Continental Europe

Continental Europe (blue)

View from France across the Strait of Dover to Great Britain

In geographical terms, continental Europe denotes the part of Europe that is part of the main land mass of the European continent .

Non-continental European states are only the following island states that have no land connection to the European mainland :

• United Kingdom in the British Isles
• Ireland on the island of Ireland
• Iceland
• Malta and
• Cyprus

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, “Europe” is often only understood to mean “on the Continent”.

The Scandinavian Peninsula with the states Norway and Sweden is not considered part of continental Europe in some narrower definitions, possibly expanded to include Finland , Karelia and the Kola Peninsula . However, there are less geographic arguments behind this , but rather traffic-related conditions and a historically grown self-image. The question of how far the political self-definition of the Nordic countries affects their perception of being part of the continent or not is a complex one. The answers are variable from a historical perspective and are by no means generally binding.