Following the two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century, a number of far-sighted European leaders in the late 1940s sought a response to the overwhelming desire for peace and reconciliation on the continent. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed pooling the production of coal and steel in Western Europe and setting up an organization for that purpose that would bring France and the Federal Republic of Germany together and would be open to other countries as well. 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.

The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other elements of the countries' economies. In 1957, envisioning an "ever closer union," the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the body known today as the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and have been held every five years since.

In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU), at the time standing alongside the European Community. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU/EC, raising the membership total to 15.

A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all EU member states except Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In 2002, citizens of those 12 countries began using euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007 and Croatia in 2013, bringing the current membership to 28. (Seven of these new countries - Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia - have now adopted the euro bringing total euro zone membership to 19.)

In an effort to ensure that the EU could function efficiently with an expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice (signed in 2000) set forth rules to streamline the size and procedures of EU institutions. An effort to establish a "Constitution for Europe," growing out of a Convention held in 2002-2003, foundered when it was rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands in 2005. A subsequent effort in 2007 incorporated many of the features of the rejected draft Constitutional Treaty while also making a number of substantive and symbolic changes. The new treaty, referred to as the Treaty of Lisbon, sought to amend existing treaties rather than replace them. The treaty was approved at the EU intergovernmental conference of the then 27 member states held in Lisbon in December 2007, after which the process of national ratifications began. In October 2009, an Irish referendum approved the Lisbon Treaty (overturning a previous rejection) and cleared the way for an ultimate unanimous endorsement. Poland and the Czech Republic signed on soon after. The Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009 and the EU officially replaced and succeeded the EC. The Treaty's provisions are part of the basic consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union (TUE) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFUE) now governing what remains a very specific integration project.

The evolution of what is today the European Union (EU) from a regional economic agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's hybrid intergovernmental and supranational organization of 28 countries across the European continent stands as an unprecedented phenomenon in the annals of history. Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long the norm in Europe; on a few occasions even country-level unions were arranged - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were examples. But for such a large number of nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an overarching entity is unique.

Although the EU is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more than a free-trade association such as ASEAN, NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has certain attributes associated with independent nations: its own flag, currency (for some members), and law-making abilities, as well as diplomatic representation and a common foreign and security policy in its dealings with external partners.

Thus, inclusion of basic intelligence on the EU has been deemed appropriate as a new, separate entity in The World Factbook. However, because of the EU's special status, this description is placed after the regular country entries.

Europe between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the east

Europe

less than one-half the size of the US

65,992.9 km

NA

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

fairly flat along Baltic and Atlantic coasts; mountainous in the central and southern areas

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

154,539.82 sq km (2011 est.)

2,057.76 cu km (2011)

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

various forms of air, soil, and water pollution; see individual country entries

Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish

Roman Catholic 48%, Protestant 12%, Orthodox 8%, other Christian 4%, Muslim 2%, other 1% (includes Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu), atheist 7%, non-believer/agnostic 16%, unspecified 2% (2012 est.)

513,949,445 (July 2015 est.)

note - see individual country entries of member states

.22% (2014 est.)

10.17 births/1,000 population (2014 est.)

10.17 deaths/1,000 population (2014 est.)

2.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2014 est.)

1.60 children born/woman (2014 est.)

5.4 beds/1,000 population (2011)

note - see individual country entries of member states

note - see individual country entries of member states

note - see individual country entries of member states

a hybrid and unique intergovernmental and supranational organization

28 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK; note - candidate countries: Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey

7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the European Union); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)

Europe Day (also known as Schuman Day) 9 May (1950); note - the day in 1950 that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of what became the European Coal and Steel Community, the progenitor of today's European Union, with the aim of achieving a united Europe

none; note - the EU legal order relies primaily on two consolidated texts encompassing all provisions as amended from a series of past treaties: the Treaty on European Union (TEU), as modified by the Lisbon Treaty, states in Article 1 that "the HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES establish among themselves a EUROPEAN UNION ... on which the Member States confer competences to attain objectives they have in common"; Article 1 of the TEU states further that the EU is "founded on the present Treaty and on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as 'the Treaties')," both possessing the same legal value; Article 6 of the TEU provides that a separately adopted Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union "shall have the same legal value as the Treaties"

unique supranational law system in which, according to an interpretive declaration of member-state governments appended to the Treaty of Lisbon, "the Treaties and the law adopted by the Union on the basis of the Treaties have primacy over the law of Member States" under conditions laid down in the case law of the Court of Justice; key principles of EU law include fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and as resulting from constitutional traditions common to the EU's states; EU law is divided into 'primary' and 'secondary' legislation; the treaties (primary legislation) are the basis for all EU action; secondary legislation - which includes directives, regulations, and decisions - are derived from the principles and objectives set out in the treaties

18 years of age (16 years in Austria); universal; voting for the European Parliament is permitted in each member state

Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or GUE/NGL [Gabriele ZIMMER]

Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group or EFD [Nigel FARAGE and David BORRELLI]

European Conservatives and Reformists Group or ECR [Syed KAMALL]

Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Rebecca HARMS and Philippe LAMBERTS]

Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Guy VERHOFSTADT]

Group of the European People's Party or EPP [Manfred WEBER]

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats or S&D [Gianni PITELLA]

ARF, ASEAN (dialogue member), Australian Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CERN, EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-8, G-10, G-20, IDA, IEA, IGAD (partners), LAIA (observer), NSG (observer), OAS (observer), OECD, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SICA (observer), UN (observer), UNRWA (observer), WCO, WTO, ZC (observer)

a blue field with 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle in the center; blue represents the sky of the Western world, the stars are the peoples of Europe in a circle, a symbol of unity; the number of stars is fixed

a circle of 12, five-pointed, golden yellow stars on a blue field; union colors: blue, yellow

Internally, the 28 EU member states have adopted the framework of a single market with free movement of goods, services and capital. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic weight.

Despite great differences in per capita income among member states (from $13,000 to $82,000) and in national attitudes toward issues like inflation, debt, and foreign trade, the EU has achieved a high degree of coordination of monetary and fiscal policies. A common currency – the euro – circulates among 19 of the member states, under the auspices of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Eleven established EU states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later). Since 2004, 13 states acceded to the EU that are, in general, less advanced economically than the other member states. Of the 13, Slovenia (2007), Cyprus and Malta (2008), Slovakia (2009), Estonia (2011), Latvia (2014), and Lithuania (2015) have adopted the euro; 7 other member states - not including the UK and Denmark, which have formal opt-outs - are required by EU treaties to adopt the common currency upon meeting fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.

Following the 2008-09 global economic crisis, the EU economy saw moderate GDP growth in 2010 and 2011 but has struggled since the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone intensified in 2011. Despite EU/IMF rescue programs in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus, significant drags on growth remain, including high public and private debt loads, low domestic demand that discourages investment, aging populations, onerous regulations, and high unemployment. In response, EU leaders plan to use $28 (€21) billion in public money as seed capital to attract private investors to fund $421 [€315] billion in infrastructure projects from 2015 to 2017, focusing on energy, broadband, transport, education, and research and innovation. The eurozone has implemented a banking union to increase financial stability and improve lending conditions, with the European Central Bank taking the lead in banking supervision in the region. The ECB has also expressed its intent to widen its asset-buying program - including government debt if necessary - to fend off deflation and improve borrowing conditions in the euro zone. In another effort to restore economic growth and create jobs, in 2013 the EU and the United States started negotiations on an ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement with the goal of expanding already massive trade and investment flows.

$18.01 trillion (2014 est.)

$17.77 trillion (2013 est.)

$17.75 trillion (2012 est.)

$18.24 trillion (2014 est.)

1.4% (2014 est.)

0.1% (2013 est.)

-0.3% (2012 est.)

$39,200 (2014 est.)

$38,700 (2013 est.)

$38,600 (2012 est.)

19.2% of GDP (2013 est.)

19% of GDP (2012 est.)

19.5% of GDP (2011 est.)

(2012 est.)

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

among the world's largest and most technologically advanced regions, the EU 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 beverages, furniture, paper, textiles

0.6% (2014 est.)

224.2 million (2014 est.)

9.9% (2014 est.)

10.5% (2013)

note - see individual country entries of member states

30.6 (2012 est.)

30.8 (2011 est.)

NA

1.5% (2013 est.)

2.6% (2012 est.)

0.75% (31 December 2013)

1.5% (31 December 2012)

5.9% (31 December 2010 est.)

7.52% (31 December 2009 est.)

$6.736 trillion (31 December 2013)

$6.219 trillion (31 December 2012)

$12.9 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)

$12.29 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$21.71 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)

$21.29 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$10.4 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)

$9.36 trillion (31 December 2011)

$10.56 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

-$34.49 billion (2011 est.)

-$5.73 billion (2010 est.)

$2.173 trillion (2012 est.)

$2.174 trillion (2011 est.)

machinery, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, aircraft, plastics, iron and steel, wood pulp and paper products, alcoholic beverages, furniture

$2.312 trillion (2012 est.)

$2.404 trillion (2011 est.)

fuels and crude oil, machinery, vehicles, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, precious gemstones, textiles, aircraft, plastics, metals, ships

$863.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$15.95 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)

$14.78 trillion (31 December 2011)

$NA

euros per US dollar -

0.7489 (2014 est.)

0.7634 (2013 est.)

0.78 (2012 est.)

0.7185 (2011 est.)

0.755 (2010 est.)

3.26 trillion kWh (2013 est.)

2.798 trillion kWh (2012 est.)

343.9 billion kWh (2012 est.)

363.1 billion kWh (2012 est.)

NA

50.5% of total installed capacity (2011 est.)

13.5% of total installed capacity (2011 est.)

16.3% of total installed capacity (2011 est.)

19.6% of total installed capacity (2011 est.)

1.437 million bbl/day (2013 est.)

6.804 billion bbl (1 January 2014 est.)

11.62 million bbl/day (2013 est.)

12.77 million bbl/day (2013 est.)

2.196 million bbl/day (2012 est.)

8.613 million bbl/day (2010 est.)

146.8 billion cu m (2013 est.)

438.1 billion cu m (2013 est.)

93.75 billion cu m (2010 est.)

420.6 billion cu m (2010 est.)

1.573 billion cu m (1 January 2014 est.)

3.914 billion Mt (2013 est.)

note - see individual country entries of member states

AM 930, FM 13,655, shortwave 71 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)

2,700 (1995); note - sum of individual country television broadcast stations excluding repeaters; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)

.eu; note - see country entries of member states for individual country codes

3,102 (2013)

90 (2013)

53,384 km (2013)

1.65% of GDP (2012)

1.66% of GDP (2011)

1.65% of GDP (2010)

the five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004; Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina; in November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis; 22 of the EU's 28 nations have agreed to supply troops; France, Italy, and the UK formed the first of three battle groups in 2005; Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Finland established the Nordic Battle Group effective 1 January 2008; nine other groups are to be formed; a rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in March 2007 (2007)

as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries, but Estonia has 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 22 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), Switzerland since 2008, and Liechtenstein since 2011 bringing the total current membership to 26; 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; nine of the 13 new member states that joined the EU since 2004 joined Schengen on 21 December 2007; of the four remaining EU states, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia are obligated to eventually join, while Cyprus' entry is held up by the ongoing Cyprus dispute