2008 Edition

Background

Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan 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. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006. An early legislative election, brought on by a political crisis in the spring of 2007, saw Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, as head of an "Orange" coalition, installed as a new prime minister in December 2007.

Area

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

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than Texas

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

Coastline

2,782 km

Elevation extremes

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

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

Environment - international agreements

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

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)

total: 37.53 cu km/yr (12%/35%/52%) per capita: 807 cu m/yr (2000)

Geographic coordinates

49 00 N, 32 00 E

Geography - note

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

Irrigated land

22,080 sq km (2003)

Land boundaries

total: 4,566 km border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 940 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (south) 176 km, Romania (southwest) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km

Land use

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

Location

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

Map references

Asia, Europe

Maritime claims

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

Natural hazards

NA

Natural resources

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

Terrain

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

Total renewable water resources

139.5 cu km (1997)

Age structure

0-14 years: 13.9% (male 3,277,905/female 3,106,012) 15-64 years: 70% (male 15,443,818/female 16,767,931) 65 years and over: 16.1% (male 2,489,235/female 4,909,386) (2008 est.)

Birth rate

9.55 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate

15.93 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Education expenditures

6.3% of GDP (2006)

Ethnic groups

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)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

1.4% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

20,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

360,000 (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 9.23 deaths/1,000 live births male: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Languages

Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, other 9% (includes small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 68.06 years male: 62.24 years female: 74.24 years (2008 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.4% male: 99.7% female: 99.2% (2001 census)

Median age

total: 39.4 years male: 36.1 years female: 42.5 years (2008 est.)

Nationality

noun: Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian

Net migration rate

-0.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Population

45,994,288 (July 2008 est.)

Population growth rate

-0.651% (2008 est.)

Religions

Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate 50.4%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 26.1%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 8%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 7.2%, Roman Catholic 2.2%, Protestant 2.2%, Jewish 0.6%, other 3.2% (2006 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 14 years male: 14 years female: 15 years (2006)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 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 (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.25 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Administrative divisions

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, Kyiv**, Kyiv, 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)

Capital

name: Kyiv (Kiev) geographic coordinates: 50 26 N, 30 31 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Constitution

adopted 28 June 1996

Country name

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

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission: Ambassador William B. TAYLOR Jr. embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynsky Street, 01901 Kyiv mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Oleh V. SHAMSHUR chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606

Executive branch

chief of state: President Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO (since 23 January 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (since 18 December 2007); First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr TURCHYNOV (since 18 December 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Hryhoriy NEMYRYA and Ivan VASYUNYK (since 18 December 2007) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers selected by the prime minister; the only exceptions are the foreign and defense ministers, who are chosen by the president note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Secretariat helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); note - a special repeat runoff presidential election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004 after the earlier 21 November 2004 contest - won by YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant violations; under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the prime minister election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 52%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2%

FAX

[1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco

[380] (44) 490-4085

Flag description

two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky

Government type

republic

Independence

24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

International organization participation

Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CE, CEI, CIS, EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Judicial branch

Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

Legal system

based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; members allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 30 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: percent of vote by party/bloc - Party of Regions 34.4%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 30.7%, Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense 14.2%, CPU 5.4%, Lytvyn bloc 4%, other parties 11.3%; seats by party/bloc - Party of Regions 175, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 156, Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense 72, CPU 27, Lytvyn bloc 20

National holiday

Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 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

Political parties and leaders

Christian Democratic Union [Volodymyr STRETOVYCH]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; European Party of Ukraine [Mykola KATERYNCHUK]; Fatherland Party (Batkivshchyna) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]; Forward Ukraine! [Viktor MUSIYAKA]; Labor Party of Ukraine [Mykola SYROTA]; People's Union Our Ukraine [Vyacheslav KYRYLENKO]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Party of the Defenders of the Fatherland [Yuriy Karmazin]; People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]; People's Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; PORA! (It's Time!) party [Vladyslav KASKIV]; Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Party of Regions [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Republican Party [Yuriy BOYKO]; Sobor [Anatoliy MATVIYENKO]; Social Democratic Party [Yevhen KORNICHUK]; Social Democratic Party (United) or SDPU(o) [Yuriy ZAHORODNIY]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ]; Ukrainian People's Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO]; Viche [Inna BOHOSLOVSKA]

Political pressure groups and leaders

Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Ihor POPOV]; Peoples' Self-Defense [Yuriy LUTSENKO]

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Agriculture - products

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

Budget

revenues: $43.54 billion expenditures: $45.06 billion; note - this is the planned, consolidated budget (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate

8% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate

13.9% (31 December 2007)

Currency (code)

hryvnia (UAH)

Currency code

UAH

Current account balance

-$5.918 billion (2007 est.)

