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Euro Currency

The euro is the currency of Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. On 1 January 2002, these countries introduced euro notes and coin, replacing the former national currencies such as the French Franc and the German Mark. The euro is now the only legal currency in these countries. The euro is also used in the dependent territories of many of these countries. Slovenia will join the euro as from 1 January 2007. The participating countries share a single interest rate set by the European Central Bank (ECB).

It is worth noting that any place that previously used one or more of the currencies listed below has now also adopted the Euro. This applies to the Principality of Andorra, the Principality of Monaco, and the Republic of San Marino. This of course applies automatically to any territories, departments, possessions, or collectivities of Euro-zone countries, such as the Azores, Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Europa Island, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Juan de Nova, the Madeira Islands, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion, Saint-Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, to name just a few.

For reference, the conversion rates between former national currencies and euro were fixed at the following rates when each country joined the euro. These rates will never change.

1 euro is worth:

• 13.7603 Austrian Schillings
• 40.3399 Belgian/Luxembourg Francs
• 5.94573 Finnish Markka
• 6.55957 French Francs
• 1.95583 German Marks
• 340.750 Greek Drachmas
• 0.787564 Irish Punts
• 1936.27 Italian Lire
• 2.20371 Dutch Guilders
• 200.482 Portugese Escudos
• 166.386 Spanish Pesetas
• 239.640 Slovenian Tolars

Ten new countries joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. They are:

• Cyprus
• the Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Hungary
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Malta
• Poland
• the Slovak Republic
• Slovenia

Under the terms of their accession, these countries are expected to adopt the euro in the future.

A note about spelling and capitalization: the official spelling of the EUR currency unit in the English language is "euro", with a lower case "e". However, the overwhelmingly prevailing industry practise to spell it "Euro", with a capital "E". Since other currency names are capitalized in general use, doing so helps differentiate the noun "Euro", meaning EUR currency, from the more general adjective "euro", meaning anything even remotely having to do with Europe. This is particularly pervasive in marketing and advertising, where it is common to read statements like, "Try new Goop™ hair gel with genuine euro style and hold!" Nevertheless, this linguistic nuance is very subtle, even for native English speakers. it is also important to note that many languages have different official spellings of the name or EUR unit, which also may or may not coincide with general use.