FACTBOX-The European Union in numbers

    Here are some key statistics on the 
European Union ahead of its enlargement on Jan. 1 to 27 
countries from 25, with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania: 
  
    POPULATION: 
    POPULATION OF THE EU-25:                     459.49 million 
    LARGEST: GERMANY                              82.50 million 
    SMALLEST: MALTA                                     402,700 
    POPULATION OF THE ACCEDING 2 COUNTRIES:        29.3 million 
    ROMANIA                                        21.6 million 
    BULGARIA                                        7.7 million 
    POPULATION OF THE EU-27:                     488.79 million 
     
    SIX LARGEST EU COUNTRIES: 
    GERMANY                                       82.50 million 
    FRANCE                                        60.56 million 
    BRITAIN                                       60.03 million 
    ITALY                                         58.46 million 
    SPAIN                                         43.04 million 
    POLAND                                        38.17 million 
 
    The EU's six biggest countries have 342.77 million people, 
or around 70 percent of the enlarged bloc's total population; 
the average population of the other 21 countries is just under 7 
million. 
     
    AREA: 
    EU-25:                3.94 million sq km 
    EU-27:                4.23 million sq km 
    LARGEST: FRANCE            547,030 sq km 
    SMALLEST: MALTA                316 sq km 
  
    GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: 
    (FORECAST PERCENTAGE RISE, YR/YR)  2006            2007 
    EU-25                               2.8             2.4 
    BULGARIA                            6.0             6.0 
    ROMANIA                             7.2             5.8 
    UNITED STATES                       3.4             2.3 
    JAPAN                               2.7             2.3 
    LARGEST EU ECONOMIES: 
    GERMANY                             2.4             1.2 
    BRITAIN                             2.7             2.6 
    FRANCE                              2.2             2.3 
    ITALY                               1.7             1.4 
  
    GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PER INHABITANT IN 2005: 
    (BY PURCHASING POWER STANDARDS) 
    Note: expressing GDP in PPS eliminates differences in price 
levels between countries. Calculations on a per head basis allow 
comparison of economies significantly different in size. 
    Figures are based on a scale with EU-25 set at 100: 
 
    EU-25                          100 
    EU-27                           96 
    BULGARIA                        33 
    ROMANIA                         34 
    UNITED STATES                  150 
    JAPAN                          110 
    SWITZERLAND                    129 
    NORWAY                         169 
  
    TOP FIVE EU COUNTRIES RANKED BY PPS/HEAD 
    LUXEMBOURG                     251 
    IRELAND                        139 
    NETHERLANDS                    126 
    AUSTRIA                        123 
    DENMARK                        122 
  
    BOTTOM FIVE EU COUNTRIES RANKED BY PPS/HEAD 
    LATVIA                          48 
    POLAND                          50 
    LITHUANIA                       52 
    SLOVAKIA                        57 
    ESTONIA                         60 
    (Source: European Commission) 
 ((Writing by Jeremy Smith; Reuters Messaging: 
jm.smith.reuters.com@reuters.net; email jm.smith@reuters.com; 
tel +32 2 287 6834)) 
  Keywords: EU ENLARGEMENT/  
    

[Reuters/Finance.cz]