Map of Ukraine | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Richly endowed in natural resources Ukraine has been fought over and subjugated for centuries; its 20th-century struggle for liberty is not yet complete. A short-lived independence from Russia (1917-1920) was followed by brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died and World War II in which German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 million more deaths. Although independence was attained in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR true freedom remains elusive as many of the former Soviet elite remain entrenched stalling efforts at economic reform privatization and civic liberties.


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Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 603,700 km²
Land: 603,700 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries: Total 4,558 km, Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (southwest) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km

Coastline: 2,782 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: undefined
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: Temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

Terrain: Most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaux, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

Natural resources:

Land use
Arable land: 56%
Permanent crops: 2%
Permanent pastures: 12%
Forests and woodland: 0%
Other: 30%

Irrigated land: 26,000 km² (1990)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population:
Growth rate:

Nationality
Noun: Ukrainian(s)
Adjective: Ukrainian

Ethnic groups:

Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian

Religions: Ukrainian Orthodox_Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox_Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years:
15-64 years:
65 years and over:

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate:

Birth rate:

Death rate:

Net migration rate:

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant
Current issues Natural hazards: NA
International agreements: party to_Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified_Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
International agreements note: Strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second largest country in Europe

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.47 male(s)/female
All ages:

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 66.8 years (1996 est.), 70.11 years (1995 est.)
Male: 61.54 years (1996 est.), 65.59 years (1995 est.)
Female: 72.32 years (1996 est.), 74.87 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate:

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over that can read and write (1989)
Total population: 98%
Male: 100%
Female: 97%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Ukraine
Local long form: none
Local short form: Ukrayina
Former: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: Republic

Capital: Kiev (Kyyiv)

Administrative divisions: 24 oblasti (singular_oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya respublika), and 2 municipalites (mista, singular_misto) with oblast status**; Cherkas'ka (Cherkasy), Chernihivs'ka (Chernihiv), Chernivets'ka (Chernivtsi), Dnipropetrovs'ka (Dnipropetrovs'k), Donets'ka (Donets'k), Ivano-Frankivs'ka (Ivano-Frankivs'k), Kharkivs'ka (Kharkiv), Khersons'ka (Kherson), Khmel'nyts'ka (Khmel'nyts'kyy), Kirovohrads'ka (Kirovohrad), Kyyiv**, Kyyivs'ka (Kiev), Luhans'ka (Luhans'k), L'vivs'ka (L'viv), Mykolayivs'ka (Mykolayiv), Odes'ka (Odesa), Poltavs'ka (Poltava), Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Rivnens'ka (Rivne), Sevastopol'**, Sums'ka (Sevastopol'), Ternopil's'ka (Ternopil'), Vinnyts'ka (Vinnytsya), Volyns'ka (Luts'k), Zakarpats'ka (Uzhhorod), Zaporiz'ka (Zaporizhzhya), Zhytomyrs'ka (Zhytomyr)
Note: Names in parentheses are administrative centers when name differs from oblast' name

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 24 August (1991)

Constitution: adopted 28 June 1996

Legal system: Based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994); election last held 26 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 1999); results_Leonid KUCHMA 52.15%, Leonid KRAVCHUK 45.06%
Head of government: Prime Minister Yevhen MARCHUK (since NA June 1995), First Deputy Prime Minister Pavlo LAZARENKO (since NA), and eight deputy prime ministers were appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council
Cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council National Security Council:Originally created in 1992, but signficantly revamped and strengthened under President KUCHMA; members include the president, prime minister, Ministers of Finance, Environment, Justice, Internal Affairs, Foreign Economic Relations, Economic and Foreign Affairs; the NSC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president Presidential Administration:Helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president Council of Regions:Advisory body created by President KUCHMA in September 1994; includes the Chairmen of Oblast and Kiev and Sevastopol City Supreme Councils

Legislative branch: Unicameral Supreme Council
Elections: Last held 27 March 1994 with repeat elections continuing through December 1998 to fill empty seats (next to be held NA)
Results:

Judicial branch: Joint commission formed in April 1995 to define a program of judicial reform by year-end

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE, CIS, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOT, UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation

Flag description: Two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied equipment and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former USSR. In early 1992, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Since his election in July 1994, President KUCHMA has developed a comprehensive economic reform program, maintained financial discipline, and removed almost all controls over prices and foreign trade. Implementation of KUCHMA's economic agenda is encountering considerable resistance from parliament, entrenched bureaucrats, and industrial interests. However, should KUCHMA succeed in implementing aggressive market reforms during 1996, the economy may stabilize and possibly achieve real growth in the range of 0.5%-1%.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: Accounts for about 25% of GDP; grain, vegetables, meat, milk, sugar beets

Industries:

Industrial production growth rate: Growth rate -11% (1995 est.), -28% (1994 est.), accounts for 50% of GDP

Labor force: 23.55 million (January 1994)
By occupation industry and construction: 33%
By occupation agriculture and forestry: 21%
By occupation education andculture: 16%
By occupation tradeanddistribution: 7%
By occupation transportandcommunication: 7%
By occupation other: 16% (1992)

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: NA
Expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: Calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports:
Commodities:
Partners:

Imports
Total value:
Commodities:
Partners:

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: hryvnia per US$1: 1.76 (2 September 1996)


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Electricity
Capacity: 54,380,000 kW
Production: 192.1 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 3,200 kWh (1995 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: system is unsatisfactory both for business and for personal use; 3.56 million applications for telephones had not been satisfied as of January 1991; electronic mail services have been established in Kiev, Odessa, and Luhans'k by Sprint
Domestic: an NMT-450 analog cellular telephone network operates in Kiev (Kyyiv) and allows direct dialing of international calls through Kiev's digital exchange
International: calls to other CIS countries are carried by land line or microwave; other international calls to 167 countries are carried by satellite or by the 150 leased lines through the Moscow gateway switch; INTELSAT, INMARSAT (Atlantic and Indian Ocean Regions), and Intersputnik earth stations

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 706
With paved runways over 3047 m: 14
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 55
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 34
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 57
With paved runways With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 7
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 7
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 16
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 37
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 476 (1994 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines: Crude oil 2,010 km; petroleum products 1,920 km; natural gas 7,800 km (1992)

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 4,400 km navigable waterways, of which 1,672 km were on the Pryp''yat' and Dnipro (1990)

Merchant marine
Total: 353 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,262,341 GRT/4,356,374 DWT
Ships by type: barge carrier 5, bulk 39, cargo 217, chemical tanker 2, combination bulk 1, container 11, multifunction large-load carrier 3, oil tanker 21, passenger 7, passenger-cargo 5, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 32, short-sea passenger 3 (1995 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: Illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe