The biggest country in the bloc is France at 633,866 km2 and the smallest is Malta, a Mediterranean island of 313 km2.

448.4 million people

A total of 448 million people live in the EU, according to Eurostat. The most populous country, Germany, has 84 million, while the least populous, Malta, has 530,000 people.The EU is more populous than the United States with 333 million people but has only a third of the population of China and India, each of which has 1.4 billion inhabitants.

24 languages and counting
The bloc has 24 official languages.

That makes hard work for the parliament’s army of 660 translators and interpreters, who have 552 language combinations to deal with.

Around 60 other regional and minority languages, like Breton and Sami, are spoken across the bloc but EU laws have to be written only in official languages.

20 euro members
Only 20 of the EU’s 27 members use the euro single currency, which has been in use since 2002.

Denmark was allowed to keep its krona but Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden are all expected to join the euro when their economies are ready.

The shared currency has highlighted the disparity in prices across the bloc — in 2022, Finland had the highest prices for alcoholic beverages, 113 percent above the EU average, while Ireland was the most expensive for tobacco, 161 percent above the EU average.

And while Germany produced the cheapest ice cream at 1.5 euros per litre, in neighbouring Austria a scoop costs on average seven euros per litre.

100,000 pages of law
The EU’s body of law, which all member states are compelled to apply, stretches to 100,000 pages and covers around 17,000 pieces of legislation.

It includes EU treaties, legislation and court rulings on everything from greenhouse gases to parental leave and treaties with other countries like Canada and China.