On 1 Jan 2026 Bulgaria 🇧🇬 adopted the Euro € as its official currency, which is reason enough for us to make this week's #geoweirdness thread about "the Eurozone"
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On 1 Jan 2026 Bulgaria
adopted the Euro € as its official currency, which is reason enough for us to make this week's #geoweirdness thread about "the Eurozone"1/n
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2/ The Euro was introduced as a physical currency on 1 Jan 2002, originally in just 12 EU countries:
Since then, as the European Union
has expanded, so too has the Eurozone. The Euro as adopted by Slovenia 
(2007), Cyprus 
, Malta 
(08), Slovakia
(09), Estonia 
(11), Latvia 
(14), Lithuania 
(15), Croatia 
(23), and now also Bulgaria (26)3/ Four micro-states: Andorra
, Monaco 
, San Marino 
, and the Vatican 
are not members of the European Union , but have signed monetary agreements with the EU, allowing them to not only use the Euro as their currency but also to mint Euro coins.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_status_and_usage_of_the_euro#Sovereign_states
The other European micro-state, Liechtenstein
is in a curency untion with neighboring Switzerland 
, and uses the Swiss Franc -
3/ Four micro-states: Andorra
, Monaco , San Marino , and the Vatican are not members of the European Union , but have signed monetary agreements with the EU, allowing them to not only use the Euro as their currency but also to mint Euro coins.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_status_and_usage_of_the_euro#Sovereign_states
The other European micro-state, Liechtenstein
is in a curency untion with neighboring Switzerland , and uses the Swiss Franc4/ Meanwhile two other countries: Montenegro
and Kosovo 🇽🇰 simply started to unilaterally use the Euro, with no formal agreement with the EU . They have no right to mint Euro coinshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_status_and_usage_of_the_euro#Unilateral_adopters
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4/ Meanwhile two other countries: Montenegro
and Kosovo 🇽🇰 simply started to unilaterally use the Euro, with no formal agreement with the EU . They have no right to mint Euro coinshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_status_and_usage_of_the_euro#Unilateral_adopters
5/ You may be surprised to learn that there is a British
territory where the Euro is the official currency - the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British Overseas Territory on the Island of Cyprus.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrotiri_and_Dhekelia
The de facto state of Northern Cyprus uses the
Turkish Lira. The other Mediterranean British Overseas Territory - Gibraltar
uses the pound (officially the Gibraltar pound, 1 to 1 convertible with British pound) -
7/ Some countries do not use the Euro, but their currency is pegged to it including
Denmark, 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
North Macedonia, 
Comoros, 
São Tomé and Príncipe, 
Cape Verde, and 
Morocco, as are the Central African Franc (6 countries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_African_CFA_francthe West African Franc (8 countries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_African_CFA_francand the Polynesian Franc (3 French Pacific territories)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFP_franc8/ The Euro is not just a European currency - as the map on Euro notes shows it is used in the Americas in French Guyana 🇬🇫, in the Caribbean in St. Barts 🇧🇱, Guadeloupe 🇬🇵, Martinique 🇲🇶, and St. Martin, and in Saint Pierre and Miquelon 🇵🇲. It is also used in the Indian Ocean in Réunion 🇷🇪 and Mayotte 🇾🇹
The
Dutch Caribbean territories do not use the Euro and Curaçao 
and Sint Maarten 
started using a new currency, the Caribbean guilder, in 2025. -
On 1 Jan 2026 Bulgaria
adopted the Euro € as its official currency, which is reason enough for us to make this week's #geoweirdness thread about "the Eurozone"1/n
2/ The Euro was introduced as a physical currency on 1 Jan 2002, originally in just 12 EU countries:
Since then, as the European Union
has expanded, so too has the Eurozone. The Euro as adopted by Slovenia (2007), Cyprus , Malta (08), Slovakia (09), Estonia (11), Latvia (14), Lithuania (15), Croatia (23), and now also Bulgaria (26) -
8/ The Euro is not just a European currency - as the map on Euro notes shows it is used in the Americas in French Guyana 🇬🇫, in the Caribbean in St. Barts 🇧🇱, Guadeloupe 🇬🇵, Martinique 🇲🇶, and St. Martin, and in Saint Pierre and Miquelon 🇵🇲. It is also used in the Indian Ocean in Réunion 🇷🇪 and Mayotte 🇾🇹
The
