The Infographic shows the Currency Map of the World, based on the currency map created by Reddit user s3v3r3. The map shows the countries that do not use their currency as the medium of exchange.
So, in this article, we will further explore the currency map of the world. We will determine all those countries and dependent territories that do not use their currency or use them alongside another country’s currency.
Let’s dive in to explore further.
Breaking Down the Currency Map of the World
In this article, we are more concerned with countries that do not use their own currencies. Let’s discover them together and try to make sense of the Currency Map of the World.
Most European Union Members Do Not Use Their Currency
19 out of 27 European union member countries use the Euro instead of their currencies. The countries that have adopted Euro as official currency are: Austria, Netherlands, Spain, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Estonia, Portugal, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Other Monetary Unions
- Eight countries in West Africa have adopted the Western African CFA franc as their official currency. These 8 independent countries are Senegal, Niger, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Benin, Togo, and Mali.
- Six independent states in Central Africa use the Central African CFA franc in their countries as the official medium of exchange. These six states are Chad, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea.
- Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Saint Lucia, and Grenada along with two British territories use East Caribbean Dollar.
- Three French overseas collectivities (French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia) use the CFP franc.
U.S. Dollar Is the Official Currency of Many Countries
The most used currency in the world is US Dollars, the official currency of the USA and its several territories. Around 11 countries in the world have adopted the U.S. dollar as their official currency. Similarly, many countries (65 countries) accept and peg their currencies to U.S. dollars.
The countries that have adopted U.S. Dollar as official currency are: Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Panama, Turks and Caicos, El Salvador, Marshall Island, Micronesia, Palau, British Virgin Island, and East Timor.
Countries That Use Currency of Other Nations
Let’s further break out the currency map of the world to find countries that use the currencies of other countries. There are 12 states and several dependent territories that do not have their currency and use other countries’ currencies.
These include several independent European microstates like Monaco and Andorra that use Euro as their official currency.
Similarly, island countries and also some small nations have adopted other strong currencies as a medium of exchange. For example, Kosovo and Montenegro have adopted Euro as a de facto domestic currency. Similarly, El Salvador operates U.S. Dollar as its official currency.
Fun Fact
El Salvador announced the adoption of Bitcoin as the official currency along with U.S. Dollar. In September 2021, Bitcoin even became a legal tender in El Salvador.
Countries That Use Their Currency along with Others
Some countries use each other’s currencies interchangeably. For example, you can exchange Brunei Darussalam’s dollar with the Singaporean dollar at par without any charge.
Similarly, some countries use their currencies along with other currencies.
For example:
- Liberia uses the Liberian dollar as the official currency and has also made U.S. Dollar a legal tender.
- South African country, Lesotho not only uses Lesotho Loti as the official currency but also accepts South African Rand (ZAR) as the medium of exchange.
- Kiribati in Oceania accepts the Kiribati Dollar alongside the Australian Dollar.
Fun Fact
Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWD) was the official currency of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2009. Due to hyperinflation in the country, Zimbabwe stopped minting its currency and adopted the US dollar as the legal tender.
Many dependent territories use their currencies alongside the currencies of their sovereign state or some other third nation’s currency.
- Bermuda, British Overseas Territory, uses Bermuda Dollar (BMD) as the official currency. BMD is pegged for U.S. Dollar at a rate of 1:1, and both currencies are used interchangeably in the country.
- The Isle of Man, a British-dependent territory between Britain and Ireland, uses its Manx Pounds which is in parity with the pound sterling.
Quick Round-up
In this post, we tried to explain the currency map of the world, where we examined all the countries that do not use their currencies. We figured out several independent nations and dependent territories that prefer some other currencies over their own. Some are part of some political and monetary unions, and some due to weaker economic conditions have let go of their own currency.
