someplace else if I wanted to move or make a copy?

I realize about the clone command, but wouldn't just a straight
copy be easier (in the vanilla case where no branches or anything
complicate things)?
TIA!
-Paul Kinzelman