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Background:
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Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic state, Kievan
Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest
and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine
quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kievan Rus was incorporated
into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious
legacy of Kievan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian
nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian
state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the
mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite
continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain
autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of
the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was
absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of
czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a
short-lived period of independence (1917-1920), but was
reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that
engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in
which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet
armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths.
Although independence was achieved in 1991 with the
dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive, as the
legacy of state control has been difficult to throw off. Where
state control has dissipated, endemic corruption has filled
much of the resulting vacuum, stalling efforts at economic
reform, privatization, and civil liberties.
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Location:
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Eastern Europe,
bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova
in the west and Russia in the east |
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Geographic coordinates:
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49 00 N, 32 00 E |
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Map references:
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Asia,
Europe |
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Area:
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total:
603,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 603,700 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller
than Texas |
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Land boundaries:
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total:
4,663 km
border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km,
Moldova 939 km, Poland 526 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania
(west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 97 km |
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Coastline:
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2,782 km |
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Climate:
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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 |
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Terrain:
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most of Ukraine
consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, mountains
being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the
Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point:
Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m |
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Natural resources:
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iron ore, coal,
manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium,
magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land |
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Land use:
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arable land:
57.1%
permanent crops: 1.73%
other: 41.17% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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24,540 sq km
(1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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NA |
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Environment - current issues:
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inadequate
supplies of potable water; air and water pollution;
deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from
1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent
Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds |
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Geography - note:
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strategic
position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia;
second-largest country in Europe |
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Population:
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47,732,079 (July
2004 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years:
15.9% (male 3,883,485; female 3,715,668)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 15,692,388; female 17,096,611)
65 years and over: 15.4% (male 2,472,023; female
4,871,904) (2004 est.) |
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Median age:
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total:
38.1 years
male: 34.8 years
female: 41.1 years (2004 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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-0.66% (2004
est.) |
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Birth rate:
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10.21
births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
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Death rate:
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16.41
deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2004 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.51 male(s)/female
total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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total:
20.61 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 19.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 21.87 deaths/1,000 live births |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total
population: 66.68 years
male: 61.35 years
female: 72.27 years (2004 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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2% (2003 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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250,000 (2001
est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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11,000 (2001
est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun:
Ukrainian(s)
adjective: Ukrainian |
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Ethnic groups:
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Ukrainian 77.8%,
Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar
0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish
0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001) |
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Religions:
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Ukrainian
Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev
Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian
Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish |
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Languages:
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Ukrainian,
Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian |
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Literacy:
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definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
female: 99.6% (2003 est.)
male: 99.8%
total population: 99.7% |
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People - note:
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the sex
trafficking of Ukrainian women is a serious problem that has
only recently been addressed |
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Country name:
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conventional
long form: none
conventional short form: Ukraine
local long form: none
former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State,
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
local short form: Ukrayina |
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Government type:
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republic |
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Capital:
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Kiev (Kyyiv) |
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Administrative divisions:
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24 oblasti
(singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya
respublika), and 2 municipalities (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), Avtonomna Respublika
Krym* (Simferopol'), Rivnens'ka (Rivne), Sevastopol'**,
Sums'ka (Sumy), Ternopil's'ka (Ternopil'), Vinnyts'ka (Vinnytsya),
Volyns'ka (Luts'k), Zakarpats'ka (Uzhhorod), Zaporiz'ka (Zaporizhzhya),
Zhytomyrs'ka (Zhytomyr); note - when using a place name with
an adjectival ending "s'ka" or "z'ka," the
word Oblast' should be added to the place name
note: oblasts have the administrative center name
following in parentheses |
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Independence:
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24 August 1991
(from the Soviet Union) |
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National holiday:
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Independence Day,
