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is usually the Continent al part of a region, as opposed to the Island s nearby. Sometimes the residents are called "the Mainlander s". As a result of the usually larger area of mainland, there are significantly more mainlanders than islanders, and mainlander culture and politics sometimes threaten to dominate those of the islands.
Prominent uses of the term include:
- Mainland China , as opposed to the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau (but including the island of Hainan ), and Taiwan (and other areas administered by the Republic Of China );
- Mainland Australia , as opposed to Tasmania .
- Mainland Canada , as opposed to Prince Edward Island , Newfoundland , Cape Breton Island or Vancouver Island ;
- Mainland Denmark , as opposed to the Faroe Islands and Greenland (Mainland Denmark may refer to the Danish part of Jutland , as opposed to Zealand and Other Islands );
- Mainland Europe , another term for Continental Europe used in many parts of the English-speaking World , but generally not in the United Kingdom ;
- Mainland Finland , as opposed to Åland Islands ;
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- Mainland Japan and Honshū , as opposed to the rest of the Japan ese islands (see also Home Islands );
- the South Island of New Zealand , which, though having a far smaller population, is slightly larger than the North Island .
- the Nova Scotia n mainland, as opposed to Cape Breton Island ;
- British Mainland (i.e. the island of Great Britain ), as opposed to the Channel Islands , the Isle Of Man , Northern Ireland or any other British island. Usually in Great Britain, and sometimes in Ireland, mainland Europe is referred to as ''The Continent''.
- Mainland Ireland as opposed to Its Offshore Islands . Note that "the mainland" in Northern Ireland is ambiguous between this sense and the preceding one; using the phrase to mean "Great Britain as opposed to Northern Ireland" is considered objectionable by many Nationalists .
- The largest islands of the Orkney and Shetland Islands ; see Mainland, Orkney and Mainland, Shetland .
- Mainland Portugal as opposed to Azores and Madeira Islands.
- Mainland Spain as opposed to the Balearic and Canary Islands, the North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla , the island of Alborán and other minor exclaves on Northern Africa (called the Plazas De Soberanía ). In Spain the terms "España peninsular" or simply "La Península" are often used.
The term is used on multiple levels. To someone in Tasmania , continental Australia is the mainland; but to residents of King Island , Flinders Island , and the other surrounding islands, Tasmania itself is the mainland.
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