Geography of the Schengen area

Today, the geography of the Schengen area counts 26 Member States. Of course, all members fully apply the provisions of the Schengen acquis.

First, these are the older members, namely:

• Germany,
• Austria,
• Belgium,
• Denmark,
• Spain,
• Finland,
• France,
• Greece,
• Italy,
• Luxembourg,
• The Netherlands,
• Portugal
• and Sweden.

There are three additional Schengen countries that are not members of the European Union, namely

• Norway,
• Iceland,
• and Switzerland.

New Member States of the European Union

Then, the ten new Member States of the European Union, namely

• Estonia,
• Hungary,
• Latvia,
• Lithuania,
• Malta,
• Poland,
• Czech Republic,
• Slovakia
• and Slovenia

became members of the Schengen area in 2008.

Finally, Liechtenstein also joined the Schengen area.

States which should join the Schengen area

In fact, four non member Sates should join the Schengen area : Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania. Also, please note that some territories remain out of the Schengen area, such as french territories : Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin.

States which are not members of the Schengen area

There are Member States of the European Union who are still outside the Schengen Area. These are the United Kingdom and Ireland, which chose to maintain border inspections for traffic to and from other Member States of the European Union.