Following its invention and development in Italy, the mandolin spread throughout the European continent. The instrument was primarily used in a classical tradition with mandolin orchestras, so called Estudiantinas or in Germany Zupforchestern, appearing in many cities. Following this continental popularity of the mandolin family, local traditions appeared outside Europe in the Americas and in Japan. Travelling mandolin virtuosi like Carlo Curti, Giuseppe Pettine, Raffaele Calace and Silvio Ranieri contributed to the mandolin becoming a "fad" instrument in the early 20th century. This "mandolin craze" was fading by the 1930s, but just as this practice was falling into disuse, the mandolin found a new niche in American country, old-time music, bluegrass and folk music. More recently, the Baroque and Classical mandolin repertory and styles have benefited from the raised awareness of and interest in Early music.

Algeria

Algeria was colonized by the French in the 19th century and there were large numbers of Europeans living there during the mandolin's golden age. Mandolins and larger members of the mandolin family were used in orchestras, including orchestras playing native Algerian music. With the decline of the mandolin worldwide, the mandolin became less common until by the 21st century it was rare. However, mandolins and mandolas are still occasionally made by luthiers. The major mandolin-family instrument in use today is the mandocello-sized mondol or "mandole" (French word for mandola applied to the new instrument). The flatback instrument was the result of a corroboration between an Italian luthier and an Algerian musician and was used initially for Chaabi. It has since spread to other music forms. Prominent players today include Mohamed Rouane, Takfarinas, Mohamed Abdennour (P'tit Moh), and Abderrahmane Abdelli. Past players include El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka, Boudjemaa El Ankis, El Hachemi Guerouabi, Amar Ezzahi, Cheikh El Hasnaoui, and Lounès Matoub. The mondol received some international attention on the movie El Gusto a featuring the reunion of some chaabi players (including a mondol player) years after the turmoil in Algeria came out in the 2010s.

Australia See Australian mandolinists The earliest references to the mandolin in Australia come from Phil Skinner (1903–1991). In his article "Recollections"Recollections - by Phil Skinner. FIGA magazine January February 1981 (Fretted Instrument Guild of America) he mentions a Walter Stent, who was "active in the early part of the century and organised possibly the first Mandolin Orchestra in Sydney."

Phil Skinner played a key role in 20th-century development of the mandolin movement in Australia, and was awarded an MBE in 1979 for services to music and the community. He was born Harry Skinner in Sydney in 1903 and started learning music at age 10 when his uncle tutored him on the banjo. Skinner began teaching part-time at age 18, until the Great Depression forced him to begin teaching full-time and learn a broader range of instruments. Skinner founded the Sydney Mandolin Orchestra, the oldest surviving mandolin orchestra in Australia.

The Sydney Mandolins (artistic director: Adrian Hooper) have contributed greatly to the repertoire through commissioning over 200 works by Australian and International composers. Most of these works have been released on Compact Disks and can regularly be heard on radio stations on the ABC and MBS networks. One of their members, mandolin virtuoso Paul Hooper, has had a number of Concertos written for him by composers such as Eric Gross. He has performed and recorded these works with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. As well, Paul Hooper has had many solo works dedicated to him by Australian composers e.g., Caroline Szeto, Larry Sitsky and Michael Smetanin, as well as other works by Robert Allworth and Betty Beath.

In January 1979, the Federation of Australian Mandolin Ensembles (FAME) Inc. formed. Bruce Morey from Melbourne is the first FAME President. An Australian Mandolin Orchestra toured Germany in May 1980.

Australian popular groups such as My Friend The Chocolate Cake use the mandolin extensively. The McClymonts also use the mandolin, as do Mic Conway's National Junk Band and the Blue Tongue Lizards. Nevertheless, in folk and traditional styles, the mandolin remains more popular in Irish Music and other traditional repertoires.

Austria As the capital of an empire bordering Italy, musicians traveled to Vienna to work, compose and teach. Vienna was "the centre for the cultivation of mandolin playing" in the last part of the 18th century, and music written for mandolin has been preserved there. Composers and players who worked there or whose works have been preserved include Leonhard d'Call, Georg Druschetzky, Giovanni Giuliani, Giovanni Hoffmann, Leopold Kozeluch, Aichelbourgh, Giuseppe Blesber, Conrad Schlick (husband to Regina Strinasacchi), Leopold Neuhauser, Vincent Neuling.

Belgium In the early 20th century several mandolin orchestras (Estudiantinas) were active in Belgium. Today only a few groups remain: Royal Estudiantina la Napolitaine (founded in 1904) in Antwerp, Brasschaats mandoline orkest in Brasschaat, the Brugs mandolinegezelschap, the Mandolineclub De Krikskes (Berchem), the Cercle royal des mandolinistes Estudiantina in Mons (Bergen), the Königlichen Mandolinenorchester Eupen, the Ensemble de plectres de Nassogne and the Cercle royal des mandolinistes de Malmedy.

