The Euro Story

When you buy things in Korea, you pay in Korean won. If you go to Japan, you bring Japanese yen with you. When you are in the U.S., you use U.S. dollar bills. But in some European countries, you just need one kind of money -- the euro.

The euro is the official money used by 16 countries of the European Union (EU). They are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. This group of countries is called the eurozone or the euro area.

The name ¡®euro¡¯ became official on Dec. 16, 1995. On Jan. 1, 2002, euro coins and banknotes were introduced and people began using them in their daily lives.

The euro was created to make one big European economy. With the euro, tourists don¡¯t have to change their money while traveling in the eurozone.

The euro is also the second most traded money in the world after the U.S. dollar. Thanks to the euro, the eurozone has become the second largest economy in the world.