EU Facts
European Union Basics

Happy Europe Day! Our EU Facts provide the most important facts about the European Union, its meaning, its history and all you really should know about the EU.

EU Facts - At a Glance

Members: 27 independent European countries
3 Institutions: EU-Council, EU-Commission and EU-Parliament
EU Headquarters: Brussels/ Belgium.
Population: around 450 million people
Languages: 24
Currency: Mainly the euro (€)
Symbols: flag with 12 gold stars in a circle on blue background
Anthem: "Ode to Joy" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Motto: "United in Diversity"
Europe Day: 9 May
History: First founded to help keep peace in Europe after World War II and bring the Europeans together, the 1993 Maastricht Treaty was the official beginning of the EU.
Founding members: Germany, France, Italy Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

European Union Facts

The EU or European Union is a union of European member countries.

There are 27 member countries. Some of the countries are Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain or Poland. Norway is a big country that has not joined the EU, nor has Switzerland. And the UK left the EU in 2020 after a vote called Brexit.

The EU is a political economic union of countries that are located on the European continent. There are 50 countries in Europe, however, only 27 countries are part of the European Union (EU).

The European Union member countries are independent and sovereign countries with their own governments, own legislation and own constitutions.

Top 20 EU Facts

EU Member Countries

1. The EU has 27 members. These 27 member countries are:

Czechia

Latvia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

The European Union lost one of its important member states on 31 January 2020. Do you know which country left the EU in 2020?

Now here are all the 27 countries of the EU (click on the map to zoom in):

From 2013 until 2020, the EU had 28 members. While several countries such as Albania, Serbia or Turkey are still waiting to be accepted to become a member of the EU, the United Kingdom left the EU on 31 December 2020.

The United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020, after 52% of the UK population voted already in 2016 that they wanted to leave the community of the European Union.

EU Symbols

2. The European flag has a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background which symbolise unity, solidarity and harmony among the European member countries.

Blue EU flag with 12 golden stars

Why twelve stars only and not 27?

The stars do in fact not represent the number of member states but the idea that unity, harmony and solidarity are the binding links of the people in the member states. The golden stars on the blue flag represent these ideals and the flag is a symbol of the European identity. The flag was first adopted in 1955.

3. The European motto is 'United in Diversity' and this motto was first used in 2000.

4. The European anthem is a melody that was composed by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven in 1823. It is called "Ode to Joy".

The melody is part of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The anthem only consists of the musical tunes, there are no words to the anthem as music is understood to be the universal language of all nations. It is played at official ceremonies of the EU or when several countries share and attend any European event.

Learn more about France

5. Largest country by land area in the European Union is France, while the biggest EU country by population is Germany.

6. The EU is home to 450 million inhabitants in total living in the member countries (2026).

Thus the EU is the third largest population after India and China. The EU is about half the size in land area than the USA.

source: EuroStats 8May2026

7. Smallest country of the EU by land area and population is Malta. The largest country of the EU by land area is France, while Germany has the largest population of the EU countries.

Germany Reichstag in Berlin with flag and cyclist

Reichstag - German parliament buildings in Berlin

Learn more about Germany

8. Largest city in the EU: Berlin in Germany is the biggest city with a population of 3.7 million inhabitants. Other big EU cities are Madrid/Spain, Rome/Italy and Paris/France but they have less than 3 million people.

The largest metropolitan area is, however, Paris with 12.4 million people.

Interesting fact: London in the United Kingdom with almost 9 million inhabitants was the EU's biggest city until 31 January 2020.

9. Richest and poorest in the EU: The richest country with the highest GDP per capita is Luxembourg while the poorest country with the lowest GDP per capita is Bulgaria.

Luxembourg City

EU History

10. What is the European Union? The EU is a political and economic union of independent countries that have common institutions and an EU parliament. The member states of the EU share common interests and common values.

The main purpose is to uphold peace, promote economic and social solidarity and bring the European people together. There is freedom to move in the European Union so people from a EU country can live, work and study in any other European country.

11. When was the EU formed? The first European Union was formed by six countries in 1958 although it was not called 'European Union' then.

The six founding countries are Germany, France, Italy and the three Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). Click on the flags to learn more about these countries.

The Six EU Founding Members

12. A little history on the EU: The idea to form a common union was introduced by Robert Schuman, foreign minister of France, already in 1950.

The European Union as is was first established with the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993. The final EU constitution came into effect with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 which also established the election of a common president for the European Council.

