With 27 member countries and a population of nearly half a billion, the European Union covers a large part of Europe. Since its creation, it has worked to bring prosperity and stability to its citizens. Its policies and actions affect us all directly and indirectly.

The European Union aims to be a fair and caring society, committed to promoting economic prosperity and creating jobs by making companies more competitive and giving workers new skills.

With its neighbours and others, the EU works to spread prosperity, democratic progress, the rule of law and human rights beyond its frontiers. The European Union is the world’s biggest trading power and a major donor of financial and technical assistance to poorer countries.

Using charts, graphs and entertaining illustrations, this website sets out basic facts and figures about the European Union and its member states.

The countries that are candidates for EU membership are also included, in a separate section.

For simplicity, some figures have been rounded up.

Key facts and figures about Europe and the Europeans is also available as a booklet (http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/eu_glance/66/index_en.htm).

A great deal more information about the European Union is available via the Europa internet portal (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm).

For example, Eurostat (the EU's statistical office) publishes thousands of detailed statistics on its website. You can access this data free of charge (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=1090,1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL).