Mainland Europe in the context of "Volcanism in Italy"

The Gauls (Latin: Galli; Ancient Greek: Γαλάται, Galátai) were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (Gallia). They spoke Gaulish, a continental Celtic language.

The Gauls emerged around the 5th century BC as bearers of La Tène culture north and west of the Alps. By the 4th century BC, they were spread over much of what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, by virtue of controlling the trade routes along the river systems of the Rhône, Seine, Rhine, and Danube. They reached the peak of their power in the 3rd century BC. During the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the Gauls expanded into Northern Italy (Cisalpine Gaul), leading to the Roman–Gallic wars, and into the Balkans, leading to war with the Greeks. These latter Gauls eventually settled in Anatolia (contemporary Turkey), becoming known as Galatians.

Ireland is an island in Northern Europe, in the north Atlantic Ocean. The island measures about 480 km (300 mi) north-south, and 275 km (171 mi) east-west, with a total area of 84,421 km (32,595 sq mi). It lies about 53°N 8°W / 53°N 8°W / 53; -8, near the western edge of the European continental shelf, part of the Eurasian Plate. Ireland is separated from the island of Great Britain by the Irish Sea to the east, and from mainland Europe by the Celtic Sea to the south. It is bounded to the north by the North Channel and to the south by St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest landmass in the British Isles, after Great Britain and before Lewis and Harris.

Its main geographical features include low central plains surrounded by coastal mountains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil (Irish: Corrán Tuathail), which is 1,039 metres (3,409 ft) above sea level. The western coastline is rugged, with many islands, peninsulas, headlands and bays, while the southern and northern coasts have a smaller number of substantial sea inlets, such as Lough Foyle and Cork Harbour; no part of the land is more than around 110 km (68 mi) from the sea. The island is almost bisected by the River Shannon, which at 360.5 km (224 mi) with a 102.1 km (63 mi) estuary is the longest river in Ireland and flows south from County Cavan in the province of Ulster to form the boundary between Connacht and Leinster, and later Munster, and meet the Atlantic just south and west of Limerick. Lough Neagh is the largest of several sizeable lakes along Ireland's rivers.

The Øresund Bridge or Öresund Bridge is a combined railway and motorway cable-stayed bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the second longest bridge in Europe and combines both roadway and railway in a single structure, consisting of international European route E20 and the Øresund Line respectively. It runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island of Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The Øresund Link is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Øresund Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.

Construction began in 1995 and it opened to traffic on 1 July 2000. The bridge, as part of the Øresund Link, directly connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with Mainland Europe, via the Great Belt Fixed Link (constructed 1988–1998) connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula. Both projects helped to lessen the isolation of Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia from the rest of the continent. A data cable also makes the Øresund Link the backbone of Internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden.

On 14 September [O.S. 4 September] 1607, Irish earls Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, permanently departed Rathmullan in Ireland for mainland Europe, accompanied by their extended families, retinue, followers and fellow nobility, numbering about 100 people. The earls were patriarchs of the two most powerful clans in Ulster—the O'Neill and O'Donnell clans—and their permanent exile is seen to symbolise the end of Gaelic Irish society. This event is known as the Flight of the Earls (Irish: Imeacht na nIarlaí).

Both earls fought against the English Crown in the Nine Years' War (1593–1603), which ended with their surrender. The newly crowned James VI and I granted the earls generous peace terms which allowed them to retain their lands and titles. Many courtiers were unsatisfied with the king's leniency, and hostility towards the earls from British officials gradually increased over time. The implementation of English law in Ireland led to financial difficulties for both earls as well as a major land rights dispute between Tyrone and his vassal Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan, which was weaponised by officials such as Arthur Chichester, John Davies, and George Montgomery.

Dogger Bank (Dutch: Doggersbank, German: Doggerbank, Danish: Doggerbanke) is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about 100 kilometres (55 nautical miles) off the east coast of England.

During the last ice age, the bank was part of a large landmass connecting mainland Europe and the British Isles, now known as Doggerland. It has long been known by fishermen to be a productive fishing bank; it was named after the doggers, medieval Dutch fishing boats especially used for catching cod.

The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as traditional music, traditional folk music, contemporary folk music, vernacular music, or roots music. Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for generations, and sometimes trace back to such origins as the British Isles, Mainland Europe, or Africa. Musician Mike Seeger once famously commented that the definition of American folk music is "...all the music that fits between the cracks."

American folk music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American music. The music is considered American either because it is native to the United States or because it developed there, out of foreign origins, to such a degree that it struck musicologists as something distinctly new. It is considered "roots music" because it served as the basis of music later developed in the United States, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz. A lot of this music was created during hardships that told the story of the history.

The Fehmarn Belt fixed link (Danish: Femern Bælt-forbindelsen, German: Fehmarnbelt-Querung) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, crossing the 18-kilometre-wide (11 mi) Fehmarn Belt in the Baltic Sea. The tunnel is intended to be a major wider connection between mainland Europe and Scandinavia.

The tunnel is planned to become world's longest road and rail (combination) tunnel and will directly replace a heavily travelled ferry service of the "Bird flight line" (German: Vogelfluglinie; Danish: Fugleflugtslinjen) operated by Scandlines. The tunnel will provide a direct link from northern Germany to Lolland, with Fehmarn connected with the German mainland by the Fehmarn Sound Bridge and Lolland connected by a tunnel and bridges with the Danish island of Zealand, which includes Copenhagen, via the island of Falster. The Fehmarn Belt project will therefore provide a more direct and efficient connection between Germany and Zealand (which in turn is connected with the Swedish mainland via the Øresund Bridge), compared to the existing road-rail link that is the detoured Great Belt Bridge via Jutland and Funen. Travel time between Lolland and Fehmarn is to be reduced from 45 minutes by ferry (excluding waiting and boarding time) to 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train. The electrified high-speed rail line will be capable of reaching 200 km/h (125 mph).