Continental This list denotes prominent usages of the term "mainland" to distinguish the islands of a continent from the mainland of a continent through a geopolitical lens. •
Mainland Africa, from the perspectives of
Cape Verde,
Comoros,
Madagascar,
Mauritius,
São Tomé and Príncipe and
Seychelles, as well as
Mayotte (
France) and
Réunion (France) •
Mainland Asia, from the perspectives of
Bahrain,
Brunei,
Cyprus (inc.
Akrotiri and Dhekelia and
Northern Cyprus),
East Timor,
Indonesia,
Japan (inc.
Okinawa Prefecture), the
Maldives, the
Philippines,
Singapore,
Sri Lanka, and
Taiwan (inc.
Kinmen, the
Matsu Islands, and
Penghu), as well as the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (
India),
Christmas Island (
Australia), the
Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia),
Coloane and
Taipa (
Macau),
East Malaysia (
Malaysia),
Hainan (
China),
Hong Kong Island (
Hong Kong),
Islands District (Hong Kong),
Jeju Island (
South Korea),
Lakshadweep (India) and
Sakhalin Oblast (
Russia) • In the future, if the
Salwa Canal is built, also from the perspective of
Qatar •
Mainland Europe, from the perspectives of Cyprus,
Iceland,
Ireland,
Malta, the
United Kingdom (inc.
Guernsey, the
Isle of Man, and
Jersey), as well as
Åland (
Finland), the
Faroe Islands (
Denmark),
Jan Mayen (
Norway),
Svalbard (Norway),
Corsica (
France),
Sardinia (
Italy),
Sicily (Italy),
Danish islands (Denmark),
Azores (
Portugal),
Madeira (Portugal),
Canary Islands (
Spain),
Balearic Islands (Spain),
Gotland (
Sweden),
Estonian islands (
Estonia),
Greek islands (
Greece) and
Russian islands (Russia) • Also note that several
European countries possess colonies or outposts all around the world (often small islands) in all other continental regions including
North America,
South America,
Africa,
Oceania,
Asia and
Antarctica • Mainland Europe, from the perspective of
Scandinavia, a peninsula •
Mainland Southeast Asia, from the perspective of
Maritime Southeast Asia •
Mainland North America, from the perspectives of
Cuba,
Greenland,
Vancouver Island,
Haida Gwaii,
Newfoundland,
Prince Edward Island and
Jamaica •
Mainland South America, from the perspectives of the
Falkland Islands Internal This list denotes prominent usages of the term "mainland" to distinguish between distinct regions within a single country based on an "islands-to-mainland" relationship. Note that the "mainland" can sometimes consist of a large island rather than a continental landmass. •
Mainland Argentina, as opposed to
Tierra del Fuego Province (including
Argentinian Antarctic claims), as well as other
islands of Argentina •
Mainland Australia, as opposed to the
island of Tasmania and other
Australian islands, especially
those not part of Australia proper. •
Mainland Brazil, as opposed to
Abrolhos,
Fernando de Noronha,
Ilhabela,
Saint Peter and Saint Paul and
Trindade and Martim Vaz. •
Mainland Britain, as opposed to the many smaller
islands of the United Kingdom. The largest islands within the
Northern Isles are called
Orkney Mainland and
Shetland Mainland, respectively. •
Mainland Canada, as opposed to
Canadian Islands, particularly those in the
Maritimes or in the
Arctic • the
Mainland Colony was the mainland part of
British Columbia, prior to its merger with Vancouver Island; today, the term "
Lower Mainland" refers the southernmost part of the
coast of British Columbia • the
continental part of Nova Scotia, as opposed to
Cape Breton Island and other
Nova Scotian islands •
Mainland Chile, as opposed to
remote islands of the
Chilean Sea,
Tierra del Fuego Province and
Chilean Antarctic claims, as well as offshore
islands of Chile such as the
Chiloé Archipelago and
Easter Island •
Mainland China, a term that usually refers to all territories, irrespective of geography, that are administered by the
People's Republic of China (PRC), aside from
Hong Kong and
Macau, which are both administered by the PRC as
semi-independent special administrative regions •
Mainland Colombia, as opposed to the overseas
archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina. • the
Cuban Mainland, as opposed to the
Canarreos Archipelago and other
islands of Cuba •
Mainland Denmark, as opposed to overseas parts of the
Danish Realm; geographically, Denmark proper consists of a continental portion called
Jutland and nearby
Danish Isles • the
main island is Greenland, excluding
Disko Island and other
islands of Greenland •
Mainland Ecuador, as opposed to the
Galápagos Islands and other
islands of Ecuador •
Mainland Equatorial Guinea, as opposed to the non-continental
islands of Equatorial Guinea. •
Mainland Estonia, as opposed to the
West Estonian archipelago with two of the fifteen
counties and other
islands of Estonia •
Mainland Finland, as opposed to
Åland; historically,
Finland Proper made up the southwestern portion of the mainland •
Mainland France, as opposed to
Corsica and
other islands within
European France; also used loosely as an antonym of
Overseas France, despite the fact that the term
Metropolitan France is more apt • the
main island of New Caledonia, as opposed to the
Loyalty Islands and other
islands of New Caledonia •
