European Union

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 45 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its members have a combined area of square miles ( km2) and an estimated total population of over 735 million people. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardized system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where members have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. A monetary union was established in 1999, coming into full force in 2002, and is composed of 24 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without precedent or comparison).

The EU and European citizenship were established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993. The EU traces its origins to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), established, respectively, by the 1951 Treaty of Paris and 1957 Treaty of Rome. The original members of what came to be known as the European Communities were the Inner Six: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The Communities and their successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to their remit. The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009.

Members
Country Name - Population - Land Area
 * Albania - 2,845,955; 11,100 square miles
 * Armenia - 3,082,250; 11,484 square miles
 * Austria - 8,935,112; 32,386 square miles
 * Azerbaijan - 10,127,874; 33,400 square miles
 * Belgium - 11,492,641; 11,849 square miles
 * Bosnia-Herzegovina - 3,778,341; 19,741 square miles
 * Bulgaria - 7,806,445; 42,854.9 square miles
 * Cape Verde - 543,767; 1,557 square miles
 * Croatia - 4,541,983; 21,851 square miles
 * Cyprus - 1,189,265; 3,572 square miles
 * Czech Republic - 10,707,839; 30,450 square miles
 * Denmark - 5,945,404; 857,510 square miles
 * Estonia - 1,329,460; 17,505 square miles
 * Finland - 7,030,369; 130,678 square miles
 * France - 68,151,396; 247,368 square miles
 * Georgia - 3,716,858;
 * Germany - 87,075,664
 * Greece - 10,924,449
 * Hungary - 9,769,526
 * Ireland - 4,977,400
 * Israel - 9,333,460
 * Italy - 62,137,400
 * Kosovo - 1,873,160
 * Latvia - 2,248,423
 * Lebanon - 6,859,408
 * Lithuania - 2,904,863
 * Luxembourg - 633,622
 * Macedonia - 2,077,132
 * Moldova - 3,109,438
 * Malta - 514,564
 * Montenegro - 621,873
 * Netherlands - 17,469,635
 * Palestine - 5,159,076
 * Poland - 39,253,491
 * Portugal - 10,879,044
 * Romania - 20,966,750
 * San Marino - 33,600
 * Serbia - 7,474,337
 * Slovakia - 5,464,060
 * Slovenia - 2,111,461
 * Spain - 48,420,126
 * Sweden - 12,512,419
 * Turkey - 83,614,362
 * Ukraine - 56,694,810
 * United Kingdom - 68,867,480
 * Total: 735,142,992 people; square miles (km2)