EU Facts | European Union
Our EU Facts for Kids provide interesting and fun facts about the European Union, its meaning, its
history and all you really should know about the EU.
European Union Facts
The EU or European Union is a union of European member countries. The EU is a political economic
union of countries that are located on the European continent.
Of the 50 countries in Europe, 27 belong to the European Union (EU).
Note that the European Union member countries all are independent and sovereign countries with
their own governments, own legislation and own constitutions. The UK left the European Union in
2020.
Top 20 EU Facts
1. The EU has 27 members. These 27 member countries are:
Austria Belgium Bulgaria
Croatia Czechia Cyprus
Denmark Estonia Finland
France Germany Greece
Hungary Ireland Italy
Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg
Malta Netherlands Poland
Portugal Romania Slovakia
Slovenia Spain Sweden
The European Union changed as it lost one member state 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, one member country left the
EU on 31 December 2020: The UK.
The United Kingdom left the European Union after 52% of the UK population voted to leave the
community of the European Union in 2016.
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.
The melody is part of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and referred to as "Ode to Joy". 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. The anthem is played at official ceremonies of the EU or when
several countries share and attend any European event.
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 451 million inhabitants in total living in the member countries (2024).
Thus the EU is the third largest population after China and India. The EU is about half the size in land
area than the USA.
7. Smallest country of the EU by land area and population is Malta.
