Currency

Currency is a unit of money used for buying and selling goods and services, commonly backed by a country or a union of countries.

Song dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money

Some currencies are "pegged" or "fixed" to something, like another currency. These currencies have a constant value compared to what it is pegged to. For example, the Cape Verdian escudo is pegged to the Euro. This means that any changes in the value of the Euro equally affect the escudo.

Some currencies are pegged to a commodity, like gold or silver rather than to another currency. This was called the "gold standard" or "silver standard". Most countries stopped using silver and gold standards in the 20th century.

Some well-known currencies are:

• the United States dollar
• the Euro
• the British pound

Names of different currencies around the world

This list appears in alphabetical order:

• Afghani - Afghanistan
• Baht - Thailand
• Balboa - Panama (U.S. dollar used for paper money)
• Birr - Ethiopia
• Bolívar - Venezuela
• Boliviano - Bolivia
• Cedi - Ghana
• Colón - Costa Rica
• Cordoba - Nicaragua
• Crown - Czech Republic (koruna), Denmark (krone), Iceland (króna), Norway (krone), Sweden (krona). See also: British Crown (coin)
• Dalasi - The Gambia
• Dinar - Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Serbia, Tunisia
• Denar - North Macedonia
• Dirham - Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Qatar, Jordan
• Dollar - Many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Namibia and others
• Dong - Vietnam
• Drachma - (Greece—now uses euro)
• Dram - Armenia
• Escudo - Cape Verde, (Portugal—now uses euro)
• Euro
  • European Union (as an organisation; the euro is not legal tender in every EU country.)
  • EU members: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France (except Pacific territories using CFP Franc), Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.
  • Countries that have made legal agreements with the EU to use the euro: Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City.
  • Countries that unilaterally use the euro: Montenegro and Kosovo.
  • Currencies pegged to the euro: Cape Verdian escudo, CFA franc, CFP Franc, Comoran francs, Bulgarian lev, Danish krone, the convertible marka of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Forint - Hungary
• Franc
  • Swiss franc - Switzerland, Liechtenstein.
  • CFA franc - Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Republic of the Congo,
  • CFP Franc - France's Pacific territories of New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna.
  • Comoran francs - Comoros (pegged to the French franc, then the euro).
  • Djiboutian franc - Djibouti (pegged to the US dollar since 1973).
  • Formerly using Belgian-Luxembourgish franc - Belgium, Luxembourg.
  • Formerly using French franc: Andorra, Monaco, France (including: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and La Réunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte).
• Gourde - Haiti
• Guilder - Aruba, Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands—now uses euro)
• Kina - Papua New Guinea
• Koruna - Czech Republic (Slovakia now uses euro)
• Kroon - Estonia
• Krona - Iceland, Sweden
• Krone - Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Norway
• Kuna - Croatia (former, now uses euro)
• Kwacha - Zambia and Malawi
• Kwanza - Angola
• Kyat - Burma
• Lari - Georgia
• Lats - Latvia (former, now uses euro)
• Lek - Albania
• Lempira - Honduras
• Leone - Sierra Leone
• Leu - Romania, Moldova
• Lev - Bulgaria
• Lira - (Cyprus, Italy, San Marino, Vatican City—now use euro)
  • Turkish lira - Turkey
• Litas - Lithuania (former, now uses euro)
• Manat
  • Azerbaijani manat - Azerbaijan
  • Turkmen manat - Turkmenistan
• Mark - (Germany—now uses euro)
• Marka - Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Markka - (Finland now uses euro)
• Nakfa - Eritrea
• Ngultrum - Bhutan
• Pataca - Macau
• Peseta - (Andorra, Spain—now use euro)
• Peso - Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic (Dominican peso, Mexico, Philippines, Uruguay
• Pound - Egypt, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, United Kingdom (Ireland—now uses euro)
• Pula - Botswana
• Quetzal - Guatemala
• Rand - South Africa
• Real - Brazil
• Renminbi - People's Republic of China
• Rial - Iran
• Riel - Cambodia
• Ringgit - Malaysia
• Riyal - Saudi Arabia
• Rouble - Belarus, Russia
• Rufiyah - Maldives
• Rupee - Republic of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka
• Rupiah - Indonesia
• Schilling - (Austria—now uses euro)
• Shekel - Israel, Gaza Strip, West Bank
• Shilling - Kenya
• Sol - Peru
• Som - Kyrgyzstan
• Sucre - Ecuador (former, now uses US dollar)
• Taka - Bangladesh
• Tenge - Kazakhstan
• Tolar - Slovenia
• Toman - Iran
• Vietnam ~ Dong (DVN)
• Won - North Korea, South Korea
• Yen - Japan
• Yuan - People's Republic of China
• Zloty - Poland

Related pages

• Foreign reserve