European Union(EU) Schengen Visa-Free Travel Zone

 

The Schengen Area is the area comprising 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their common borders, also referred to as internal borders.

It mostly functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy

The Area is named after the Schengen Agreement

Countries in the Schengen Area have eliminated internal border controls with the other Schengen members and strengthened external border controls with non-Schengen states.

The Schengen area encourages the free movement of goods, information, money and people

22 of the 28 European Union Memebr States participate in the Schengen Area

Of the 6 EU Members that do not form part of the Schengen Area, four – Bulgaria,Croatia,Cyprus and Romania  – are legally obliged and wish to join the area, while the other two – Ireland and UK  – maintain opt-outs

All four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states – Iceland,Liechtenstein,Norway and Switzerland – have signed the Schengen Agreement, even though they are outside the EU

The Schengen Area currently has a population of over 400 million people and an area of 4,312,099 square kilometres (1,664,911 sq mi)