Area and Population
As of 1 January 2006, the population of the EU was about 493 million people. Many countries are expected to experience a decline in population over the coming decades, though this could be offset with new countries planning to join the EU within the next 20 years. The most populous member state is Germany, with an estimated 82 million people. France and Ireland have the highest birth-rates. The most densely populated country is the island of Malta, which is also the smallest, while the largest in area is France. The least densely populated country is Finland.
Population figures in the table below are the latest available for each country (some are 2006 estimates, others are 2007 estimates). The highest and lowest figures in each column have been marked in bold.
| Member State | Population |
Population |
Area |
Area |
Pop. density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | 494.8 | 100% | 4,422,773 | 100% | 112 |
| Austria | 8.3 | 1.7% | 83,858 | 1.9% | 99 |
| Belgium | 10.5 | 2.1% | 30,510 | 0.7% | 344 |
| Bulgaria | 7.7 | 1.6% | 110,912 | 2.5% | 70 |
| Cyprus | 0.8 | 0.2% | 9,250 | 0.2% | 84 |
| Czech Republic | 10.3 | 2.1% | 78,866 | 1.8% | 131 |
| Denmark | 5.4 | 1.1% | 43,094 | 1.0% | 126 |
| Estonia | 1.4 | 0.3% | 45,226 | 1.0% | 29 |
| Finland | 5.3 | 1.1% | 337,030 | 7.6% | 16 |
| France | 65.03 | 13.% | 643,548 | 14.6% | 111 |
| Germany | 82.3 | 16.6% | 357,021 | 8.1% | 231 |
| Greece | 11.1 | 2.2% | 131,940 | 3.0% | 84 |
| Hungary | 10.1 | 2.0% | 93,030 | 2.1% | 108 |
| Ireland | 4.2 | 0.8% | 70,280 | 1.6% | 60 |
| Italy | 58.8 | 11.9% | 301,320 | 6.8% | 195 |
| Latvia | 2.3 | 0.5% | 64,589 | 1.5% | 35 |
| Lithuania | 3.4 | 0.7% | 65,200 | 1.5% | 52 |
| Luxembourg | 0.5 | 0.1% | 2,586 | 0.1% | 181 |
| Malta | 0.4 | 0.1% | 316 | 0.0% | 1,261 |
| Netherlands | 16.4 | 3.3% | 41,526 | 0.9% | 394 |
| Poland | 38.1 | 7.7% | 312,685 | 7.1% | 122 |
| Portugal | 10.6 | 2.1% | 92,931 | 2.1% | 114 |
| Romania | 21.6 | 4.4% | 238,391 | 5.4% | 91 |
| Spain | 44.7 | 9.0% | 504,782 | 11.4% | 87 |
| Slovakia | 5.4 | 1.1% | 48,845 | 1.1% | 111 |
| Slovenia | 2.0 | 0.4% | 20,253 | 0.5% | 99 |
| Sweden | 9.1 | 1.8% | 449,964 | 10.2% | 20 |
| United Kingdom | 60.7 | 12.3% | 244,820 | 5.5% | 246 |
Read more about this topic: European Union Statistics
Famous quotes containing the words area and/or population:
“Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“We in the West do not refrain from childbirth because we are concerned about the population explosion or because we feel we cannot afford children, but because we do not like children.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)