Administrative divisions
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

Age structure
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.)

Agriculture - products
grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk

Airports
702 (2003 est.)

Airports - with paved runways
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

Airports - with unpaved runways
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

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

Area - comparative
slightly smaller than Texas

Background
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.

Birth rate
10.21 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Budget
revenues: $14.1 billion
expenditures: $14.19 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)

Capital
Kiev (Kyyiv)

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

Constitution
adopted 28 June 1996

Country name
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

Currency
hryvnia (UAH)

Currency code
UAH

Current account balance
$2.891 billion (2003)

Death rate
16.41 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Debt - external
$16.13 billion (2003)

Diplomatic representation from the US
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

Diplomatic representation in the US
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

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

Distribution of family income - Gini index
29 (1999)

Economic aid - recipient
$637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998)

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. 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.

Electricity - consumption
152.4 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports
800 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - production
164.7 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 48.6%
hydro: 7.9%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 43.5%

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

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)

Exchange rates
hryvnia per US dollar - 5.3327 (2003), 5.3266 (2002), 5.3722 (2001), 5.4402 (2000), 4.1304 (1999)

Executive branch
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

Exports
$23.63 billion (2003 est.)

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

Exports - partners
Russia 17.4%, Turkey 7.2%, Italy 5.9%, China 5.3% (2003 est.)

Fiscal year
calendar year

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

GDP
purchasing power parity - $260.4 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 18.8%
industry: 44.8%
services: 36.4% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $5,400 (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate
9.4% (2003 est.)

Geographic coordinates
49 00 N, 32 00 E

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

Government type
republic

Heliports
8 (2003 est.)

Highways
total: 169,491 km
paved: 163,898 km
unpaved: 5,593 km (2000)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths
11,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
250,000 (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage shar
lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 23.2% (1999)

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

Imports
$23.58 billion (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities
energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals

Imports - partners
Russia 33.4%, Germany 13.7%, Turkmenistan 6.3%, Italy 4.6%, China 4.4% (2003 est.)

Independence
24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

Industrial production growth rate
15.8% (2003 est.)

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

Infant mortality rate
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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)
5.2% (2003 est.)

International organization participation
BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, GUUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC

Internet country code
.ua

Internet hosts
94,345 (2004)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
260 (2001)

Internet users
900,000 (2002)

Investment (gross fixed)
21% of GDP (2003)

Irrigated land
24,540 sq km (1998 est.)

Judicial branch
Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

Labor force
21.29 million (2003)

Labor force - by occupation
agriculture 24%, industry 32%, services 44% (1996)

Land boundaries
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

Land use
arable land: 56.21%
permanent crops: 1.61%
other: 42.18% (2001)

Languages
Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian

Legal system
based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

Legislative branch
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)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 66.68 years
male: 61.35 years
female: 72.27 years (2004 est.)

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

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

Median age
total: 38.1 years
male: 34.8 years
female: 41.1 years (2004 est.)

Merchant marine
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.)

Military branches
Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVS) Troops, Border Troops

Military expenditures - dollar figure
$617.9 million (FY02)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP
1.4% (FY02)

Military manpower - availability
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 - military age
18 years of age (2004 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually
males: 386,945 (2004 est.)

National holiday
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

Nationality
noun: Ukrainian(s)
adjective: Ukrainian

Natural gas - consumption
74.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports
55.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - production
18.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves
560.7 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

Natural hazards
NA

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

Net migration rate
-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption
290,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports
NA (2001)

Oil - imports
NA (2001)

Oil - production
86,490 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - proved reserves
197.5 million bbl (1 January 2002)

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

Pipelines
gas 20,069 km; oil 4,435 km; refined products 4,098 km (2003)

Political parties and leaders
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)

Political pressure groups and leaders
NA

Population
47,732,079 (July 2004 est.)

Population below poverty line
29% (2003 est.)

Population growth rate
-0.66% (2004 est.)

Ports and harbors
Berdyans'k, Feodosiya, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Kiliya, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol', Yalta, Yuzhnyy

Public debt
28.7% of GDP (2003)

Radio broadcast stations
AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998)

Radios
45.05 million (1997)

Railways
total: 22,473 km
broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2003)

Religions
Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 26.5%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate 20%, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate) 13%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold
$6.937 billion (2003)

Sex ratio
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.)

Suffrage
18 years of age; universal

Telephone system
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

Telephones - main lines in use
10,833,300 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular
4.2 million (2002)

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

Televisions
18.05 million (1997)

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 fertility rate
1.37 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate
3.7% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (2003)

Waterways
4,499 km
note: 1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dniester (Dnister)