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Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by some, simply as the Continent. When Eurasia is regarded as a single continent, Europe is treated both as a continent and subcontinent.
The most common definition of mainland Europe excludes these continental islands: the Greek islands, CyprusGeographically, Cyprus belongs to Southwest Asia (more specifically, the Near East), but politically and culturally it is considered part of Europe., Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, the Balearic Islands, Great Britain and Ireland and surrounding islands, Novaya Zemlya and the Nordic archipelago, as well as nearby oceanic islands, including the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Svalbard.
The Scandinavian Peninsula is sometimes also excluded even though it is a part of "mainland Europe", as the de facto connections to the rest of the continent were historically across the Baltic Sea or North 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).
Derivatively, the adjective continental refers to the social practices or fashion of continental Europe, or at least specific parts of it. Examples include breakfast, topless sunbathing and, historically, long-range driving (before Britain had motorways) often known as Grand tourer. Remaining differences as seen in electrical plugs, the use of left-hand traffic, and for the United Kingdom, the continued use of certain imperial units alongside the metric system (which have long since displaced customary units in continental Europe) have reinforced the idea.
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 undersea Channel Tunnel. The tunnel accommodates passenger traffic between the island and northern France while maintaining border controls on each side.
People in Scandinavia have viewed the region as distinct and a separate entity to continental Europe, similar as in Britain. The term Kontinenten in Swedish language or Kontinentet in Norwegian ("the Continent") is a vernacular expression that refers to continental Europe but with the exclusion of Sweden, Norway, and Finland (although Denmark is included, despite the Danish Archipelago technically not a part of continental Europe). Another Swedish expression is nere på kontinenten, meaning "down on the continent". Some other differences in social culture and climate have further reinforced this idea of it being separate.
The opening of the Great Belt Bridge and Øresund Bridge, in 1998 and 2000, have for the first time provided a direct physical connection from the Scandinavian Peninsula to the Danish mainland (the Jutland), and thus the European mainland. This also included the other Danish islands (Zealand and Funen), as was noted in the New York Times headline: "Copenhagen is linked to the Continent".
The part of continental France located in Europe is also known as l'Hexagone, "the Hexagon", referring to its approximate shape on a map. Continental Italy is also known as lo Stivale, "the Boot", referring to its approximate shape on a map. Continental Spain is referred to as peninsular Spain.
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