In graphics: Eurozone in crisis

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The eurozone as a whole has emerged from recession, but recovery remains patchy and in some cases, fragile.

Growth rates looked healthy in the second quarter of the year (April to June), with Germany in particular recording a strong bounce-back.

But since then, the pace of recovery has slowed in most major European economies.

Across the 16 nations that have adopted the euro, growth was 0.4% on average between July and September, down from 1% three months earlier.

However, the picture is still gloomy in the Irish Republic and Greece, who have both had to turn to European partners for financial aid, and whose economies are still mired in recession.

The UK, which is not in the eurozone, is shown in grey on the chart for purposes of comparison.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10150081

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In terms of economic size, Germany is the powerhouse of Europe, followed by the UK, France and Italy, while Malta is easily the smallest eurozone economy. The UK is shown in grey on the map because it does not belong to the eurozone, but it is easily the biggest EU economy not to have adopted the euro.

If you look at the eurozone members in terms of GDP per head, a different picture emerges. Luxembourg is far and away the league leader in this ranking. In fact, it is the richest country in the world on this measure, with Bermuda and Norway in second and third place.

The eurozone economy accounts for more than three-quarters of the EU's overall GDP. The EU as a whole vies with the US for the title of the world's biggest economy, with each accounting for about 20% of global GDP.

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One of the main causes of the currency crisis in the eurozone is that virtually all countries involved have breached their own self-imposed rules.

Under the convergence criteria adopted as part of economic and monetary union, government debt must not exceed 60% of GDP at the end of the fiscal year. Likewise, the annual government deficit must not exceed 3% of GDP. However, as the maps show, only two of the 16 eurozone countries - Luxembourg and Finland - have managed to stick to both rules.

Overall, Greece is the worst offender, with debt at 115.1% of GDP and a deficit of 13.6% of GDP. But among the bigger economies, Italy's debt is even higher than Greece's as a percentage of GDP, while Spain's deficit is 11.2% of GDP. If the UK were in the eurozone, it would also fall foul of the criteria, with its debt now standing at 68.1% of GDP and its deficit at 11.5% of GDP.

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The global recession has taken its toll on jobs in the eurozone. In September 2010, the area's overall unemployment rate was more than 10%.

But here, too, there is evidence of how far the currency club still is from genuine economic convergence, with wide variations in unemployment levels across the 16 member countries.

Spain is worst off, with a jobless rate that has doubled since 2008 - a dramatic development for a country that was one of Europe's biggest job creators.

Elsewhere, Slovakia, the Irish Republic, Portugal, Greece and France all have double-digit jobless rates that are above the eurozone average, while the Netherlands is the least afflicted, with unemployment of around 4%.