Berlin, the euro and Germany's place in the EU, the euro area and Schengen

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Berlin, the euro and Germany's place in the EU, the euro area and Schengen

Background

The European Union's own country profile for Germany gives the capital as Berlin and the official EU language as German. Germany has been an EU Member State since 1 January 1958. Its currency is the euro (€), and it has been a member of the euro area since 1 January 1999. It has been a member of the Schengen area since 26 March 1995, so its Schengen membership is older than its euro-area membership. Eurostat figures carried on the same page give Germany's geographical size as 357 569 km2 and its population as 83 577 140. Germany ranks seventh in the European Union in terms of GDP per capita with €44 200, against an EU average of €38 100, and it accounts for 24.4% of the EU's total GDP.

Capital: Berlin Currency: euro (€) EU Member State since: since 1 January 1958 Euro area member since: 1999 Schengen member since: 26 March 1995 Geographical size (sq km): 357 569 Population (Eurostat): 83 577 140 Share of the EU's total GDP: 24.4%

Why it matters for exams: Capital, currency and the three membership dates are the first facts a Country Focus question set draws on, and the order in which Germany entered the EU, Schengen and the euro area is a standard one-mark trap.

Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank

2 October 2026 Source: European Union Updated 10 October 2026

In plain words

Euro area The group of EU member states that use the euro — It is the set of European Union countries whose currency is the euro; EU membership does not by itself put a country in it.

Schengen area The European area without internal border checks — Within it travellers cross participating countries' internal borders without passport checks.