Debt - external

$69.04 billion (31 December 2007)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

31 (2006)

Economic aid - recipient

$409.6 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (2005)

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 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. 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. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukraine depends on imports to meet about three-fourths of its annual oil and natural gas requirements. A dispute with Russia over pricing in late 2005 and early 2006 led to a temporary gas cut-off; Ukraine concluded a deal with Russia in January 2006 that almost doubled the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms. 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. Ukraine's economy remains buoyant despite political turmoil between the Prime Minister and President. Real GDP growth reached about 7% in 2006-07, fueled by high global prices for steel - Ukraine's top export - and by strong domestic consumption, spurred by rising pensions and wages. Although the economy is likely to expand in 2008, long-term growth could be threatened by the government's plans to reinstate tax, trade, and customs privileges and to maintain restrictive grain export quotas.

Electricity - consumption

148.1 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports

12.52 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - imports

2.082 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - production

182.4 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 48.6% hydro: 7.9% nuclear: 43.5% other: 0% (2001)

Exchange rates

hryvnia (UAH) per US dollar - 5.05 (2007), 5.05 (2006), 5.1247 (2005), 5.3192 (2004), 5.3327 (2003)

Exports

$49.84 billion (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities

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

Exports - partners

Russia 23.3%, Turkey 7.9%, Italy 5.8% (2007)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 9% industry: 32.2% services: 58.8% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$7,000 (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

7.7% (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate)

$140.5 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$324.8 billion (2007 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 25.7% (2006)

Imports

$60.41 billion (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities

energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals

Imports - partners

Russia 23.9%, Germany 11.8%, China 8.5%, Poland 8.1%, Turkmenistan 5.4% (2007)

Industrial production growth rate

6% (2007 est.)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

12.8% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed)

27.4% of GDP (2007 est.)

Labor force

21.58 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 25% industry: 20% services: 55% (1996)

Market value of publicly traded shares

$42.87 billion (2006)

Natural gas - consumption

84.9 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports

4 billion cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - imports

65.4 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - production

19.5 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves

1.104 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Oil - consumption

344,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports

190,500 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports

441,200 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - production

102,400 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - proved reserves

395 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Population below poverty line

37.7% (2003)

Public debt

11.7% of GDP (2007 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$32.48 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad

$895 million (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home

$31.08 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of domestic credit

$87.13 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of money

$35.97 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money

$41.51 billion (31 December 2007)

Unemployment rate

2.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is nearly 7% (2007 est.)

Internet country code

.ua

Internet hosts

524,202 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

260 (2001)

Internet users

10 million (2007)

Radio broadcast stations

524 (station types NA) (2006)

Radios

45.05 million (1997)

Telephone system

general assessment: Ukraine's telecommunication development plan 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 and the domestic trunk system is being improved; about one-third of Ukraine's networks are digital and a majority of regional centers now have digital switching stations; improvements in local networks and local exchanges continue to lag; the mobile-cellular telephone system is expanding rapidly international: country code - 380; 2 new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and 3 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 an unknown number of earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems

Telephones - main lines in use

12.858 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular

55.24 million (2007)

Television broadcast stations

647 (2006)

Televisions

18.05 million (1997)

Airports

437 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways

total: 193 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 53 1,524 to 2,437 m: 27 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 95 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 244 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 217 (2007)

Heliports

10 (2007)

Merchant marine

total: 189 by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 141, chemical tanker 1, container 3, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 11, roll on/roll off 7, specialized tanker 2 foreign-owned: 2 (Luxembourg 1, Russia 1) registered in other countries: 204 (Belize 7, Cambodia 34, Comoros 8, Cyprus 4, Dominica 4, Georgia 18, Liberia 25, Lithuania 1, Malta 30, Moldova 5, Mongolia 1, Panama 10, Russia 11, Saint Kitts and Nevis 9, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 11, Sierra Leone 10, Slovakia 12, Tuvalu 1, unknown 3) (2008)

Pipelines

gas 33,721 km; oil 4,514 km; refined products 4,211 km (2007)

Ports and terminals

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

Railways

total: 22,473 km broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways

total: 169,422 km paved: 165,611 km (includes 15 km of expressways) unpaved: 3,811 km (2007)

Waterways

2,253 km (most on Dnieper River) (2006)

Manpower available for military service

males age 16-49: 11,457,562 females age 16-49: 11,767,357 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service

males age 16-49: 7,141,814 females age 16-49: 9,428,876 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually

male: 288,605 female: 276,324 (2008 est.)

Military branches

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

Military expenditures

1.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

Military service age and obligation

18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months for Army and Air Force, 24 months for Navy (2004)

Disputes - international

1997 boundary delimitation 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 with preparations for demarcation underway; the dispute over the 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 operate joint customs posts to monitor transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region, which remains under OSCE supervision; the ICJ gave Ukraine until December 2006 to reply, and Romania until June 2007 to rejoin, in their dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary; Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

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; 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 This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008