0Member countries of the European Union

The EU was not always as big as it is today. When European countries started to cooperate economically in 1951, only Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands participated.

Over time, more and more countries decided to join. The union reached its current size of 27 member countries with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January 2007.


Austria Year of EU entry: 1995 Capital city: Vienna Total area: 83 870 km² Population: 8.3 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1995		Belgium Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Brussels Total area: 30 528 km² Population: 10.7 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1985

Bulgaria Year of EU entry: 2007 Capital city: Sofia Total area: 111 910 km² Population: 7.6 million Currency: lev (лв) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen		Cyprus Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Nicosia Total area: 9 250 km² Population: 0.8 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 2008 (€) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

Czech Republic Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Prague Total area: 78 866 km² Population: 10.5 million Currency: Czech koruna (Kč) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007		Denmark Year of EU entry: 1973 Capital city: Copenhagen Total area: 43 094 km² Population: 5.5 million Currency: Danish krone (kr.) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1996

Estonia Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Tallinn Total area: 45 000 km² Population: 1.3 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 2011 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007		Finland Year of EU entry: 1995 Capital city: Helsinki Total area: 338 000 km² Population: 5.3 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1996

France Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Paris Total area: 550 000 km² Population: 64.3 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1985		Germany Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Berlin Total area: 356 854 km² Population: 82 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1985

Germany Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Berlin Total area: 356 854 km² Population: 82 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1985		Greece Year of EU entry: 1981 Capital city: Athens Total area: 131 957 km² Population: 11.2 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 2001 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1992

Hungary Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Budapest Total area: 93 000 km² Population: 10 million Currency: forint (Ft) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007		Ireland Year of EU entry: 1973 Capital city: Dublin Total area: 70 000 km² Population: 4.5 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

Italy Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Rome Total area: 301 263 km² Population: 60 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1990		Latvia Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Riga Total area: 65 000 km² Population: 2.3 million Currency: lats (Ls) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007

Lithuania Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Vilnius Total area: 65 000 km² Population: 3.3 million Currency: litas (Lt) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007		Luxembourg Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Luxembourg Total area: 2 586 km² Population: 0.5 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1985

Luxembourg Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Luxembourg Total area: 2 586 km² Population: 0.5 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1985		Malta Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Valletta Total area: 316 km² Population: 0.4 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 2008 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007

Netherlands Year of EU entry: Founding member (1952) Capital city: Amsterdam Total area: 41 526 km² Population: 16.4 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1985		Poland Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Warsaw Total area: 312 679 km² Population: 38.1 million Currency: Zloty (zł) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007

Portugal Year of EU entry: 1986 Capital city: Lisbon Total area: 92 072 km² Population: 10.6 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1991		Romania Year of EU entry: 2007 Capital city: Bucharest Total area: 237 500 km² Population: 21.5 million Currency: Romanian leu Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

Slovakia Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Bratislava Total area: 48 845 km² Population: 5.4 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 2009 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007		Slovenia Year of EU entry: 2004 Capital city: Ljubljana Total area: 20 273 km² Population: 2 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 2007 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 2007

Spain Year of EU entry: 1986 Capital city: Madrid Total area: 504 782 km² Population: 45.8 million Currency: Member of the eurozone since 1999 (€) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1991		Sweden Year of EU entry: 1995 Capital city: Stockholm Total area: 449 964 km² Population: 9.2 million Currency: krona (kr) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1996

United Kingdom Year of EU entry: 1973 Capital city: London Total area: 244 820 km² Population: 61.7 million Currency: pound sterling (£) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

On the road to EU membership

The EU will continue to grow as an increasing number of countries express interest in membership, click to know which are...

The EU will continue to grow as an increasing number of countries express interest in membership. These countries can be divided into candidate countries and potential candidate countries. The former are in the process of 'transposing' (or integrating) EU legislation into national law, while potential candidate countries do not yet fulfill the requirements for EU membership.

Acceding country	Candidate countries	Potential candidates

Croatia Capital city: Zagreb Total area: 56 542 km² Population: 4.4 million Currency: kuna (kn) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen	Iceland Capital city: Reykjavik Total area: 103 000 km² Population: 0.3 million Currency: Icelandic króna (kr) Schengen area: Member of the Schengen area since 1996	Albania Capital city: Tirana Total area: 28 748 km² Population: 3.6 million Currency: lek (L) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

	Montenegro Capital city: Podgorica Total area: 14 026 km² Population: 0.6 million Currency: euro (€) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen	Bosnia and Herzegovina Capital city: Sarajevo Total area: 51 209 km² Population: 4.6 million Currency: Bosnian convertible mark (KM) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

	Serbia Capital city: Belgrade Total area: 77 474 km² Population: 7.4 million Currency: Serbian dinar (РСД) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen	Kosovo* Capital city: Pristina Total area: 10 887 km² Population: 1.7 million Currency: euro (€) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

	The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Capital city: Skopje Political system: Republic Total area: 25 433 km² Population: 2.05 million Currency: denar Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

	Turkey Capital city: Ankara Total area: 780 580 km² Population: 71.5 million Currency: Turkish lira (TRY) Schengen area: Not a member of Schengen

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

0Member countries of the European Union

On the road to EU membership

On the road to EU membership

Kosovo*