Dutch Caribbean territories do not use the Euro and Curaçao and Sint Maarten started using a new currency, the Caribbean guilder, in 2025.9/ Another complexity of the Eurozone is enclaves / exclaves
For example in Campione d'Italia the Italian
enclave in Switzerland The Euro is the offical currency but salaries are typically paid in Swiss Francshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campione_d%27Italia
Similarly in the German
exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein the Swiss Franc is also widely used. -
6/ There are six EU
countries that do not use the Euro: Sweden 
, Denmark , Poland 
, Czech Republic 
, Hungary 
, and Romania 
All except Denmark (which has a special opt-out) have committed to eventually adopting the Euro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_eurozone#Future_enlargements
7/ Some countries do not use the Euro, but their currency is pegged to it including
Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, and Morocco, as are the Central African Franc (6 countries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_African_CFA_francthe West African Franc (8 countries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_African_CFA_francand the Polynesian Franc (3 French Pacific territories)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFP_franc -
5/ You may be surprised to learn that there is a British
territory where the Euro is the official currency - the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British Overseas Territory on the Island of Cyprus.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrotiri_and_Dhekelia
The de facto state of Northern Cyprus uses the
Turkish Lira. The other Mediterranean British Overseas Territory - Gibraltar
uses the pound (officially the Gibraltar pound, 1 to 1 convertible with British pound)6/ There are six EU
countries that do not use the Euro: Sweden , Denmark , Poland , Czech Republic , Hungary , and Romania All except Denmark (which has a special opt-out) have committed to eventually adopting the Euro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_eurozone#Future_enlargements
-
9/ Another complexity of the Eurozone is enclaves / exclaves
For example in Campione d'Italia the Italian
enclave in Switzerland The Euro is the offical currency but salaries are typically paid in Swiss Francshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campione_d%27Italia
Similarly in the German
exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein the Swiss Franc is also widely used.10/ And with that we wrap up our look at the geographic oddities of the Eurozone. What did we overlook? Which country or territory do you think will join the Euro next?
If you enjoyed this thread, you may like our look at political unions https://en.osm.town/@opencage/114002943797761529
or our thread about the
Eurovision Song Contest
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/114522432517661812We have more threads about specific countries, border disputes, geocoding, etc linked on our blog: https://blog.opencagedata.com/geothreads
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10/ And with that we wrap up our look at the geographic oddities of the Eurozone. What did we overlook? Which country or territory do you think will join the Euro next?
If you enjoyed this thread, you may like our look at political unions https://en.osm.town/@opencage/114002943797761529
or our thread about the
Eurovision Song Contest
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/114522432517661812We have more threads about specific countries, border disputes, geocoding, etc linked on our blog: https://blog.opencagedata.com/geothreads
11/ one bonus toot - back in October our #fridaygeotrivia question was about countries that had changed currency in the last 20 years.
Quiz yourself and see if you can name them all: https://blog.opencagedata.com/post/geotrivia-october-2025
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10/ And with that we wrap up our look at the geographic oddities of the Eurozone. What did we overlook? Which country or territory do you think will join the Euro next?
If you enjoyed this thread, you may like our look at political unions https://en.osm.town/@opencage/114002943797761529
or our thread about the
Eurovision Song Contest
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/114522432517661812We have more threads about specific countries, border disputes, geocoding, etc linked on our blog: https://blog.opencagedata.com/geothreads
@opencage Before adopting the Euro, Kosovo used Germany's currency, the Deutsche Mark. So they basically followed Germany's adoption of the Euro. (I just think that this fact is interesting in its own right.)
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