Mediterranean and Other Atlantic Islands
The continent may sometimes refer to the continental part of Italy (excluding Sardinia, Sicily, etc.), the continental part of Spain (as opposed to the Balearic islands, the Canary Islands, Alboran, etc.), the continental part of France (as opposed to Corsica, etc.), the continental part of Portugal (as opposed to the Madeira Islands and Azores), or the continental part of Greece (as opposed to Ionian Islands, Aegean Islands, Crete). That is 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.
Read more about this topic: Continental Europe
Famous quotes containing the words atlantic and/or islands:
“In clear weather the laziest may look across the Bay as far as Plymouth at a glance, or over the Atlantic as far as human vision reaches, merely raising his eyelids; or if he is too lazy to look after all, he can hardly help hearing the ceaseless dash and roar of the breakers. The restless ocean may at any moment cast up a whale or a wrecked vessel at your feet. All the reporters in the world, the most rapid stenographers, could not report the news it brings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“What are the islands to me
if you are lost
what is Naxos, Tinos, Andros,
and Delos, the clasp
of the white necklace?”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)