The Euro (currency sign: €; banking code: EUR) is the official currency of the European Union member states of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain - also known as the Eurozone. The currency is also used in a further six European countries, with and without formal agreements, and is consequently used daily by some 327 million Europeans. Over 175 million people worldwide use currencies which are pegged to the euro, including more than 150 million people in Africa.

The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995 and was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency in 1 January 1999 and launched as physical coins and banknotes in 1 January 2002. On 1 December 2009 the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, and with it the euro became the official currency of the European Union. All EU member states are eligible to join if they comply with certain monetary requirements, and eventual use of the euro is mandatory for all new EU members.

The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) (composed of the central banks of its member states). As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The ESCB participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the Eurozone payment systems.

Current member states and dates of entry into the European Union

The European Union's 27 member states cover an area of 4,233,255 square kilometers (1,634,469 square miles) and have approximately 447 million inhabitants. The European Union's member states if combined would represent the world's largest economy by GDP, the seventh largest territory in the world by area and the third largest by population. The EU describes itself as a "a family of democratic European countries".