Mainland Greece (including the island of
Euboea), as opposed to the
Greek islands • the
main island of Iceland, as opposed to other
islands of Iceland •
Mainland India, as opposed to its insular
union territories or any other
islands of India •
Mainland Italy, as opposed to
its insular regions or any other
islands of Italy •
Mainland Japan, as opposed to the other
home islands, or to remote
islands of Japan, such as the
Nanpō Islands •
Mainland Korea as opposed to
Jeju Island and other islands of
North Korea or
South Korea • the
main island of Madagascar, as opposed to other
islands of Madagascar •
Mainland Malaysia as opposed to
East Malaysia or to any
islands of Malaysia •
Mainland Malta, as opposed to
Gozo and other
islands of Malta •
Mainland Netherlands as opposed to the
Dutch Caribbean; the Netherlands proper contains numerous
offshore islands •
Mainland New Zealand, is the two islands, the north and south islands. The
South Island of New Zealand is sometimes jokingly called the Mainland or the main island, especially by South Islanders themselves. Though it has a far smaller population, it is larger than the
North Island. "Mainland New Zealand" more commonly refers to the
archipelago made up of the North and South Island and smaller nearby islands, often excluding more outlying islands such as the
Chatham Islands, and always excluding remote insular parts of the
Realm of New Zealand. •
Mainland Norway, as opposed to
Svalbard and other
islands of Norway, including
its overseas dependencies •
the main island of Svalbard, as opposed to
Nordaustlandet and other
Islands of Svalbard • the
mainland part of Papua New Guinea, as opposed to the
Islands Region or to any other
islands of Papua New Guinea •
Mainland Portugal, as opposed to
its insular regions, or more broadly to any
islands of Portugal; until 1975, the term "mainland" was used loosely as an antonym of
overseas Portugal •
Mainland Spain as opposed to the
Balearic and
Canary Islands and other
lands under Spanish sovereignty; cf. the colonial-era term
peninsulares • the
main island of Sri Lanka, as opposed to other
islands of Sri Lanka •
Mainland United States, as opposed to nearby islands belonging to a certain
U.S. state, the
Hawaiian Islands, and to U.S.
island territories in the
Pacific or
Caribbean. The terms "
contiguous United States" (48 adjoining states in the continent of
North America which does not include
Alaska) or "
continental United States" (any U.S. state that is part of the North American continent which includes Alaska) are widely used instead, despite including adjacent islands on the
continental shelf in both definitions. •
Mainland Alaska (which is a part on the North American continent and a component of the U.S. mainland), as opposed to the approximately 2,670 named
offshore islands (many of which are part of the
Alexander Archipelago or
Aleutian Islands chain). •
Point Roberts (a
pene-exclave of
Washington state) views
Bellingham as "the mainland". The closure of international borders due to the
COVID-19 pandemic rendered it (de facto) an island in all but name. • Main or Big Land—in
Russia—as opposed to Minor Land, islands, or other isolated territories that are connected by water or air travel but not by paved road. • Mainland Tanzania
Tanzania-as opposed to Zanzibar the semi autonomous islands off the coast of Tanzania when the two countries merged in 1964 between Tanganyika(Now known as Tanzanian Mainland) and Zanzibar.
Internal (disputed) This list denotes prominent internal usages of the term "mainland" that are disputed. •
Mainland Taiwan, as opposed to
Kinmen,
Matsu,
Penghu and other
islands of Taiwan • The cause of the dispute is
Taiwan's uncertain sovereignty. Nevertheless, if the
Republic of China on Taiwan is regarded as an independent country, it is geographically one large island surrounded by several smaller islands. Politically, Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu are
de facto top-level
subdivisions within Taiwan, classified as
counties. •
Mainland Ukraine, as opposed to
Crimea, which is nonetheless
geographically part of the European mainland. • The cause of this dispute is the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. From a
Russian perspective, Russia is the mainland to Crimea. •
Mainland Britain, as opposed to
Northern Ireland • This is politically charged term in Ireland, mainly used by pro-UK unionists and generally avoided by
Irish nationalists.
Irredentist This list denotes prominent usages of the term "mainland" to distinguish between distinct regions within an irredentist region • The relationship between the
de facto independent state of
Republic of China (ROC; commonly called Taiwan) and the PRC as that of an island to its mainland. This is done in order to tacitly support the
PRC's territorial claim to Taiwan. This is highly controversial among supporters of
Taiwanese independence. Within Taiwan,
Pan-Blue politicians who support the ROC's constitutional territorial claim to the Chinese mainland have popularised this phrase as well. •
Mainland Greece as opposed to the Greek part of
Cyprus ==See also==