As an economic and political union, the European Union is composed of 28 member nations. Except Cyprus which is located in Western Asia, all members are from Europe. Abbreviated for EU, the European Union has a population of 512,497,877 and an area of 4,475,757 km2. Not yet a federation, the Union has grown into a single market where 19 members use the same currency – EURO. The following table presents a full list of EU countries ranked by latest total population. You can find specific accession date for each member and non-EURO currencies that are still used in other 9 member states. Also, It comprises 23 official languages and about 150 regional languages. Please note that, the number of member countries may be increasing in near future.
How Many Countries in European Union
The following table lists all 28 member countries of European Union. The candidate countries for EU membership are: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. The potential candidate countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are not members of the European Union, but participate in the single market except the customs union.
List of All EU Countries
Check the following table to see the list of all countries in European Union by population.
Map of EU Countries
Currently, the European Union has seven financial, political, control and legislation institutions:
- European Parliament
- Council of the European Union
- European Commission
- European Council
- European central bank
- Court of Justice of the European Union
- European Court of Auditors
European Union goals
- Development of an European financial market
- Economic and social development of countries
- Customs union between member countries
- Political and Economic Unity among member countries
- Free movement of persons, goods and goods
- Increasing the quality of life, health and work of European citizens
- Reduce social and economic inequalities
EU History: Summary
The European Union, as we know it today, has gone through several stages and successive unions. Overall, the main objective of this narrowing was to strengthen European countries in order to create a common market, reduce costs and boost the economy.
Firstly, the creation of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) was established in 1952. This was composed of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and Italy, called the “Europe of the Six”.
In 1957, the European Common Market (ECM) or European Economic Community (EEC) was created. He joined some other countries: England (1973), Ireland (1973), Denmark (1973), Greece (1981), Spain (1986), Portugal (1986) called “Europe of the Twelve”. It is noteworthy that with the creation of the European Common Market, the free movement of people between the member countries was allowed.
In 1991, the Maastricht Treaty established the economic strengthening of these countries through the creation of a single currency, the Euro. However, it was not until 2002 that the Euro was put into circulation. However, some countries, such as England and Denmark, have preferred to keep their national currencies.
In 1995, three more countries joined the European Union (Sweden, Finland and Austria), thus forming the so-called “Europe of the 15”.
In 2004, ten countries joined the bloc, namely: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the islands of Malta and Cyprus. The so-called “Europe of 27” is formed with the integration of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007. Finally, the last country to sign the EU membership agreement was Croatia on 30 June 2013.
In 2016, the United Kingdom showed its interest in leaving the European Union. In June of that year there was a referendum where 51% of people voted in favor of the exit.
This action was called “Brexit”, a term that arose by joining the words “Britain” and “exit”.
Facts about European Union
- European Union Day is celebrated on May 9th.
- The so-called “Eurozone” corresponds to the 17 EU member states that adopted the EURO currency, with Estonia being the last country to adopt the currency in 2011.
- The estimated European population is 500 million people, which corresponds to 7% of the world population.
- Some researchers believe that the formation of the European Union begins with the creation of the Benelux bloc (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) during World War II, whose main objective was to form a common market by reducing customs tariffs among member countries.
- The European Union participates in important meeting forums such as the G7 – Group of Seven, G8 (G7 + Russia) and G20.