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Continental Europe
 
 
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Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent
Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents ? they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia ....
 of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, explicitly excluding European island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s and, at times, peninsula
Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of Landform that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paeninsula : paene, almost + insula, island....
s. Notably, in British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 usage, the term means Europe excluding the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Isle of Man
Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles....
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
 and Iceland
Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
. One general definition of "Continental Europe" is the European landmass excluding the UK, Ireland and Iceland. Other island nations excluded from Continental Europe are Cyprus
Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is an island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, west of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, south of Turkey and north of Egypt....
 and Malta
Malta

Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
.






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Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent
Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents ? they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia ....
 of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, explicitly excluding European island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s and, at times, peninsula
Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of Landform that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paeninsula : paene, almost + insula, island....
s. Notably, in British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 usage, the term means Europe excluding the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Isle of Man
Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles....
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
 and Iceland
Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
. One general definition of "Continental Europe" is the European landmass excluding the UK, Ireland and Iceland. Other island nations excluded from Continental Europe are Cyprus
Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is an island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, west of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, south of Turkey and north of Egypt....
 and Malta
Malta

Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
. However, in other areas of Europe different ideas on what the term actually means prevail.

Some definitions of continental Europe extend the boundaries of the continent to its geographical boundaries, thus including nations that are within the elevated boundaries of the Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains

The Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. They are usually considered as the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
 and the Caucasus Mountains
Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasus Mountains is a Mountain range in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea sea in the Caucasus region.The Caucasus Mountains are made up of two separate mountain systems:...
.

Use in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, the Continent is used to refer to the mainland of Europe. A famous, perhaps apocrypha
Apocrypha

Apocrypha are texts of uncertain authenticity, or writings where the authorship is questioned.When used in the specific context of Judeo-Christian theology, the term apocrypha refers to any collection of scriptural texts that falls outside the Biblical canon....
l, British newspaper headline once read "Fog in Channel; Continent Cut Off".

Derivatively, the adjective "continental" refers to the social practices or fashion of continental Europe, as opposed to those in Britain. Examples include breakfast and, historically, long-range driving before Britain had motorways.

Scandinavia

The Scandinavian peninsula
Scandinavian Peninsula

The Scandinavian Peninsula is a geographic region in northern Europe, consisting of Norway and Sweden. The name Scandinavian is etymology Scania, a region at the southernmost extremity of the peninsula....
 (Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
, Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
 and Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
) is sometimes excluded from Continental Europe. Especially, in Germanic studies
Germanic studies

Germanic studies is the field of study of the Germanic languages and the history of the Germanic peoples.Subfields*English studies*German studies...
, "Continental" refers to the European continent excluding both Scandinavia and the British Isles. The reason for this is that although the Scandinavian peninsula is technically attached to Continental Europe by Karelia
Karelia

Karelia , the land of the Karelians, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden. It is currently divided between the Russian Republic of Karelia, the Russian Leningrad Oblast, and Finland ....
, it is in practice reached by sea, not by land (which would imply travelling north as far as Tornio
Tornio

Tornio is a municipalities of Finland in Lapland, Finland, Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water....
 at the 66th parallel north
66th parallel north

The 66th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 66 degree true north of the Earth equator, just south of the Arctic Circle.Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 66? north passes through:...
), and has in the past been mis-identified as an island (Scandia
Scandia

Scandia was a name used for various uncharted islands in Northern Europe by the first Greek and Roman geographers. The name originated in Greek sources, where it had been used for a long time for different islands in the Mediterranean region....
).

Mediterranean islands

In the Mediterranean context, "the continent" may refer to the continental part of Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 (as opposed to Sardinia
Sardinia

Sardinia is the Mediterranean islands#By area island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The island is surrounded by the France island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands....
 and Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
), Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 with Balearic islands
Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera....
, Alboran or the continental part of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 (as opposed to Corsica
Corsica

Corsica is the Mediterranean islands#By area in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the France mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
).

See also

  • Mainland
    Mainland

    Mainland is usually the continental part of a region, as opposed to the islands nearby. Sometimes the residents are called "the Mainlanders". As a result of the usually larger area of mainland, there are significantly more mainlanders than islanders, and mainlander culture and politics sometimes threaten to dominate those of the islands....
  • Continental philosophy
    Continental philosophy

    Continental philosophy, in contemporary usage, refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe. This sense of the term originated among English-speaking philosophers in the second half of the 20th century, who found it useful for referring to a range of thinkers and traditions outside the analytic philo...
  • Western Europe
    Western Europe

    Western Europe refers to the countries in the western most half of Europe. This concept has had different meanings, political and cultural as well as geographical issues have influenced the area....
  • Central Europe
    Central Europe

    Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern Europe and Western Europe Europe. In addition, Northern Europe, Southern Europe and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe....
  • Eastern Europe
    Eastern Europe

    Eastern Europe is a term that applies to the geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the Europe. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today, parts of Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons, even though there i...
  • Geographical centre of Europe
    Geographical centre of Europe

    The location of the geographical centre of Europe depends on the definition of the borders of Europe, mainly whether remote islands are included to define the extreme points of Europe, and on the method of calculating the final result....