Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas. Notably, in British English usage, the term means Europe excluding the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Ireland and Iceland. One general definition of "Continental Europe" is the European landmass excluding the UK, Ireland and Iceland. However, in other areas of Europe different ideas on what the term actually means prevail.
Some definitions of continental Europe extend the boundaries of the continent to its geographical boundaries, thus including nations that are within the elevated boundaries of the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus Mountains.
What might seem to be a simple matter of geographical definition, though, has profound social and political ramifications. Some definitions of continental Europe include the Transcaucasian nations of Georgia and Armenia - which are predominantly Christian - while excluding such predominantly Muslim nations as Azerbaijan and Turkey.
