Continental Portugal (, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

and so in

continental Europe 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 som ...

, having approximately 95% of the total population and 96.6% of the country's land. Mainland Portugal is therefore commonly called by residents of the Portuguese archipelagos of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

and

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

the continent () in all respects including minor elements of combined governance from Lisbon, the country's capital. Before 1975, when the Portuguese territory also stretched to several now-independent states in Africa, the designation ''metropolis'' () was also used.

Context

The designation ''mainland Portugal'' is used to differentiate the

continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...

al territory of Portugal from its insular territory. The latter comprises the archipelagos of

and

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The Azores and Madeira are also commonly referred to as the autonomous regions (), insular Portugal () or, simply, the islands (). Continental Portugal is divided into 18

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. Outside of these the islands of

and the

are the

Autonomous Regions of Portugal The two Autonomous Regions of Portugal from 1999 () are the Azores (''Região Autónoma dos Açores'') and Madeira (). Together with Continental Portugal (''Portugal Continental''), they form the Portugal, Portuguese Republic. History The auto ...

. The European

Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS () is a geocode standard for referencing the administrative divisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, is developed and regulated by the European ...

defines the geographic plurality of the mainland Portugal and the islands as the primary NUTS I territorial division (see administrative divisions of Portugal: NUTS for details). While in modern Portugal the difference between European continental and total territory is minor (in terms of area), it mattered during the existence of the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

, when the distinction was more frequently made, such as in the colonisation of Brazil. Continental Portugal has an area of or 96.6% of the Portuguese national territory () and 10,142,079 inhabitants (or 95.3% of the total population of 10,639,726).

Districts

EU Statistical Regions (NUTS II)

References

{{reflist Administrative divisions of Portugal NUTS 1 statistical regions of the European Union

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Context

Districts

EU Statistical Regions (NUTS II)

See also

References