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- This article is about the geomorphological/geopolitical term; MAINLAND is also a cheese brand owned by Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy company.
Mainland is usually the continental part of a region, as opposed to the islands nearby. Sometimes the residents are called "the Mainlanders". 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 Taiwan (and other areas administered by the Republic of China) and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau (but including the island of Hainan);
- Mainland Australia, as opposed to Tasmania.
- Mainland Canada, as opposed to Newfoundland, Pelee 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;
- Mainland United States, as opposed to Hawaii and its overseas territories (the terms "U.S. Mainland" and "The Mainland" are commonly used in Hawaii, but not in the U.S. mainland itself where "continental United States," which also excludes Alaska, is more commonly used instead);
- Mainland Japan and Honshū, as opposed to the rest of the Japanese 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 Scotian mainland, as opposed to Cape Breton Island;
- Mainland United Kingdom (i.e. 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 The Mainland, Orkney and Shetland Mainland.
- Mainland Portugal as opposed to Azores and Madeira Islands.
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.