Schengen countries list 2026: all 29 member states
The Schengen Area counts 29 countries in 2026: 25 of the 27 EU member states (all except Ireland and Cyprus) plus Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein; Bulgaria and Romania have been full members since 1 January 2025.
The context
Why the Schengen list keeps trending
With about 18,000 monthly English searches for the Schengen countries list, confusion is understandable: the membership has changed three times in four years. Croatia joined in January 2023, Bulgaria and Romania entered partially (air and sea borders) in March 2024 and became full members on 1 January 2025, when land border checks finally disappeared. Many guides still circulate with 26 or 27 countries; the correct 2026 figure is 29.
Schengen is also routinely confused with the European Union and the eurozone. The three overlap heavily but are legally distinct: the EU counts 27 members, the eurozone 21, and Schengen 29. Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are in Schengen without being in the EU, while EU members Ireland and Cyprus are outside Schengen.
The full list of 29 Schengen countries
| Country | EU member | In Schengen since |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | yes | 1997 |
| Belgium | yes | 1995 (founding member) |
| Bulgaria | yes | 2024 (air/sea), full member 1 January 2025 |
| Croatia | yes | 2023 |
| Czechia | yes | 2007 |
| Denmark | yes | 2001 |
| Estonia | yes | 2007 |
| Finland | yes | 2001 |
| France | yes | 1995 (founding member) |
| Germany | yes | 1995 (founding member) |
| Greece | yes | 2000 |
| Hungary | yes | 2007 |
| Iceland | no | 2001 |
| Italy | yes | 1997 |
| Latvia | yes | 2007 |
| Liechtenstein | no | 2011 |
| Lithuania | yes | 2007 |
| Luxembourg | yes | 1995 (founding member) |
| Malta | yes | 2007 |
| Netherlands | yes | 1995 (founding member) |
| Norway | no | 2001 |
| Poland | yes | 2007 |
| Portugal | yes | 1995 (founding member) |
| Romania | yes | 2024 (air/sea), full member 1 January 2025 |
| Slovakia | yes | 2007 |
| Slovenia | yes | 2007 |
| Spain | yes | 1995 (founding member) |
| Sweden | yes | 2001 |
| Switzerland | no | 2008 |
What the zone means in practice
The Schengen Agreement, signed in 1985 in the Luxembourg village of Schengen and implemented from 1995, abolished internal border checks between participating states. In practice, a traveler can drive from Lisbon to Tallinn or fly from Athens to Oslo without showing a passport at any internal border. The trade-off is a common external border, a shared short-stay visa (90 days in any 180-day window, counted across the whole zone) and joint databases.
Two changes frame 2026: the Entry/Exit System, which replaces passport stamps with biometric registration for non-EU visitors, and ETIAS, a pre-travel authorization expected later in the year. Meanwhile Cyprus remains the only EU state legally committed to joining that has not yet done so, and Ireland keeps its opt-out to preserve the Common Travel Area with the UK. For the wider picture of the continent’s groupings, see our list of all countries in Europe.
Schengen is not the single market: compare with the EEA countries list, where Switzerland is absent and Ireland present.