The EU at 27

The The Boston Globe:

"The EU at 27

Much global attention is focused on whether Turkey will become a member of the European Union in the future. By comparison, relatively little attention has been given to the fact that tomorrow the EU will expand yet again, as Romania and Bulgaria join the bloc. By how much did the EU’s territory grow in size with the addition of these two new members?

A. 9 percent B. 12 percent C. 14 percent D. 31 percent

A. 9 percent is correct.
With its two new members, the European Union stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea. Its territory before this latest expansion was 1,535,286 square miles . With Romania and Bulgaria adding 134,522 square miles , the EU's territory has expanded by about 9 percent. If Turkey joins, the EU's land area would expand by 18 percent."