mouth_of_the_watercourse limia 
Portugal ( Portuguese : ), officially the Portuguese Republic ( Portuguese : ), is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe . It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe . To the west and south it is bordered by the ___MASK53___ and to the east and north by Spain . The Portugal  Spain border is long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union . The republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira , both autonomous regions with their own regional governments . The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean ___MASK3___ , near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula . Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia . Europe is bordered by the ___MASK42___ to the north , the ___MASK53___ to the west , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . To the east and southeast , Europe is generally considered as separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian and Black Seas , and the waterways of the Turkish Straits . Yet the non - oceanic borders of Europe  a concept dating back to classical antiquity  are arbitrary . The primarily physiographic term " continent " as applied to Europe also incorporates cultural and political elements whose discontinuities are not always reflected by the continent ' s current overland boundaries . Africa is the world ' s second - largest and second - most - populous continent . At about 30 . 3 million km² ( 11 . 7 million square miles ) including adjacent islands , it covers 6 % of Earth ' s total surface area and 20 . 4 % of its total land area . With 1 . 1 billion people as of 2013 , it accounts for about 15 % of the world ' s human population . The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean ___MASK3___ to the north , both the Suez Canal and the ___MASK70___ along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast , the Indian Ocean to the southeast , and the ___MASK53___ to the west . The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states ( countries ), nine territories and two " de facto " independent states with limited or no recognition . An archipelago , sometimes called an island group or island chain , is a chain , cluster or collection of islands . The word " archipelago " is derived from the Greek "  -  arkhi -" (" chief ") and "   pélagos " (" ___MASK3___ ") through the Italian " arcipelago ". In Italian , possibly following a tradition of antiquity , the Archipelago ( from medieval Greek "*  " and Latin " archipelagus ") was the proper name for the ___MASK97___ and , later , usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands ( since the ___MASK3___ is remarkable for its large number of islands ). It is now used to refer to any island group or , sometimes , to a ___MASK3___ containing a small number of scattered islands . The Mediterranean ___MASK3___ ( pronounced ) is a ___MASK3___ connected to the ___MASK53___ , surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land : on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia , on the south by North Africa , and on the east by the Levant . The ___MASK3___ is sometimes considered a part of the ___MASK53___ , although it is usually identified as a separate body of water . France , officially the French Republic , is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . The European , or metropolitan , area of France extends from the Mediterranean ___MASK3___ to the ___MASK68___ and the North ___MASK3___ , and from the Rhine to the ___MASK53___ . Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . France spans and had a total population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017 . It is a unitary semi - presidential republic with the capital in Paris , the country ' s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban centres include Marseille , Lyon , Lille , Nice , Toulouse and Bordeaux . The Limia River ( Lima in Portuguese , Portuguese pronunciation : ( im ) ) is in Galicia , Spain , and Portugal , with a length of 108 kilometres ( 67 mi ) . The source of the Limia is Talariño Mountain at 975 metres ( 3 , 199 ft ) above ___MASK3___ level , close to the Paradiña village in the Sarreaus municipality ( Ourense , Spain ) . It crosses the border into Portugal close to the Lindoso village , and reaches the Atlantic near Viana do Castelo . The Romans identified the Limia with the mythical Lethe . Ceuta ( assimilated pronunciation , also Arabic :  , " Sabtah ") is an Spanish autonomous city located on the north coast of Africa , sharing a western border with Morocco . Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar , Ceuta lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean ___MASK3___ and the ___MASK53___ . Ceuta , along with the Spanish exclave Melilla , is one of nine populated Spanish territories in Africa and one of two populated territories on mainland Africa . It was part of Cádiz province until 14 March 1995 when the city ' s Statute of Autonomy was passed . The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , are an archipelago and autonomous community of Spain located on the ___MASK53___ , west of Morocco . The Canaries are among the outermost regions ( OMR ) of the European Union proper . It is also one of the eight regions with special consideration of historical nationality recognized as such by the Spanish Government . The Azores ( or ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (""), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal , an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North ___MASK53___ about west of continental Portugal , about northwest of Madeira , and about southeast of Newfoundland . Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago situated in the north ___MASK53___ , southwest of Portugal . Its total population was estimated in 2011 at 267 , 785 . The capital of Madeira is Funchal , located on the main island ' s south coast . Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a sovereign state largely located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe , with two large archipelagos , the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean ___MASK3___ and the Canary Islands off the North African Atlantic coast , two cities Ceuta and Melilla in the North African mainland and several small islands in the Alboran ___MASK3___ near the Moroccan coast . Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean ___MASK3___ except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar ; to the north and northeast by France , Andorra , and the ___MASK84___ ; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the ___MASK53___ . It is the only European country to have a border with an African country ( Morocco ) and its African territory accounts for nearly 5 % of its population , mostly in the Canary Islands but also in Ceuta and Melilla . The Alboran ___MASK3___ is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean ___MASK3___ , lying between the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa . The Strait of Gibraltar , which lies at the west end of the Alboran ___MASK3___ , connects the Mediterranean with the ___MASK53___ . Morocco (', lit . " The West "; '), officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco (', lit . " The Western Kingdom "; '), is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa . Geographically , Morocco is characterized by a rugged mountainous interior , large tracts of desert , and a lengthy coastline along the ___MASK53___ and Mediterranean Sea . The ___MASK84___ ( Basque : " Bizkaiko Golkoa ," ) is a gulf of the northeast ___MASK53___ located south of the Celtic Sea . It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border , and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal . The ___MASK53___ is the second largest of the world ' s oceans with a total area of about . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth ' s surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area . It separates the " Old World " from the " New World ".