European Union

Political and economic union · 27 members · Checked 2026-10-06

The European Union is a political and economic union. This layer shows its full member states, not the euro area or the Schengen area. Those groups have different membership. Shared EU membership alone does not describe every treaty obligation between two countries.

Reading the layer

Member countries use a shared fill. With an economic heatmap enabled, the economic colors stay visible and membership uses outlines. 26 members have a matching geometry; 1 are available through the member list. Turning on a layer does not move the globe. “View members” changes the camera only when requested.

Optional connections run from the selected member country to at most six destinations that you choose. Lines are static and show co-membership only. They have no direction, weight or inferred diplomatic meaning.

Comparing economic data

Select up to six members and open the comparison window. These are historical economic observations for the current membership, not a reconstruction of membership in that year. The common-year control uses the latest year available for every included series; countries without a series are identified separately. An exact year never borrows another year's value. Latest observations may come from different years. Earthboard does not calculate an organization-wide inflation average or GDP total from this selection.

Economic values come from the World Bank and retain their observation year. A World Bank economy is not necessarily a sovereign state. The membership data and geographic mapping are matched explicitly; territories do not inherit the membership of their sovereign parent. Generalized Natural Earth boundaries are not statements about jurisdiction or sovereignty.

Membership dates and sources

Only full members are included. Dates below follow the official source; NATO entries have year precision. EU founding members refer to the European Communities; no treaty-signature date is substituted for a joining date. UN admission dates follow the UN list and its state-continuity notes, not independence dates.

Official EU member list · Membership history and dates · Economic sources and methodology

Member list / 회원국 목록