European Union Fact Sheet
For detailed statistics and explanations regarding the European Union, please consult the EU's official website (Europa)
Demography
Population: 494 million
Population Density (inhabitant/km2): 112 (EU average)
Largest Cities (pop. in million including suburbs): London (11.8m), Paris (11.3m), Madrid (5.6m), Berlin (4.2m), Barcelona (3.8m), Milan (3.8m), Athens (3.5m), Rome (3.3m), Naples (3m), Lisbon (2.9m), Stuttgart (2.7m), Birmingham (2.6m), Hamburg (2.6m), Brussels (2.5m), Budapest (2.5m), Manchester (2.5m), Warsaw (2.4m), Bucharest (2.3m), Amsterdam (2.1m), Leeds (2.1m).
Home Ownership: 69%
Life Expectancy: 78.1 (average), 74.9 years (men), 81.4 years (women)
Birth Rate: 10.2 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death Rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Ethnic Composition: Caucasians (Latin, Germanic, Celtic, Slavic, Greek, etc.), Arabs, Turks, Black Africans
Official Language: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish
Major Religions: Roman Catholicism, Protestanism, Orthodoxism, Islam, Judaism, Agnosticism, Atheism
Geography
Area: 4,324,782 km²
Coastline: over 150,000 km
Highest Peak: Mont Blanc (4,807m)
Lowest Elevation: Lammefjord, Denmark (-7 m); Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands (-7 m)
Economy
Monetary unit: Euro (€, EUR)
GDP at PPP (2006): US$ 13.88 trillion
GDP per capita (2006) : US$29,300 (average),
GNI per capita of euro-zone (2005) : US$ 31,914
GDP - real growth rate (2006) : 2.8%
Inflation (2005) : 2.2 %
Unemployment (2004) : 8.8%
Public Debt (% of GDP - 2004) : 63.8%
Public Deficit (2004) : €270.2 Billion
Main Industries: iron and steel, aluminum, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, aircraft, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools, electronics, telecommunications equipment, fishing, food processing, furniture, paper, textiles and clothing, tourism
Main Exports: 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.
Main Imports: machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Main Trading Partners: USA, Japan, Russia, China
Government
Type of Government: Parliamentary Supranational Organization
Parliamentary System : Unicameral Parliamnent
National Anthem : Ode "An die Freude" (9th Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven)
Administrative Division : 27 member-states
Capital: Brussels (since 7 February 1992)
Headquarters of the European Court of Justice : Luxembourg
Headquarters of Europol : The Hague
President of the European Commission: José Manuel Durão Barroso (since 2004)
Council's President : Frank-Walter Steinmeier (since 2007)
Parliament's President : Hans-Gert Pöttering, EPP (since 2007)
Miscellaneous
Time Zone: GMT/UTC 0, +1, +2
Electricity: 220V AC, 50Hz
Weights & measures: Metric
Internet domain: .eu, .eu.int
International dialing code : +3 (proposed)
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