Euro

The Euro (currency sign: €; banking code: EUR) is the official currency of the European Union (EU), used in 15 member states, known collectively as the Eurozone (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain). It is also used in 9 other countries around the world, 7 of those being in Europe. Hence it is the single currency for over 320 million Europeans. Including areas using currencies pegged to the Euro, the Euro directly affects close to 500 million people worldwide.With more than €610 billion in circulation as of December 2006 (equivalent to US$802 billion at the exchange rates at the time), the Euro is the currency with the highest combined value of cash in circulation in the world, having surpassed the U.S. dollar.

The Euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency in 1999 and launched as physical coins and banknotes on 1 January 2002. It replaced the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1. More