24 August (1991); the date of 22 January (1918), the day
Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia),
is now celebrated as Unity Day |
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Constitution:
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adopted 28 June
1996 |
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Legal system:
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based on civil
law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
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Executive branch:
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chief of
state: President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Viktor YANUKOVYCH
(since 21 November 2002); First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola
AZAROV (since 26 November 2002)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the
president and approved by the Supreme Council
elections: president elected by popular vote for a
five-year term; election last held 31 October and 14 November
1999 (next to be held 31 October 2004); prime minister and
deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved
by the Supreme Council
election results: Leonid D. KUCHMA elected president;
percent of vote - Leonid KUCHMA 57.7%, Petro SYMONENKO 38.8%
note: there is also a National Security and Defense
Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National
Security Council, but significantly revamped and strengthened
under President KUCHMA; the NSDC staff is tasked with
developing national security policy on domestic and
international matters and advising the president; a
Presidential Administration that helps draft presidential
edicts and provides policy support to the president; and a
Council of Regions that serves as an advisory body created by
President KUCHMA in September 1994 that includes chairmen of
the Kiev (Kyyiv) and Sevastopol' municipalities and chairmen
of the oblasti |
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Legislative branch:
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unicameral
Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's
election law, 225 of the Supreme Council's seats are allocated
on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4% or more
of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are
elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all
serve four-year terms)
election results: percent of vote by party - Our
Ukraine 24%, CPU 20%, United Ukraine 12%, SPU 7%, Yuliya
Tymoshenko Bloc 7%, United Social Democratic Party 6%, other
24%; seats by party - Our Ukraine 102, Regions of Ukraine 67,
CPU 59, Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 42,
United Social Democratic Party 36, People's Power 22, SPU 20,
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 19, Democratic Initiatives 18, Agrarian
Party 16, People's Democratic Party 14, People's Choice 14,
others 21 (January 2004)
note: following the election, United Ukraine splintered
into the Agrarian Party, European Choice, People's Choice,
People's Democratic Party, Regions of Ukraine, and Working
Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; European Choice
joined Regions of Ukraine in the fall of 2003
elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held NA
2006) |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court;
Constitutional Court |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Agrarian Party [Kateryna
VASHCHUK]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO];
Democratic Initiatives [Stepan HAVRYSH]; Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Our Ukraine bloc (comprised
of several parties the most prominent of which are Rukh, the
Ukrainian People's Party, Reforms and Order, and Solidarity)
[Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; People's Choice [Mykola HAPOCHKA];
People's Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO];
People's Power [Bohdan HUBSKYY]; Regions of Ukraine [Viktor
YANUKOVYCH]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr
MOROZ, chairman]; United Social Democratic Party [Viktor
MEDVEDCHUK]; Working Ukraine [Serhiy TYHYPKO]; Yuliya
Tymoshenko Bloc [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]
note: and numerous smaller parties; Democratic
Initiatives, People's Choice, and People's Power are not
actual political parties, but rather deputy groups (factions
not based on a party) |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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NA |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of
mission: Ambassador Mykhailo B. REZNIK
FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817
consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York
telephone: [1] (202) 349-2920
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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chief of
mission: Ambassador John E. HERBST
embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynskyi Street, Kiev 01901
mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC
20521-5850
telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000
FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350 |
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Economy - overview:
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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
the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and
raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical
drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR.
Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas,
to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements. Shortly
after independence in December 1991, 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. Output by 1999 had fallen to less
than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed
inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Ukraine's
dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of
significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy
vulnerable to external shocks. Now in his second term,
President KUCHMA has pledged to reduce the number of
government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create
a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a
comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically
sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatization
are still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF
- have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of
reforms. GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6% -
the first growth since independence - and industrial
production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001
as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%.
Growth of 4.1% in 2002 was more moderate, in part a reflection
of faltering growth in the developed world. In general, growth
has been undergirded by strong domestic demand, low inflation,
and solid consumer and investor confidence. Growth was a
sturdy 8.2% in 2003 despite a loss of momentum in needed
economic reforms. |
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GDP:
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purchasing power
parity - $256.5 billion (2003 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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8.2% (2003 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power
parity - $5,300 (2003 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture:
23.4%
industry: 41.5%
services: 35.1% (2001 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
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29% (2003 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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8.2% (2003 est.) |
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Labor force:
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22.8 million
(yearend 1997) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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industry 32%,
agriculture 24%, services 44% (1996) |
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Unemployment rate:
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4% officially
registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed
workers (2003) |
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Budget:
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revenues:
$10.2 billion
expenditures: $11.1 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) |
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Industries:
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coal, electric
power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport
equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar) |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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8% (2003 est.) |
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Electricity - production:
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164.7 billion kWh
(2001) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel:
48.6%
hydro: 7.9%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 43.5% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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152.4 billion kWh
(2001) |
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Oil - production:
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86,490 bbl/day
(2001 est.) |
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Oil - consumption:
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290,000 bbl/day
