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The Schengen area has 29 countries: 25 of the 27 EU members, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are outside the EU.
27 − 2 + 4 = 29. Take the EU, remove Ireland and Cyprus, and add the four EFTA states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Signed the first agreement at Schengen in June 1985 and lifted checks between them on 26 March 1995.
Signed between 1990 and 1995; checks lifted between March 1995 and 2000.
The five Nordic countries, three in the EU and two outside it, lifted checks together in March 2001.
Nine 2004 EU joiners lifted land and sea checks in December 2007 and airport checks in March 2008.
Switzerland lifted land checks in December 2008 and Liechtenstein in December 2011.
Croatia from 1 January 2023; Bulgaria and Romania from 31 March 2024 (air and sea) and 1 January 2025 (land).
Can you name them all?
Test yourselfThe Schengen area has 29 countries: 25 of the 27 EU members, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are outside the EU.
Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.
27 − 2 + 4 = 29. Take the EU, remove Ireland and Cyprus, and add the four EFTA states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
No. Ireland has an opt-out so it can keep its Common Travel Area with the UK.
Not yet. Cyprus is legally bound to join, but checks at its borders with other members had not been lifted as of 1 October 2026.
Each name checked against at least two sources, one of them European Commission, on 1 October 2026. Next review by 1 December 2026.
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