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| Map by Evan Centanni, from blank map by Ssolbergj. License: CC BY-SA |
What is the European Union?
Europe's continental union is probably most famous to outsiders for its euro currency and Schengen free-travel area. But it's actually much more than that: After all, the UK, whose exit from the EU in 2020 created a massive political storm, was never part of the Schengen Area or euro currency zone to begin with.
The idea is that Europe can do better economically, and better guarantee rights and standards of living, if all the countries work together as one. Needless to say, not everyone in Europe agrees this is a good thing (or that it works) - that's how the UK ended up leaving - but at the same time, other countries are still scrambling to join.
Which Countries are in the European Union? (Full List of EU Members)
As of 2025, the European Union has 27 member countries, after the official departure of the UK in 2020. The most recent country to join was Croatia, in 2013.
List of EU Member Countries
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus*
Czechia
Denmark (except the Faroe Islands and Greenland)
Estonia
Finland
France (except some overseas regions and territories)
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands (except Caribbean islands)
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden*The Republic of Cyprus holds EU membership on behalf of both southern and northern Cyprus, though the north is controlled by the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, where EU law is considered to be "suspended" until the dispute can be resolved. Two British military bases on Cyprus's southern coast, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, are considered a territory of the UK and are not part of the EU. In fact, it's arguable whether the island of Cyprus - located in the far east of the Mediterranean, near Lebanon and Syria - is even located in Europe to begin with. But in an early example of the EU being flexible about geographic definitions, Cyprus was allowed in on the basis of its shared cultural history (about three-quarters of the island's population is culturally Greek, and most of the rest is culturally Turkish).
Former EU countries: Who used to be in the European Union, but isn't anymore?
At one time, there was debate over whether it was even legal for a country to leave the EU, with some people arguing that the treaties countries signed when they joined the group couldn't be taken back. But the EU leadership clarified the rules in 2009 to allow it, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ("UK" or "Britain" for short) eventually headed for the exit. The country voted in June 2016 to leave the union, but didn't officially stop being a member until the end of January 2020. So far, the UK is the only actual EU member country ever to leave.
List of Former EU Member Countries
However, the UK proper isn't the only place that used to be in the EU but isn't anymore: The territory of Gibraltar, which is controlled by the UK but not considered officially part of it, was also pulled out of the union when the UK left in 2020, even though its people voted overwhelmingly in favor of staying (other overseas territories of the UK were never considered part of the EU to begin with).
Another interesting case is Greenland, a nearly-independent "country" affiliated with EU member Denmark. Greenland was part of an earlier organization, the European Economic Community (EEC) or "European Community", which later was absorbed into the the EU organizational structure. However, Greenland chose to leave the European Community in 1985, before the European Union was officially established.
Who's Next: Which countries are in line to join the EU?
The rules say European Union membership is open any "European" country that can convince existing members it will meet the standards of EU membership. There's no officially agreed-upon definition of where Europe ends and Asia begins, so the "European" part is pretty flexible. As we mentioned in a note above, Cyprus has already been an EU member for a long time, despite it's location seeming to be a bit of a stretch.
The other membership standards, also more or less a matter of opinion, include being free and democratic, respecting human rights, and having a "functioning market economy" (controlled more by supply and demand than by the government).
New members also have to adopt the EU's laws before joining, then prepare to efficiently put those laws into effect, and have the "capacity to cope" with basically merging their economies into the EU economy as a whole. Normally, they're also required to plan on eventually adopting the euro as their currency and joining the free-travel Schengen Area, though there are some exceptions.
List of Official EU Candidate Countries
Joining the EU takes years of negotiation between the prospective member and existing member countries, and the EU has an official list of approved membership candidates who have started the process:
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Georgia
Moldova
Montenegro
North Macedonia
Serbia
Türkiye (Turkey)
Ukraine
Türkiye applied all the way back in 1987 (when it was still officially known in English as "Turkey"), but is still a long way from getting approved by the existing EU members. The other candidate countries are mostly in early stages of membership negotiations, or haven't even formally started yet. Montenegro is the farthest ahead in the process, but isn't expected to get in until about 2028.
Learn More: Turkey's English-language Name Change to "Türkiye"
Georgia is the newest official EU candidate country, after it was upgraded from "potential candidate" in December 2023, though it's since suspended its membership bid after a falling-out between its leadership and the EU government. Bosnia was the most recent country to become an EU membership candidate before that, gaining the status in December 2022. Ukraine and Moldova also became official EU candidate countries in 2022, getting approved unusually fast in June 2022. Both countries had applied for membership less than four months earlier, just after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia have one important thing in common: Part
of each one's claimed land area is controlled by Russian or Russia-allied forces. When they started the process of joining the EU in mid-2022, all of those areas were claiming to be separate, independent countries: Donetsk and Lugansk independent from Ukraine, Transnistria from Moldova, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia. The self-proclaimed independent Donetsk and Lugansk governments agreed to merge into Russia later in 2022, even though today most countries still consider them part of Ukraine.
List of Potential EU Candidate Countries
The EU also has an official designation for "potential candidates" that haven't been fully invited yet. As of July 2025, there's only one:
Kosovo has been held up partly because there's a debate over whether it's even a country - it declared independence from Serbia controversially in 2008, and the Serbian government says it's still part of Serbia. The world's countries are divided on the issue, and Kosovo still isn't a member of the United Nations, though most EU countries have taken its side.
Which Other European Countries Aren't in the EU?
So who's left? Which European countries are outside the European Union and still not on the official prospective membership list? There are actually quite a few, even when excluding ex-member the UK:
List of Undisputedly European Countries That Aren't EU Members, Former Members, Candidates, or Potential Candidates
Andorra
Belarus
Iceland*
Liechtenstein
Monaco
Norway*
Russia**
San Marino
Switzerland*
Vatican City
**Russia is often considered to be partially in Europe and partially in Asia, but its historical center and the majority of its population are on what's traditionally considered to be the European side.
List of Arguably European Countries That Aren't EU Members, Candidates, or Potential Candidates
There are some cases where it's a matter of opinion whether a country is in Europe or not, since there's no official, agreed-upon definition of where Europe ends and Asia begins. Some of these countries, like Cyprus, Georgia and Türkiye (formerly Turkey), have already been approved as "European" by the EU (see above). But there are at least three more countries in this category that so far haven't applied:
Kazakhstan is usually talked about as a Central Asian country, but a portion of it does lie on the western side of the Ural River, which is often considered to form part of the line between Europe and Asia.
Meanwhile, the three widely-recognized countries of the South Caucasus region - Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia - are often considered culturally European, but sit mostly on the Asian side of a commonly-used line dividing Europe and Asia on maps (following the divide of the Caucasus Mountains). Georgia's approval as a EU candidate country in 2023 seems to settle the question as far as the European Union is concerned, and Armenia is now looking to apply too.
These lists leave out several self-proclaimed republics, mentioned briefly in other parts of this article, that the EU doesn't consider to be countries at all: Northern Cyprus, Transnistria, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The latter two, as claimed parts of Georgia, also lie within the South Caucasus region.
What Will Happen Next?
The future is always in motion, but you can stay up to date on European Union membership by checking back with Political Geography Now, or by signing up for email updates from the box on the right-hand side of this page. You can also view all European Union articles, or follow PolGeoNow on X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky, or Mastodon for even more news and facts!
Related:
Which Countries Use the Euro Currency? (Map of the Eurozone)
Map of the Schengen Area, Europe's Border-free Travel Zone
Britain's Exit from the European Union: What Actually Changed?
Article by Evan Centanni. Country flags and associated HTML code from Wikipedia (licensed under CC BY-SA).