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Continental Europe ormainland Europe is the contiguousmainland ofEurope, excluding its surrounding islands.[1] It can also be referred to ambiguously as theEuropean continent,[2][3] – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by some, simply asthe Continent.[4] WhenEurasia is regarded as a single continent, Europe is treated both as acontinent andsubcontinent.[5]
The continental territory of the historicalCarolingian Empire was one of the many old cultural concepts used for mainlandEurope.[6] This was consciously invoked in the 1950s as one of the basis for the prospectiveEuropean integration (see alsomulti-speed Europe)[7][8]
The most common definition of mainland Europe excludes thesecontinental islands: theGreek islands,Cyprus[9],Malta,Sicily,Sardinia,Corsica, theBalearic Islands,Great Britain andIreland and surrounding islands,Novaya Zemlya and the Nordic archipelago, as well as nearbyoceanic islands, including theCanary Islands,Madeira, theAzores,Iceland, theFaroe Islands, andSvalbard.[10]
TheScandinavian Peninsula is sometimes also excluded even though it is a part of "mainland Europe", as thede facto connections to the rest of the continent were historically across theBaltic Sea orNorth Sea (rather than via the lengthy land route that involves travelling to the north of the peninsula where it meets Finland, and then south through northeast Europe).[10]
Great Britain, off the western coast of the continental landmass, is thelargest island of Europe by both area and population. It is geographically close, with theStrait of Dover being 21 miles (34 km) at its narrowest.[11] In both Great Britain andIreland (which together consisted of the states of theUnited Kingdom and theRepublic of Ireland),the Continent is generally used to refer to the mainland of Europe.[12] An amusing British newspaper headline supposedly once read, "Fog inChannel; Continent Cut Off".[13] It has also been claimed that this was a regular weather forecast in Britain in the 1930s.[14] In addition, the sole wordEurope itself is also regularly used to mean anywhere on continental Europe.[15]
Derivatively, the adjectivecontinental refers to the social practices or fashion of continental Europe, or at least specific parts of it. Examples includebreakfast, topless sunbathing and, historically, long-range driving (before Britain hadmotorways) often known asGrand Touring.[citation needed] Remaining differences as seen in electrical plugs, the use ofleft-hand traffic, and for the United Kingdom, the continued use of certainimperial units alongside themetric units (which have long since displaced customary units in continental Europe) have reinforced the idea.[16][17]
In 1994, Britain became physically connected to continental Europe for the first time (since becoming an island 8000 years ago) through the opening of the underseaChannel Tunnel. The tunnel accommodates passenger traffic between the island and northernFrance while maintaining border controls on each side.[18][19]
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TheScandinavian Peninsula is attached to continental Europe, however the land route runs along the66th parallel north, in the north of the peninsula. Thede facto connections to the rest of the continent were historically across theBaltic Sea orNorth Sea, thus making Scandinavia functionally an "island" and is why the region is often excluded from continental Europe,[10] including by theEuropean Union which make a distinction between Scandinavia and Mainland Europe.[20] In traditionalGermanic studies,continental refers to the European continent excluding the Scandinavian Peninsula (as well as Britain, Ireland, and Iceland). InDenmark (not on the peninsula),Jutland is referred to as the national mainland and thereby a part of continental Europe.
People in Scandinavia have viewed the region as distinct and a separate entity to continental Europe, similar as in Britain. The termKontinenten inSwedish orKontinentet inNorwegian ("the Continent") is a vernacular expression that refers to continental Europe but with the exclusion ofSweden,Norway, andFinland (althoughDenmark is included, despite theDanish Archipelago technically not a part of continental Europe). Another Swedish expression isnere på kontinenten, meaning "down on the continent".[21] Some other differences in social culture and climate have further reinforced this idea of it being separate.[22]
The opening of theGreat Belt Bridge andØresund Bridge, in 1998 and 2000, have for the first time provided a direct physical connection from the Scandinavian Peninsula to the Danish mainland (theJutland Peninsula), and thus the European mainland. This also included the other Danish islands (Zealand andFunen), as was noted in theNew York Times headline: "Copenhagen is linked to the Continent".[23][24]
The termThe Continent may also be used from the perspective of the island residents of each country to describe the continental portion of their country or the continent (or mainland) as a whole. So for example, "continent" may be used to refer to thecontinental part of France (excludingCorsica andoverseas France), thecontinental part of Greece (excluding theAegean Islands,Crete, and theIonian Islands), thecontinental part of Italy (excludingSardinia,Sicily, etc.), thecontinental part of Portugal (excluding theAzores andMadeira), or thecontinental part of Spain (excluding theBalearic Islands, theCanary Islands, theplazas de soberanía, etc.).
The part of continental France located in Europe is also known asl'Hexagone, "the Hexagon", referring to its approximate shape on a map. Continental Italy is also known aslo Stivale, "the Boot", referring to its approximate shape on a map. Continental Spain is referred to aspeninsular Spain.
