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The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The Union has a total area of 4,233,255 km² (1,634,469 sq mi) and an estimated total population of over 448 million. The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without precedent or comparison) combining the characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.

Containing 5.8% of the world population in 2020, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$16.6 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately one sixth of global nominal GDP. Additionally, all EU states except Bulgaria have a very high Human Development Index according to the United Nations Development Programme. Its cornerstone, the Customs Union, paved the way to establishing an internal single market based on standardised legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Passport controls have been abolished for travel within the Schengen Area. The eurozone is a group composed of the 20 EU member states that have fully implemented the economic and monetary union and use the euro currency. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the union has developed a role in external relations and defence. It maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and the G20. Due to its global influence, the European Union has been described by some scholars as an emerging superpower.

In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The United Kingdom became the only member state to leave the EU, in 2020; ten countries are aspiring or negotiating to join it. (Full article...)

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The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an inter-governmental organization dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 20 member states. Its headquarters are in Paris, France. ESA has a staff of about 2,000 with an annual budget of about €4 billion in 2013.

ESA's spaceport is the Centre Spatial Guyanais (Guyana Space Centre) in Kourou, French Guiana, a site chosen because it is close to the equator from which commercially important orbits are easier to access. During the 1990s ESA gained the position of market leader in commercial space launches and in recent years ESA has established itself as a major player in space exploration.

ESA science missions are based at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands, Earth Observation missions at ESRIN in Frascati, Italy, ESA Mission Control (ESOC) is in Darmstadt, Germany, and the European Astronauts Centre (PACI), that trains astronauts for future missions is situated in Cologne, Germany.

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Väike-Maarja Church

Photograph: Ivar Leidus

Väike-Maarja Church is located at Väike-Maarja in Lääne-Viru County, Estonia. Initially designed as a fortress church, construction began in the 14th century. It has three nave-halls in Gothic style, as well as an organ installed by Gustav Normann and stained-glass windows by Riho Hütt. The original spire collapsed in a 2010 storm, being replaced in 2012.

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Did you know?

...that Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City all mint their own euro coins, with their own national symbols on the back, despite not being EU members?

...that Slovenia joined the Euro on January 1, 2007?

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The city of Luxembourg, commonly known as Luxembourg City, is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxembourg

As of 2005, the commune of Luxembourg City has a population of 76,420, which is almost three times the population of the second most populous commune. The city's metropolitan population, including that of surrounding communes of Hesperange, Sandweiler, Strassen, and Walferdange, is 103,973. Luxembourg City lies at the heart of Western Europe, situated 188 km (117 miles) from Brussels, 289 km (179 miles) from Paris, 190 km (118 miles) from Cologne. Luxembourg City is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, having developed into a banking and administrative centre. Luxembourg is a seat of several institutions of the European Union, including the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Auditors, and the European Investment Bank.

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General images

The following are images from various European Union-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 2Logo of the European Court of Auditors (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 3Population pyramid of the EU 27 in 2023 (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 4The Frankish Empire at its greatest extent, ca. 814 AD (from History of the European Union)
Image 5Logo of the European Commission (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 6Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", 1570 (from History of the European Union)
Image 7A piece from the original manuscript. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 8The flag of Europe, emblem of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 9Hearing of Josep Borrell, High Representative Vice President (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 10Flag of the Western Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 111922 European flag of the Paneuropean Union (from History of the European Union)
Image 12Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the European customs union and Euratom in Rome in 1957 (from History of the European Union)
Image 13Political groups of the European Parliament in the Louise Weiss building after the election 2014:
  Group of the European People's Party (EPP)
  Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
  Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
  European Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
  European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)
  European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
  Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD)
  Non-Inscrits (NI)
(from Politics of the European Union)
Image 14Aristide Briand (from History of the European Union)
Image 15The European Coal and Steel Community's flag. (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 16A cartogram depicting the population distribution between old EU-27 member states in 2008 (including the UK and excluding Croatia). 57.8% of all citizens of the EU live in the four largest member states: Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 17The Schuman Parade in Warsaw has been organised by the Schuman Foundation since 1999 (2008 photograph). (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 18After two devastating world wars, the political climate favoured an international unity that could preserve peace in Europe effectively (Hamburg, after a massive Allied bombing in 1943 in the picture). (from History of the European Union)
Image 19Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022 (from History of the European Union)
Image 20Logo of the Court of Justice of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 21Winston Churchill (right, during the Atlantic Conference), consistent advocate of continential European integration, later along with his son-in-law Duncan Sandys (from History of the European Union)
Image 22Newest state in yellow (from History of the European Union)
Image 23José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission (2004-2014) (from History of the European Union)
Image 24Organigram of the political system. The seven organs of the Union are in blue, national / intergovernmental elements in orange. (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 25Logo of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 26The population density of the EU is 106 people per km². N.B. the light in the North Sea, as well as much of Norway, is from Routine flaring not human habitation. (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 27The Euro symbol shown as a sculpture outside the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 28Elaboration by sex (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 29Logo of the European Central Bank (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 30Coins and banknotes of the Euro, the single-currency introduced from 1999 (from History of the European Union)
Image 31Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission
(since 1 December 2019) (from History of the European Union)
Image 32The fertility rate in the EU was 1.46 in 2022 (Kindergarten in France). (from Demographics of the European Union)
Image 33Logo of the European Parliament (from Symbols of the European Union)
Image 34The ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union (from Politics of the European Union)
Image 35Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, during the Congress of Europe (9 May 1948) (from History of the European Union)
Image 36Signatories of the 2007 declaration in dark blue. (from Symbols of the European Union)