d 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). In 1995, Austria,
Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, 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 of the EU
states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002,
citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using the 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 - and in 2007 Bulgaria and
Romania joined, bringing the current membership to 27. In order to
ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an
expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice (in force as of 1 February
2003) set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU
institutions. An effort to establish an EU constitution, begun in
October 2004, failed to attain unanimous ratification. A new effort,
undertaken in June 2007, calls for the creation of an
Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement, known as
the Reform Treaty, which is to serve as a constitution. Unlike the
constitution, however, the Reform Treaty would amend existing
treaties rather than replace them.

Geography
European Union

Location:

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

Map references:

Europe

Area:

total: 4,324,782 sq km

Area - comparative:

less than one-half the size of the US

Land boundaries:

total: 12,440.8 km
border countries: 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:

65,992.9 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, Netherl