European Union

The United Nations is a global organization, while the European Union is a regional organization. -Apex

Greece joined the European Union (EU) in 1981.

There is no capital city that touches two continents. There are four cities in the world that touch two continents, but none of them is the capital of a country.

Yes, Russia is a member of the United Nations. The Soviet Union was one of the organizations founding members and was a permanent member of the Security Council. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Russia inherited the Soviet Union's seat.

It has got the countries in those different parts of Europe to work together through things like trade, culture and travel. The members of the governments of the different meet regularly to work on areas of common interest. They exchange ideas and organise rules of how to do things that will benefit all of the countries. Without the European Union, these countries would still work together, but to a lesser extent and with less structure in how they do so.

The largest island in Greece is Crete.

Desire to join the European Union. :)

The Euro is the official currency of the European Union, but still not every member uses the currency. Some will eventually switch to the euro and others have refused to use it altogether (such as the UK). From the 1st of January 2014, only 18 of the 28 members of the European Union use the Euro.

Nobody owns the European Union. It is an association or union of countries.

Uhh...

Not exactly. Who owns your house? Usually, it's the bank. Same thing with the EU. The IMF interests which are more corporate than national direct the EU in truth. The various representatives of the EU may get the press and make certain day to day decisions, but these are in turn directed by the money interests. The Greek government doesn't exactly run Greece. They sold their 'birthright' to the EU for a bank bailout. Italy is approaching the same situation, to be followed by Ireland and Portugal... The various nations are houses of cards, and from what I have read, Germany and Deutschebank

are in firm place to dominate Europe in the near future. By the same token, I am trying to figure out who owns the U.S.

Does China own most of the U.S.

or do they simply own the greatest number of essentially worthless Federal Reserve notes?

The European Parliament meets annually, starting on the second Tuesday in March.

Extraordinary part-sessions may occur if the European Council, the European Commission or a majority of the MEPs request it.

[Source: Article 229 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union]

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Bulgaria has not yet joined the Euro zone, it joined the EU in January 2007.

The reason that the Europeans wanted to claim and control land throughout the world were economic ones. In the new lands of the Americas and Africa, the Europeans were looking for gold, raw materials, and land possessions as a way to compete with one another.

euro sign (€)

It is independent and like many countries in Europe, it does not want to join the European Union. It does have strong relations with the European Union and has many agreements with them around things like trade.

There isn't a definitive answer to that question. Croatia joined in 2013. Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007. In 2004, 10 countries joined at the same time. Those 10 were Malta, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Kos is a Greek island, so as Greece is a part of the EU, then so is Kos.

Yes, Greece is a part of the Schengen Area but if you intend to travel through Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey or other Balkan countries (as opposed to a flight or ferry from Italy or other Schengen countries) then you may need a visa for those countries. A Schengen Visa is a visa which allows the holder to visit any country which is part of the Schengen Agreement. Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland are the present Schengen countries (as of May 2009). Liechtenstein is expected to fully sign-up later this year. Also there are no border controls between San Marino, Vatican City and Italy or between Monaco and France. Separate visas are still needed for visits to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and other European countries. Schengen countries are those where border controls have been abolished so there are no longer any passport checks on borders and it's often difficult to know if you've actually crossed a border. Note that there are still customs checks between Schengen countries where one is an EU member (for example, Sweden) and the other is not part of the EU (for example, Norway). All Schengen countries require people to carry some form of ID with them (whether they are a visitor or a national or resident of that country). To apply for a Schengen visa you should apply to the embassy of the first country you intend to visit. If you plan to visit Italy, France and Spain (in that order) then you only need to apply to the Italian embassy and your visa is good for France and Spain too. European Union and EEA citizens don't need any visas to travel within the EU or Schengen countries. Croatians don't need any kind of visa for travel in Italy, Slovenia or Hungary but do need a visa if they intend to go elsewhere in the EU. Americans and Canadians may need a visa for some EU countries.

The EU was first thought of after WW2 to try and get countries to work together in the trade of such things as coal and steel. In 1951 countries started trading to keep the peace between the 6 countries, (Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg) so that the others would help in times of war and need. The European Economic Community (EEC), was set up in 1957. In the 1970s other countries join in decision of a vote the first countries to join were the UK, Denmark and Ireland. 18 other countries have joined since and there are many other candidates. The EEC has gone through a number of name changes, eventually becoming the European Union in 1993.