Gerda Abts is a well-known mandolin virtuoso in Belgium. She is also mandolin teacher and gives lessons in the music academies of Lier, Wijnegem and Brasschaat. She is now also professor mandolin at the music high school “Koninklijk Conservatorium Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen”. She also gives various concerts each year in different ensembles. She is in close contact to the Brasschaat mandolin Orchestra. Her site is www.gevoeligesnaar.be

Brazil

See Brazilian mandolinists See also the Portuguese guitar and Portuguese music.

The mandolin has a particular shape in Brazilian music and is known as the bandolim in the Portuguese language, which is spoken there. The Portuguese have a long tradition of mandolins and mandolin-like instruments and brought their music to their colonies.

In modern Brazilian music, the bandolim is almost exclusively a melody instrument, often accompanied by the chordal accompaniment of the cavaquinho, a steel-stringed instrument similar to a ukulele. The bandolim's popularity has risen and fallen with instrumental folk music styles, especially choro. The later part of the 20th century saw a renaissance of choro in Brazil, and with it, a revival of the country's mandolin tradition. Composer and mandolin virtuoso, Jacob do Bandolim, did much to popularize the instrument through many recordings, and his influence continues to the present day. Some contemporary mandolin players in Brazil include Jacob's disciple Déo Rian, and Hamilton de Holanda (the former, a traditional choro-style player, the latter an eclectic innovator.) Another is Joel Nascimento.

China

Western instruments such as the guitar, mandolin and ukulele were "associated with youth and freedom", "sophistication and cosmopolitanism" in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the 1920s and 1930s. They appeared in the hands of movie stars and in magazines like Ling Long with "fashionable young ladies," where they became part of the modern girl image. Modern girls were college-age women, perceived as active and modern. Independent and westernized, they engaged in western recreational activities such as "driving motorcycles, swimming, horse riding, horse racing, rowing competitions," and playing musical instruments.

Artist Guan Zilan was one such modern girl, educated in Chinese and Japanese colleges. Her artwork was displayed in The Young Companion magazine, and she herself was on the cover with her mandolin.

Mandolins were also seen in Shanghai in an advertisement poster of the East Asia Cigarette Company, which showed a woman, well-dressed, holding a mandolin. A variation of this image was used elsewhere as a calendar illustration.

Although prominent in media in the hands of women, the instruments were not solely women's. Young men in western-run schools could choose them up as part of their education. Trying to be like his brother, Chou Wen-Chung was able to "dabble in" the mandolin at a school in Nanjing.

During the 1920s and 30s when the mandolin came to China, its popularity had peaked worldwide. Although the imported western instruments never became common in China, they were advertised for sale in Shanghai in 1920, in English-language publications, such as Our Navy, the Standard Publication of the U.S. Navy. When popularity for the fad began to fade after World War 1, China's neighbor Japan was an exception to that; mandolins were still popular and their use growing. Japan had commercial ties to coastal China, the very area from which the magazines and advertisements arose.

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) it became dangerous in China to stick out from other people. The establishment feared "the taint of foreign ideas" and tried to root out the “representatives of the bourgeoisie who have sneaked into ... various spheres of culture.” Western classical music largely came to an end in China during the Cultural Revolution, when "listening to Beethoven became a political crime." At the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, western musical instruments were destroyed.

Croatia

The mandolin is a staple of folk and traditional music on the Croatian coast. Croatian painter Vjekoslav Karas (1821–1858) painted an image of a girl playing a mandolin in about 1845.

Czechia and Slovakia See Czech mandolinists, Czech bluegrass From Italy mandolin music extended in popularity throughout Europe in the early 20th century, with mandolin orchestras appearing throughout the continent.

In the 21st century an increased interest in bluegrass music, especially in Central European countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, has inspired many new mandolin players and builders. These players often mix traditional folk elements with bluegrass. Radim Zenkl came from this tradition, emigrating to the United States, where he has played with U.S. stars, including David Grisman and Béla Fleck.

Finland

Finland has mandolin players rooted in the folk music scene. Prominent names include Petri Hakala, Seppo Sillanpää and Heikki Lahti, who have taught and recorded albums. Classical music is also represented with players such as Risto Aalto. A Finnish immigrant to the United States Arthur Kylander became a recording contract there in 1927, releasing 20 recordings with Victor Records, playing mandolin.

France

In the 21st century, some have perceived a "rebirth" of the mandolin in France. Although an "Italian" instrument, France had a history with the mandolin family going back centuries, to the gitterns (12th-14th centuries), and the mandore arrived from Spain about 1570. One of the earliest surviving books of mandore music, the Music Tablature of François de Chancey was published in 1629 and featured music for the French court. It was dedicated to the Duke of Richelieu, Prime Minister of Louis XIII.