Euro country flag

Euro

EUR

Russian Ruble country flag

Russian Ruble

RUB

Euro
The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the 27 member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 100 euro cents. The currency is also used officially by the institutions of the European Union, by four European microstates that are not EU members, the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as well as unilaterally by Montenegro and Kosovo. Outside Europe, a number of special territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. The euro is used by 350 million people in Europe and additionally, over 200 million people worldwide use currencies pegged to the euro. It is the second-largest reserve currency as well as the second-most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. As of December 2019, with more than €1.3 trillion in circulation, the euro has one of the highest combined values of banknotes and coins in circulation in the world. The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1 (US$1.1743 at the time). Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members, and by March 2002 it had completely replaced the former currencies. Between December 1999 and December 2002, the euro traded below the US dollar, but has since traded near parity with or above the US dollar, peaking at US$1.60 on 18 July 2008 and since then returning near to its original issue rate. On 13 July 2022, the two currencies hit parity for the first time in nearly two decades due in part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Then, in September 2022, the US dollar again had a face value higher than the euro, at around US$0.95 per euro.
Russian Ruble
The ruble or rouble (Russian: рубль, romanized: rublʹ; symbol: ₽; ISO code: RUB) is the currency of Russia. Banknotes and coins are issued by the Central Bank of Russia, which is Russia's monetary authority independent of all other government bodies. The ruble is the second-oldest currency in continuous use and the first decimal currency. The ruble was the currency of the Russian Empire, which was replaced by the Soviet ruble (code: SUR) during the Soviet period. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, by 1992, the Soviet ruble was replaced in the Russian Federation by the Russian ruble (code: RUR) at par. The Russian ruble then further continued to be used in 11 post-Soviet states, forming a "ruble zone" until 1993. The ruble was further redenominated with the new code "RUB" just preceding the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and was exchanged at the rate of 1,000 RUR = 1 RUB. As of April 2019, the ruble was the 17th-most traded currency in the world; however, due to international sanctions, the ruble dropped to being the 34th-most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kopecks which have fallen out of use due to inflation. In 2023, the digital ruble was introduced.