Background: Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950 the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members Belgium France West Germany Italy Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Paris.

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 4,324,782 km²
Comparative: less than one-half the size of the US

Land boundaries
Total: 12,440.8 km
Border countries: (16) Albania 282 km; , Andorra 120.3 km; , Belarus 1,050 km; , Croatia 999 km; , Holy See 3.2 km; , Liechtenstein 34.9 km; , Macedonia 394 km; , Moldova 450 km; , Monaco 4.4 km; , Norway 2,348 km; , Russia 2,257 km; , San Marino 39 km; , Serbia 945 km; , Switzerland 1,811 km; , Turkey 446 km; , Ukraine 1,257 km
Note: data for European Continent only

Coastline: 65,993 km

Maritime claims: NA

Climate: cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south

Terrain: fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m
Extremes highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on the border between France and Italy

Natural resources: iron ore natural gas petroleum coal copper lead zinc bauxite uranium potash salt hydropower arable land: timber fish

Land use
Arable land: NA%
Permanent crops: NA%
Other: NA%

Irrigated land: 168,050 km² (2003 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic

Population: 490,426,060 (July 2007 est.)
Growth rate: 0.16% (2007 est.)
Below poverty line: see individual country listings

Languages: Bulgarian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Finnish French Gaelic German Greek Hungarian Italian Latvian Lithuanian Maltese Polish Portuguese Romanian Slovak Slovene Spanish Swedish; note - only official languages are listed

Religions: Roman Catholic Protestant Orthodox Muslim Jewish

Age structure
0-14 years: 15.72% (male 37,208,905/female 35,254,445)
15-64 years: 67.16% (male 155,807,769/female 153,690,235)
65 years and over: 17.11% (male 32,592,595/female 46,273,197) (2007 est.)

Median age: NA

Population growth rate: 0.16% (2007 est.)

Birth rate: 10 births/1000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate: 10 deaths/1000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.6 migrant(s)/1000 population (2007 est.)

Environment
Current issues: NA
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Sex ratio
At birth: NA
Under 15 years: 1.06 male/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male/female
Total population: 0.96 male/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 4.8 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 5.3 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 4.3 deaths/1000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 78.7 years
Male: 75.6 years
Female: 82 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.5 children born/woman (2007 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Capital
Name: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg
Geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 20 E
Time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, Belgium, the European Parliament meets in Brussels and Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice of the European Communities meets in Luxembourg

Independence: 7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)

National holiday: Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community to achieve an organized Europe

Constitution: based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2003; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome gave member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 dealt a severe setback to the ratification process; in June 2007 the European Council agreed on a clear and concise mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement and put it into legal form; this agreement known as the Reform Treaty is to serve as a constitution and will be presented to the European Council in October 2007 in order to begin the ratification process

Legal system: comparable to the legal systems of member states; first supranational law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004)
Cabinet: European Commission (composed of 27 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas)
Elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments and is confirmed by the European Parliament; working from member state recommendations, the Commission president then assembles a 'college' of Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; the last confirmation process was held 18 November 2004 (next to be held in 2009)
Election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449 to 149 with 82 abstentions
Note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least four times a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009)
Election results: percent of vote - NA; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28; note - seats by party as of 1 December 2007 - EPP-ED 275, PES 217, ALDE 104, UEN 44, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 24, independents 34, 4 unaccounted for

Judicial branch: Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency the court can sit with 13 justices known as the 'Grand Chamber'; Court of First Instance - 27 justices appointed for a six-year term

Political parties and leaders: Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Joseph DAUL]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Identity Tradition Sovereignty Group or ITS [Bruno GOLLNISCH]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]

International organization participation
European union: ARF (dialogue member), ASEAN (dialogue member), IDA, OAS (observer), UN (observer)
European community: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, NAM (observer), NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA, WTO, ZC (observer)
European central bank: BIS
European investment bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON
In the us chancery: 2,300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20,037
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 862-9,500
In the us fax: [1] (202) 429-1766
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY
From the us embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels
From the us mailing address: same as above
From the us telephone: [32] (2) 508-2,222
From the us fax: [32] (2) 512-5,720

Flag description: on a blue field 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed

Economy overview: Internally the EU is attempting to lower trade barriers adopt a common currency and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $69,000) and historic national animosities the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004 and 2007 the EU admitted 10 and two countries respectively that are in general less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Twelve established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 but the UK Sweden and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states only Slovenia has adopted the euro (1 January 2007); the remaining 11 are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $13.08 trillion (2006 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 3.2% (2006 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $29,900 (2006 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 2.1%
Industry: 27.3%
Services: 70.5% (2006 est.)

Agriculture products: wheat barley oilseeds sugar beets wine grapes; dairy products cattle sheep pigs poultry; fish

Industries: among the world's largest and most technologically advanced the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing metal products petroleum coal cement chemicals pharmaceuticals aerospace rail transportation equipment passenger and commercial vehicles construction equipment industrial equipment shipbuilding electrical power equipment machine tools and automated manufacturing systems electronics and telecommunications equipment fishing food and beverage processing furniture paper textiles tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 2.6% (2006 est.)

Labor force: 220.9 million (2006 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 4.4%
By occupation industry: 27.2%
By occupation services: 67.1%
By occupation note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector industries and services (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate: 8.5% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line: see individual country listings

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.8%
Highest 10: 25.1% (2001 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 31.6 (2003 est.)

Fiscal year: NA

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.8% (2006 est.)

Current account balance: $NA

Exports: $1.33 trillion; note - external exports excluding intra-EU trade (2005)
Commodities: machinery motor vehicles aircraft plastics pharmaceuticals and other chemicals fuels iron and steel nonferrous metals wood pulp and paper products textiles meat dairy products fish alcoholic beverages.
Partners: US 23.3% Switzerland 7.6% Russia 5.2% China 4.8% (2006)

Imports: $1.466 trillion; note - external imports excluding intra-EU trade (2005)
Commodities: machinery vehicles aircraft plastics crude oil chemicals textiles metals foodstuffs clothing
Partners: US 13.8% China 13.4% Russia 8.2% Japan 6.2% (2006)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $NA

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006) 0.8041 (2005) 0.8054 (2004) 0.886 (2003) 1.0626 (2002)

Electricity
Production: 3.007 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Consumption: 2.81 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Exports: NA
Imports: NA

Natural gas
Production: 213.7 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Consumption: 496.3 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Exports: 76.48 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Imports: 361.5 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Proven reserves: 3.31 trillion m³ (1 January 2006 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 238 million (2005)
Mobile cellular: 466 million (2005)

Telephone system: note - see individual country entries of member states

Internet
Country code: .eu (effective 2005); note - see country entries of member states for individual country codes
Hosts: 50.5 million (2005); note - sum of individual country Internet hosts
Users: 247 million (2006)

Airports: 3,393 (2006)
With paved runways: 2020 (2006)
With unpaved runways: 1373 (2006)

Heliports: 100 (2007)

Railways
Total: 236,656 km
Broad gauge: 28,240 km
Standard gauge: 200,532 km
Narrow gauge: 7,861 km
Other: 23 km (2006)

Roadways
Total: 2,394,641 km (includes 61,522 km of expressways)
Paved: 1,809,821 km
Unpaved: 584,820 km (2005)

Waterways: 52,332 km (2006)

Ports and terminals: Antwerp (Belgium) Barcelona (Spain) Braila (Romania) Bremen (Germany) Burgas (Bulgaria) Constanta (Romania) Copenhagen (Denmark) Galati (Romania) Gdansk (Poland) Hamburg (Germany) Helsinki (Finland) Las Palmas (Canary Islands Spain) Le Havre (France) Lisbon (Portugal) London (UK) Marseille (France) Naples (Italy) Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece) Riga (Latvia) Rotterdam (Netherlands) Stockholm (Sweden) Talinn (Estonia) Tulcea (Romania) Varna (Bulgaria)

Disputes international: as a political union the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries but Estonia and Latvia have no land boundary agreements with Russia Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 13 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements or 'acquis' (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; these agreements became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; in addition non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001) bringing the total current membership to 15; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in only some aspects of the Schengen area especially with respect to police and criminal matters; the 12 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 eventually are expected to participate fully in Schengen following a transition period to upgrade their border controls and procedures