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 (1917-20), 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 final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. The new government presents its citizens with hope that the country may at last attain true freedom and prosperity.

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east

49 00 N, 32 00 E

total: 603,700 sq km
land: 603,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km

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

2,782 km

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation

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

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

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

iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land

arable land: 53.8%
permanent crops: 1.5%
other: 44.7% (2005)

22,080 sq km (2003)

inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant

strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe

46,710,816 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 14.1% (male 3,377,868/female 3,203,738)
15-64 years: 69.3% (male 15,559,998/female 16,831,486)
65 years and over: 16.6% (male 2,635,651/female 5,102,075) (2006 est.)

total: 39.2 years
male: 35.9 years
female: 42.2 years (2006 est.)

-0.6% (2006 est.)

8.82 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

14.39 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

-0.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female
total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 9.9 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 8.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 69.98 years
male: 64.71 years
female: 75.59 years (2006 est.)

1.17 children born/woman (2006 est.)

1.4% (2003 est.)

360,000 (2001 est.)

20,000 (2003 est.)

noun: Ukrainian(s)
adjective: Ukrainian

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 census)

Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate 19%, Orthodox (no particular jurisdiction) 16%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 9%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 6%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 1.7%, Protestant, Jewish, none 38% (2004 est.)

Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%; small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.7%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.6% (2003 est.)

the sex trafficking of Ukrainian women is a serious problem that has only recently been addressed

conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Ukraine
local long form: none
local short form: Ukrayina
former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

republic

Kiev (Kyyiv)

24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Dnipropetrovs'k, Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy, Kirovohrad, Kiev (Kyyiv)**, Kyyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

Independence Day, 24 August (1991); 22 January (1918), the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Central Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day

adopted 28 June 1996

based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

18 years of age; universal

unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 26 March 2006 (next to be held March 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party/bloc in 2002 - Party of Regions 32.1%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 22.3%, Our Ukraine 13.9%, SPU 5.7%, CPU 3.7%; seats by party/bloc - Party of Regions 186, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 129, Our Ukraine 81, SPU 33, CPU 21

Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

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 was ratified 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. A dispute with Russia over pricing led to a temporary gas cut-off; Ukraine concluded a deal with Russia in January 2006, which almost doubled the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas, and could cost the Ukrainian economy $1.4-2.2 billion and cause GDP growth to fall 3-4%. Ukrainian government officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, and improving the legislative framework for businesses. 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 growth was 2.4% in 2005, down from 12.4% in 2004. The current account surplus reached $2.2 billion in 2005. The privatization of the Kryvoryzhstal steelworks in late 2005 produced $4.8 billion in windfall revenue for the government. Some of the proceeds were used to finance the budget deficit, some to recapitalize two state banks, some to retire public debt, and the rest may be used to finance future deficits.

$319.4 billion (2005 est.)

$77.91 billion (2005 est.)

2.4% (2005 est.)

$6,800 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 22.5%
industry: 33.2%
services: 44.3% (2005 est.)

22.67 million (2005 est.)

agriculture: 24%
industry: 32%
services: 44% (1996)

2.9% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is around 9-10% (2005 est.)

29% (2003 est.)

lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 24.8% (2005)

29 (1999)

10.3% (2005 est.)

17.7% of GDP (January-September 2005)

revenues: $23.59 billion
expenditures: $22.98 billion; note - this is the consolidated budget (January-September 2005)

18% of GDP (2005 est.)

grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk

coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar)

3% (2005 est.)

181.3 billion kWh (2004)

176 billion kWh (2004)

1 billion kWh (2004)

255 million kWh (2004)

85,660 bbl/day (2004)

491,700 bbl/day (2004)

395 million bbl (9 November 2004)

20.3 billion cu m (2004)

75.8 billion cu m (2004)

3.9 billion cu m (2004)

59.8 billion cu m (2004)

1.121 trillion cu m (9 November 2004)

$2.24 billion (2005)

$38.22 billion (2005 est.)

ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products

Russia 18%, Germany 5.8%, Turkey 5.7%, Italy 5%, US 4.6% (2004)

$37.18 billion (2005 est.)

energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals

Russia 41.8%, Germany 9.6%, Turkmenistan 6.7% (2004)

$19.39 billion (2005)

$33.93 billion (30 June 2005 est.)

$637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998)

hryvnia (UAH)

calendar year

12.142 million (2004)

13.735 million (2004)

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 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

AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998)

at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997)

.ua

167,501 (2005)

5,278,100 (2005)

537 (2005)

total: 199
over 3,047 m: 13
2,438 to 3,047 m: 57
1,524 to 2,437 m: 30
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 94 (2005)

total: 338
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 13
914 to 1,523 m: 22
under 914 m: 298 (2005)

10 (2005)

gas 20,069 km; oil 4,540 km; refined products 4,169 km (2004)

total: 22,473 km
broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2004)

total: 169,739 km
paved: 164,630 km (including 15 km of expressways)
unpaved: 5,109 km (2003)

1,672 km (most on Dnieper River) (2006)

total: 204 ships (1000 GRT or over) 780,262 GRT/911,489 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 153, container 4, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 11, roll on/roll off 7, specialized tanker 2
registered in other countries: 142 (Belize 3, Cambodia 12, Comoros 12, Cyprus 3, Georgia 23, North Korea 1, Liberia 15, Malta 26, Moldova 3, Mongolia 1, Panama 7, Russia 9, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 13, Sierra Leone 1, Slovakia 8, unknown 4) (2005)

Feodosiya, Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Yuzhnyy

Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces (Viyskovo-Povitryani Syly), Air Defense Forces (2002)

1997 boundary treaty with Belarus remains un-ratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete and parties have renewed discussions on demarcation; the dispute over the maritime boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and ongoing expert-level discussions; Moldova and Ukraine have established joint customs posts to monitor transit through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region, which remains under OSCE supervision; in 2004 Ukraine and Romania took their dispute over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary to the ICJ for adjudication; Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

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; Ukraine has improved anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF