The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
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 to 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 Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area 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 - bringing the current membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gives member states two years to ratify the document before it is scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006.
Despite the expansion of membership and functions, "Eurosceptics" in various countries have raised questions about the erosion of national cultures and the imposition of a flood of regulations from the EU capital in Brussels. Failure by member states to ratify the constitution or the inability of newcomer countries to meet euro currency standards might force a loosening of some EU agreements and perhaps lead to several levels of EU participation. These "tiers" might eventually range from an "inner" core of politically integrated countries to a looser "outer" economic association of members.
Geography European Union
Location:
Europe between Eastern Europe and the North Atlantic Ocean
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 3,976,372 sq km
Area - comparative:
less than one-half the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 11,214.8 km
border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050
km, Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein
34.9 km, Macedonia 246 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania
443 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia and Montenegro 151
km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km
note: data for European Continent only
Coastline:
65,413.9 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, Netherlands
−7 m
highest point: Mount Blanc, France/Italy 4,807 m
Natural resources:
iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead,
zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish
Land use:
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA
Irrigated land:
115,807 sq km
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
Environment - current issues:
NA
Environment - international agreements:
Hazardous Wastes, Biodiversity, Air Pollution, Antarctic-Marine
Living Resources, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94, Ozone
Layer Protection, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Law of the Sea, Desertification, Climate
Change; has signed, but not yet ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
People European Union
Population: 456,285,839 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure: 0–14 years: 16.3% 15–64 years: 67.2% 65 years and over: 16.6% (July 2004 est.)
Median age:
NA
Population growth rate:
0.17% (July 2004 est.)
Birth rate:
10.2 births/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Death rate:
10 deaths/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Net migration rate:
1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: NA
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and older: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (July 2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births (July 2004 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.1 years
male: 74.9 years
female: 81.4 years (July 2004 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.48 children born/woman (July 2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Religions:
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Languages:
Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German,
Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish,
Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official
languages are listed
Government European Union
Union name:
conventional long form: European Union
abbreviation: EU
Political structure:
a hybrid intergovernmental and supranational organization
Capital:
Brussels, Belgium
Member states:
25 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK;