1992 Edition

Climate

temperate continental; subtropical 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

Coastline

2,782 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Texas

Contiguous zone

NA nm

Continental shelf

NA meter depth

Disputes

potential border disputes with Moldova and Romania in northern Bukovina and southern Odessa oblast

Environment

air and water pollution, deforestation, radiation contamination around Chernobyl nuclear plant

Exclusive economic zone

NA nm

Exclusive fishing zone

NA nm

Land area

603,700 km2

Land boundaries

4,558 km total; Belarus 891 km, Czechoslovakia 90 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (southwest) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km

Land use

56% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 12% meadows and pastures; NA% forest and woodland; 30% other; includes 3% irrigated

Natural resources

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

Note

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

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

Territorial sea

NA nm

Total area

603,700 km2

Birth rate

14 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

12 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

Ukrainian 73%, Russian 22%, Jewish 1%, other 4%

Infant mortality rate

22 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

25,277,000; industry and construction 41%, agriculture and forestry 19%, health, education, and culture 18%, trade and distribution 8%, transport and communication 7%, other 7% (1990)

Languages

Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish

Life expectancy at birth

65 years male, 75 years female (1992)

Literacy

NA%

Nationality

noun - Ukrainian(s); adjective - Ukrainian

Net migration rate

1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

NA

Population

51,940,426 (July 1992), growth rate 0.2% (1992)

Religions

Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish

Total fertility rate

2.0 children born/woman (1992)

Administrative divisions

24 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast') and 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya respublika); Chernigov, Cherkassy, Chernovtsy, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankovsk, Khar'kov, Kherson, Khmel'nitskiy, Kiev, Kirovograd, Krym (Simferopol')*, Lugansk, L'vov, Nikolayev, Odessa, Poltava, Rovno, Sumy, Ternopol', Vinnitsa, Volyn' (Lutsk), Zakarpat (Uzhgorod), Zaporozh'ye, Zhitomir; note - an oblast usually has the same name as its administrative center (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Capital

Kiev (Kyyiv)

Chief of State

President Leonid M. KRAVCHUK (since 5 December 1991)

Communists

Communist Party of Ukraine was banned by decree of the Supreme Council on 30 August 1991

Constitution

currently being drafted

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Oleh H. BILORUS; Embassy at 1828 L Street, NW, Suite 711, Washington, DC 20036; telephone (202) 296-6960 US: Ambassador Roman POPADIUK; Embassy at ;10 Vul. Yuriy Kotsubinskoho, Kiev (mailing address is APO AE 09862); telephone (044) 244-7349; FAX (044) 244-7350

Executive branch

president, prime minister

Flag

bottom half (represents grainfields under a blue sky)

two horizontal bars of equal size

azure (sky blue) top half, golden yellow

Head of Government

Prime Minister Vitol'd FOKIN (since 14 November 1991); two First Deputy

Independence

24 August 1991; 1 December 1991 de facto from USSR; note - formerly the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union

Judicial branch

being organized

Legal system

based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

Legislative branch

unicameral Supreme Council

Long-form name

none

Member of

CIS, CSCE, CE, ECE, IAEA, IMF, INMARSAT, IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

Independence Day, 24 August (1991)

Other political or pressure groups

Ukraninan People's Movement for Restructuring (RUKH)

Political parties and leaders

Ukrainian Republican Party, Levko LUKYANENKO, chairman; Green Party, Yuriy SHCHERBAK, chairman; Social Democratic Party, Andriy NOSENKO, chairman; Ukrainian Democratic Party, Yuriy BADZO, chairman; Democratic Rebirth Party, Oleksandr Volodymyr GRINEV, Oleksandr FILENKO, YEMETS, Miroslav POPOVICH, Sergei LYLYK, Oleksandr BAZYLYUK, Valeriy KHMELKO, leaders; People's Party of Ukraine, Leopold TABURYANSKIY, chairman; Peasant Democratic Party, Jerhiy PLACHYNDA, chairman; Ukrainian Socialist Party, Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman

President

last held 1 December 1991 (next to be held NA 1996); results - Leonid KRAVCHUK 61.59%, Vyacheslav CHERNOVIL 23.27%, Levko LUKYANENKO 4.49%, Volodymyr GRINEV 4.17%, Iher YUKHNOVSKY 1.74%, Leopold TABURYANSKIY 0.57%

Prime Ministers

Valentyn SYMONENKO and Konstantyn MASYK (since 21 May 1991); two Deputy Prime Ministers: Oleh SLEPICHEV and Viktor SYTNYK (since 21 May 1991)

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Supreme Council

last held 4 March 1990 (next scheduled for 1995, may be held earlier in late 1992 or 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (NA total) number of seats by party NA

Type

republic

Budget

not finalized as of May 1992

Currency

as of August 1992 using ruble and Ukrainian coupons as legal tender; Ukraine plans to withdraw the ruble from circulation and convert to a coupon-based economy on 1 October 1992; Ukrainian officials claim this will be an interim move toward introducing a Ukrainian currency - the hryvnya - possibly as early as January 1993

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$13.5 billion (1990) commodities: coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, grain, meat partners: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate -10% (1991 est.)

Imports

$16.7 billion (1990) commodities: machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals, textiles partners: none

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

83% (1991 est.)

Overview

Because of its size, geographic location, Slavic population, and rich resources, the loss of Ukraine was the final and most bitter blow to the Soviet leaders wishing to preserve some semblance of the old political, military, and economic power of the USSR. After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union producing more than three 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 well-developed and diversified heavy industry supplied equipment and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the USSR. In early 1992 the continued wholesale disruption of economic ties and the lack of an institutional structure necessary to formulate and implement economic reforms preclude a near-term recovery of output.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Airports

NA

Civil air

NA major transport aircraft

Highways

273,700 km total (1990); 236,400 km hard surfaced, 37,300 km earth

Inland waterways

NA km perennially navigable

Merchant marine

338 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,117,595 GRT/5,403,685 DWT; includes 221 cargo, 11 container, 9 barge carriers, 59 bulk cargo, 9 petroleum tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 3 liquefied gas, 24 passenger

Pipelines

NA

Ports

maritime - Berdyansk, Il'ichevsk Kerch', Kherson, Mariupol' (formerly Zhdanov), Nikolayev, Odessa, Sevastopol', Yuzhnoye; inland - Kiev

Railroads

22,800 km all 1.500-meter gauge; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

inheriting part of the former USSR system, Ukraine has about 7 million telephone lines (13.5 telephones for each 100 persons); as of 31 January 1990, 3.56 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied; international calls can be made via satellite, by landline to other CIS countries, and through the Moscow international switching center; satellite earth stations employ INTELSAT, INMARSAT, and Intersputnik

Branches

Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard; CIS Forces (Ground Navy, Air, and Defense)

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males 15-49, NA; NA fit for military service; NA reach military age (18) annually