Administrative divisions of Portugal (on Terceira Island), the historical and cultural capital, is the home of the Azorean judiciary and seat of the Diocese of the Azores. Madeira is an archipelago that includes two principal islands, Madeira and Porto Santo, plus two uninhabited natural group of islands, the Desertas and Savage Islands (). The archipelago is located closer to Africa than Europe, is highly commercial and urbanized; its regional capital (Funchal) is developmentally comparable to urban centers in the Canary or Balearic Islands. The division of the Portuguese territory is established in title eight (Título VIII) of the Portuguese constitution: granting local authority to
Boundaries between the continents of Earth point, Morocco and the European portion of Spain are separated by only . The Portuguese Atlantic island possession of the Azores is from Europe and from Africa, and is usually grouped with Europe if grouped with any continent. By contrast, the Canary and Madeira islands (including the Desertas Islands and the Savage Islands) off the Atlantic coast of Morocco are much closer to, and usually grouped with, Africa (the Canary Islands are only from the African coast at their closest point, while Madeira is from Africa and from Europe). The Mediterranean island nation of Malta is approximately from the coast