EU headquarters in Brussels - Vitalii Biliak/shutterstock.com

The EU headquarters are in Brussels

13. Important EU cities: Four cities are very important for the European union:

Brussels in Belgium (EU headquarters)
Strasbourg in France (European Parliament)
Frankfurt/Main in Germany (European Central Bank)
Luxembourg City in Luxembourg (seat of the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice)

The EU capital city is Brussels, which is the capital city of Belgium.

EU Institutions

14. There are three important bodies within the European Union:

The EU Parliament that consists of directly elected members who represent the people of their member country.
The EU Council that consists of the heads of state of the member countries who make the decision for and support the decision that was made in their home country.
The EU Commission represents the interests of the European Union member states and the proposes new laws that the parliament and the council then discuss and can then adopt.

15. Therefore there are three leaders of the European Union:

EU Commission President

(2019-2029)

Ursula von der Leyen

from Germany

EU Council President

(2024-2029)

Antonio Costa

from Portugal

EU Parliament President

(2022-2027)

Roberta Metsola

from Malta

16. The presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates every six months.

The Council of the EU represents the governments of the member states and the presidency is held by the national government’s head of state.

The EU Council is led:

from January to June 2026 by Cyprus (plus Poland and Denmark, who held EU Council presidencies in 2025)
from July to December 2026 by Ireland (plus Lithuania and Greece, who will hold presidencies in 2027).

EU Languages

17. Languages in the EU: There is no single European language, as all languages are considered equal and shall be respected by all people in the European Union. Thus all information is available in 24 languages:

European parliament sign in different languages - image shutterstock

The 24 official languages used in the European Union are:

Bulgarian
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Estonian
Finnish

French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Irish
Italian
Latvian
Lithuanian

Maltese
Polish
Portugues
Romanian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swedish

18. EU Day: Europe Day is celebrated on 9 May. This is, however, not a public holiday, although in Brussels and Strasbourg many public institutions will hold various activities, concerts and open-door events for the interested public.

The day commemorates the Schuman Declaration, which is a speech by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman who proposed the forming of a union of European countries in 1950.

19. The European economy: The European Union is the largest trade block in the world. The majority of trade is with the EU member countries as there is free trade among the member countries. The so-called ‘single market’ was established in 1992.

In terms of the total value of all goods and services produced (GDP), it is bigger than the US economy.

20. Largest airport: Since Brexit, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in France is the busiest airport in the EU.

Until 31 January 2020, London Heathrow airport in the United Kingdom was the largest and busiest airport in the European Union.

More EU Facts

Eurosign in Frankfurt am Main/Germany

Euro Currency

EU Facts | Money: The European Central Bank was founded in 1998 and the European currency was introduced in 2002. The European currency is the euro for 21 countries of the EU while other European countries still use their own national currency such as Denmark, Sweden (see below). The first euro coins and banknotes were circulated in the European countries in 2002.

EU Facts | euro: These are the 21 country of the so-called "euro zone" or "euro area". Here the official currency is the euro. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.

Six EU countries did not introduce the euro. These are: Sweden where they still have their currency krona, Denmark (krone), Hungary (forint) Poland (złoty), Romania (leu) and the Czech Republic (koruna).

EU Facts | Unemployment: The unemployment rates in the EU are very diverse.

The lowest unemployment rates are recorded in Czech, Germany, Malta and the Netherlands, while France, Italy, Spain and Greece have the highest number of unemployed people between 20 and 64 years of age.

EU Facts | Awards: Did you know that the EU was recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012? The prize was awarded for advancing peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

EU Facts | Famous Landmarks: Among the most visited tourist sites and landmarks in the EU are:

Atomium Brussels

Brussels and the Atomium in Belgium
Paris and the Eiffel Tower in France
Berlin and the Reichstag in Germany
Athens and the Acropolis in Greece
Rome and the Colosseo in Italy

More about Landmarks in Europe

Read about the world's top landmarks you really should know. Click here.

Popular Pages

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Useful Resources for EU Facts:

This page was last updated on 9 May 2026.

European Union. "About the EU - Easy to read Version." EU Publications. Last accessed 8 May 2026
European Union. "Countries using the Euro." EU. Last accessed 9 May 2026
Eurostat. "Population Diversity." European Union. Last accessed 8 May 2026
Luxembourg Government. "The European Institutions in Luxembourg". Luxembourg - Let’s make it happen. Last accessed 8 May 2026
Pascal Fontaine. "Europe in 12 lessons". EU Publications Office. 29 August 2019. Last accessed 8 May 2026
Atomium Belgium. "Atomium Educational Folder". Atomium Museum. Last accessed 8 May 2026 - in French and Dutch only.