Schengen Area

Schengen Area
Map of the Schengen Area   Schengen Area   Schengen Area (air and maritime borders only)   Countries with open borders to the Schengen area   Member of the EU committed by treaty to join the Schengen Area in the future
Type	Open border area of the European Union
Members	29 states  Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria[a]  Croatia  Czech Republic  Denmark[b]  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Iceland[c]  Italy  Latvia  Liechtenstein[c]  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Norway[c]  Poland  Portugal  Romania[a]  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden  Switzerland[c]
Establishment	26 March 1995
Area
• Total	4,595,131 km2 (1,774,190 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	453,324,255
• Density	98.7/km2 (255.6/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$25.926 trillion[1]
• Per capita	$56,997
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$19.213 trillion[1]
• Per capita	$42,237

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The Schengen Area (English: /ˈʃɛŋən/ SHENG-ən, Luxembourgish: [ˈʃæŋən] ^ⓘ) is an area encompassing 29 European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice policy of the European Union (EU), it mostly functions as a single jurisdiction under a common visa policy for international travel purposes. The area is named after the 1985 Schengen Agreement and the 1990 Schengen Convention, both signed in Schengen, Luxembourg.

Of the 27 EU member states, 25 are part of the Schengen Area. Bulgaria and Romania, the newest members having joined the Schengen Area on 31 March 2024, only have air and maritime borders open, with land border controls remaining in place pending agreement to lift them. The only EU member states that are not part of the Schengen Area are Cyprus and Ireland. Cyprus is legally obliged to join in the future, while Ireland maintains an opt-out and operates its own visa policy. Denmark also maintains an opt-out from the wider AFSJ policy area, but has adopted the Schengen acquis on an intergovernmental basis. Denmark does not have voting powers for introductions and revocations of measures applied to the Schengen area as a result of this opt-out.^[2]

In addition to the member states of the European Union, all member states of the European Free Trade Association, namely Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, have signed association agreements with the EU to be part of the Schengen Area. Moreover, four microstates – Andorra,^[3] Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City – are de facto members of the Schengen Area due to their small size and difficulty of maintaining active border controls.^[4]

The Schengen Area has a population of more than 450 million people and an area of 4,595,131 square kilometres (1,774,190 sq mi). About 1.7 million people commute to work across an internal European border each day, and in some regions these people constitute up to a third of the workforce. In 2015, there were 1.3 billion crossings of Schengen borders in total. Fifty-seven million crossings were due to transport of goods by road, with a value of €2.8 trillion.^[5][6][7] The decrease in the cost of trade due to Schengen varies from 0.42% to 1.59% depending on geography, trade partners, and other factors. Countries outside of the Schengen Area also benefit.^[8] States in the Schengen Area have strengthened border controls with non-Schengen countries.^[9]

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