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Schengen Area

The Schengen Area (English: /ˈʃɛŋən/ SHENG-ən, Luxembourgish: [ˈʃæŋən] ) is an area encompassing 29 European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice policy of the European Union (EU), it mostly functions as a single jurisdiction under a common visa policy for international travel purposes. The area is named after the 1985 Schengen Agreement and the 1990 Schengen Convention, both signed in Schengen, Luxembourg.

"Schengen" redirects here. For other uses, see Schengen (disambiguation).

Schengen Area

26 March 1995

4,595,131 km2 (1,774,190 sq mi)

453,324,255

98.7/km2 (255.6/sq mi)

2023 estimate

Increase $25.926 trillion[1]

Increase $56,997

2023 estimate

Increase $19.213 trillion[1]

Increase $42,237

Of the 27 EU member states, 25 are part of the Schengen Area. Bulgaria and Romania, the newest members having joined on 31 March 2024, only have air and maritime borders open, with land border controls remaining in place pending agreement to lift them. The only EU member states that are not part of the Schengen Area are Cyprus and Ireland. Cyprus is legally obliged to join in the future, while Ireland maintains an opt-out and operates its own visa policy.


In addition to the member states of the European Union, all member states of the European Free Trade Association, namely Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, have signed association agreements with the EU to be part of the Schengen Area. Moreover, three microstates, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City, are de facto members of the Schengen Area due to their size and impossibility of maintaining active border controls.[2]


The Schengen Area has a population of more than 450 million people and an area of 4,595,131 square kilometres (1,774,190 sq mi). About 1.7 million people commute to work across an internal European border each day, and in some regions these people constitute up to a third of the workforce. In 2015, there were 1.3 billion crossings of Schengen borders in total. Fifty-seven million crossings were due to transport of goods by road, with a value of €2.8 trillion.[3][4][5] The decrease in the cost of trade due to Schengen varies from 0.42% to 1.59% depending on geography, trade partners, and other factors. Countries outside of the Schengen Area also benefit.[6] States in the Schengen Area have strengthened border controls with non-Schengen countries.[7]

do not have border control as an objective;

are based on general police information and experience regarding possible threats to public security and aim, in particular, to combat cross-border crime;

are devised and executed in a manner clearly distinct from systematic checks on persons at the external borders;

are carried out on the basis of spot-checks.

The traveller is in possession of a valid or documents authorising them to cross the border (a visa is not considered a travel document in this sense); the acceptance of travel documents for this purpose remains within the domain of the member states;[275]

travel document

The travel document must be valid for at least 3 months after the intended date of departure from the Schengen Area (although in a justified case of emergency, this obligation may be waived) and must have been issued within the previous 10 years;

[276]

The traveller either possesses a valid visa (if required) or a valid residence permit;

The traveller can justify the purpose and conditions of the intended stay and has sufficient means of subsistence, both for the duration of the intended stay and for the return to his or her country of origin or transit to a third country into which the traveller is certain to be admitted, or is in a position to acquire such means lawfully;

The does not contain a refusal of entry alert concerning the traveller, and

Schengen Information System

The traveller is not considered to be a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any of the Schengen states.

The 1985 – Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders.

Schengen Agreement

The 1990 – Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders.

Schengen Convention

 – Economic zone formed by a regional organization in Southeastern Europe

Open Balkan

 – Boundary treaty in Central America

Central America-4 Border Control Agreement

 – Open borders area comprising the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands

Common Travel Area

 – agency of the European Union

eu-LISA

 – 2010s migrant crisis in the European Union

2015 European migrant crisis

 – European image-archiving system for identity documents

FADO

 – EU system for commitment compliance

Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification

 – Nordic ease of travel agreement

Nordic Passport Union

 – Law enforcement treaty in part of Europe

Prüm Convention

 – Online repository of security features in travel documents

Public Register of Travel and Identity Documents Online

 – Arrangement between Australia and New Zealand

Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement

Visa policy (europa.eu)

Schengen, Borders & Visas

(ec.europa.eu) Retrieved 2 March 2014.

Calculator of travel days remaining under a Schengen short-stay visa

. europa.eu. 3 August 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2011.

"The Schengen area and cooperation"

OJ L 239, 22 September 2000, p. 19

OJ L 105, 13 April 2006, p. 1