Continental Portugal
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Continental Portugal or Mainland Portugal (Portuguese: Portugal Continental) is the designation of the mainland Portuguese territory, located on Europe's Iberian Peninsula.
The designation is sometimes used to differentiate the continental territory of Portugal (also known as The Continent - O Continente) from the insular territory of Portugal. The former is composed by the Madeira and Azores archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Azores and Madeira archipelagos are also commonly referred to as The Autonomous Regions (As Regiões Autónomas) or simply The Islands (As Ilhas).
Mainland Portugal has 89,015 km² (Portugal: 92,145 km²) and 9,833,408 inhabitants (Portugal: 10,318,084).
History
In the past, during the Portuguese Empire period, Metrópole used to be a common designation. The Metrópole corresponded exactly to the Continental Portugal of today, plus the Azores and Madeira. In opposition, the colonies (such as Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Timor, et al.) were called the Ultramar.
See also
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