(2001 est.) |
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Natural gas - production:
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18.2 billion cu m
(2001 est.) |
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Natural gas - consumption:
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74.1 billion cu m
(2001 est.) |
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Agriculture - products:
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grain, sugar
beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk |
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Exports:
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$23.63 billion
(2003 est.) |
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Exports - commodities:
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ferrous and
nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals,
machinery and transport equipment, food products |
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Exports - partners:
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Russia 17.8%,
Turkey 6.9%, Italy 4.7%, Germany 4.2% (2002) |
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Imports:
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$23.58 billion
(2003 est.) |
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Imports - commodities:
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energy, machinery
and equipment, chemicals |
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Imports - partners:
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Russia 37.6%,
Turkmenistan 11.2%, Germany 9.9% (2002) |
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Debt - external:
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$15.7 billion
(2003) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$637.7 million
(1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998) |
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Currency:
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hryvnia (UAH) |
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Currency code:
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UAH |
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Exchange rates:
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hryvnia per US
dollar - 5.33 (2003), 5.33 (2002), 5.37 (2001), 5.44 (2000),
4.13 (1999) |
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Fiscal year:
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calendar year |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
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10,833,300 (2002) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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4.2 million
(2002) |
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Telephone system:
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general
assessment: Ukraine's telecommunication development plan,
running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic trunk
lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular
system
domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine
inherited a telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient,
and in disrepair; more than 3.5 million applications for
telephones could not be satisfied; telephone density is now
rising slowly and the domestic trunk system is being improved;
the mobile cellular telephone system is expanding at a high
rate
international: country code - 380; two new domestic
trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe
(TAE) system and three Ukrainian links have been installed in
the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that
connects 18 countries; additional international service is
provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic
submarine cable and by earth stations in the Intelsat,
Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems |
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Radio broadcast stations:
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AM 134, FM 289,
shortwave 4 (1998) |
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Television broadcast stations:
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at least 33 (plus
21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997) |
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Internet country code:
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.ua |
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Internet hosts:
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71,691 (2002) |
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Internet users:
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900,000 (2002) |
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Railways:
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total:
22,473 km
broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km
electrified) (2002) |
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Highways:
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total:
169,491 km
paved: 163,898 km
unpaved: 5,593 km (2000) |
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Waterways:
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4,499 km
note: 1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dniester (Dnister)
(1990) |
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Pipelines:
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gas 20,069 km;
oil 4,435 km; refined products 4,098 km (2003) |
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Ports and harbors:
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Berdyans'k,
Feodosiya, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv),
Kiliya, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol', Yalta,
Yuzhnyy |
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Merchant marine:
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total: 140
ships (1,000 GRT or over) 675,904 GRT/709,802 DWT
by type: bulk 7, cargo 92, container 7, liquefied gas
2, passenger 11, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 10, rail
car carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 3,
short-sea/passenger 1
foreign-owned: Belize 2, Canada 1, Cyprus 1, Hungary 2,
Italy 1, Russia 4, Turkey 3
registered in other countries: 87 (2003 est.) |
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Airports:
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702 (2003 est.) |
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Airports - with paved runways:
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total: 174
over 3,047 m: 13
2,438 to 3,047 m: 57
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 70 (2003 est.)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 30 |
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Airports - with unpaved runways:
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total: 528
under 914 m: 469 (2003 est.)
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 35
1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 |
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Heliports:
|
8 (2003 est.) |
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Military branches:
|
Ground Forces,
Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Ministry of Internal
Affairs (MVS) Troops, Border Troops |
|
Military manpower - military age:
|
18 years of age
(2004 est.) |
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Military manpower - availability:
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males age
15-49: 12,196,319 (2004 est.) |
|
Military manpower - fit for military service:
|
males age
15-49: 9,565,088 (2004 est.) |
|
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
|
males:
386,945 (2004 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
$617.9 million
(FY02) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
1.4% (FY02) |
|
Disputes - international:
|
1997 boundary
treaty with Belarus remains unratified due to unresolved
financial claims, preventing demarcation and reducing border
security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is
complete but boundary through the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait
remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement
and on-going expert-level discussions; Ukraine protests
Russia's construction of a causeway in the direction of
Ukrainian-administered Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait;
difficulties with Moldova's Transnistria region complicate
controlling border crossing and customs regimes despite
concordance on the 2003 delimitation and customs protocols and
OSCE assistance; has not resolved Romanian claims to
Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea
maritime boundary despite ongoing talks based on 1997
friendship treaty to find a solution in two years |
|
Illicit drugs:
|
limited
cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS
consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the
West; limited government eradication program; used as
transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from
Africa, Latin America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia;
drug-related money laundering a minor, but growing, problem;
anti-money-laundering regime improving but remains on
Financial Action Task Force Non-Cooperative Countries and
Territories List for continued failure to address deficiencies
in money-laundering control regime |
This page was last updated on 11 May, 2004
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