Geography of Europe is not surrounded by sea and its southeastern border has always been variously defined for centuries. In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas and nearby islands. The two largest peninsulas are mainland Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas—Iberia, Italy and the Balkans—emerge from the southern margin of the mainland. The Balkan peninsula is separated from Asia by the Black and Aegean Seas. Italy is separated from the Balkans by the Adriatic Sea, and from Iberia by the Mediterranean Sea, which also separates Europe from Africa.
Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America had previously collaborated on two other volumes in the Helm series, on terns and skuas. The following is a list of errors in the corrected reprint: Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America by Klaus Malling Olsen and Hans Larsson is a volume in the "Helm Identification Guides" series of bird identification books. The book is intended to succeed Peter J. Grant's "" as the standard identification work on Northern Hemisphere gulls. Although the Helm series already contained a volume on seabirds, by Peter Harrison, gulls compete for space in that volume with