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| Background: |
Richly endowed
in natural resources, Ukraine has been fought over and
subjugated for centuries; its 20th-century struggle for
liberty is not yet complete. A short-lived independence
from Russia (1917-1920) was followed by brutal Soviet rule
that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and
1932-33) in which over 8 million died, and World War II,
in which German and Soviet armies were responsible for
some 7 million more deaths. Although independence was
attained in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true
freedom remains elusive as many of the former Soviet elite
remain entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform,
privatization, and civic liberties. |
| Location: |
Eastern Europe,
bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
49 00 N, 32 00
E |
| Map
references: |
Commonwealth of
Independent States |
| Area: |
total:
603,700 sq km
land: 603,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly
smaller than Texas |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
4,558 km
border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103
km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (south) 169 km,
Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km |
| Maritime
claims: |
continental
shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest
point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m |
| Natural
resources: |
iron ore, coal,
manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite,
titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber,
arable land |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
58%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 13%
forests and woodland: 18%
other: 9% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
26,050 sq km
(1993 est.) |
| 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-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, 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-Sulphur
94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol |
| Geography
- note: |
strategic
position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia;
second-largest country in Europe |
| Population: |
48,760,474
(July 2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
17.3% (male 4,310,158; female 4,127,677)
15-64 years: 68.57% (male 15,965,079; female
17,468,035)
65 years and over: 14.13% (male 2,275,004;
female 4,614,521) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
-0.78% (2001
est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
9.31
births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
16.43
deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-0.63 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female
total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2001
est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
21.4
deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 66.15 years
male: 60.62 years
female: 71.96 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.29 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.96% (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
240,000 (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
4,000 (1999
est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Ukrainian(s)
adjective: Ukrainian |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Ukrainian 73%,
Russian 22%, Jewish 1%, other 4% |
| Religions: |
Ukrainian
Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev
Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian
Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish |
| Languages: |
Ukrainian,
Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 100%
female: 97% (1989 est.) |
| 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 |
| Government
type: |
republic |
| 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 |
| Independence: |
24 August 1991
(from Soviet Union) |
| National
holiday: |
Independence
Day, 24 August (1991) |
| Constitution: |
adopted 28 June
1996 |
| Legal
system: |
based on civil
law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
| Suffrage: |
18 years of
age; universal |
| Executive
branch: |
chief of
state: President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July
1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Anatoliy
KINAKH (since 29 May 2001), First Deputy Prime Minister
Oleh DUBYNA (since 29 May 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by
the president and approved by the Supreme Council
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 Kyyiv (Kiev) and
Sevastopol' municipalities and chairmen of the oblasti
elections: president elected by popular vote
for a five-year term; election last held 31 October and 14
November 1999 (next to be held NA 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% |
| Legislative
branch: |
unicameral
Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under
Ukraine's new election law, half 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)
elections: last held 29 March 1998 (next to
be held NA 2002)
election results: percent of vote by party
(for parties clearing 4% hurdle on 29 March 1998) -
Communist Party 24.7%, Rukh (combined) 9.4%, SPU/SelPU
8.6%, PZU 5.3%, People's Democratic Party 5.0%, Hromada
Party 4.7%, Progressive Socialist Party 4.0%, United
Social Democratic Party 4.0%; seats by party (as of 25
February 2000) - Communist Party 115, PRVU 36, Fatherland
Party 35, United Social Democratic Party 34, People's
Democratic Party 27, Trudova Ukrayina Party 27, Rukh K 27,
left-center 23, PZU 18, Rukh U 17, SelPU 15, Hromada Party
14, Reforms-Congress 12, independents 14, unaffiliated 31,
vacant 5 |
| Judicial
branch: |
Supreme Court;
Constitutional Court |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Communist Party
of Ukraine [Petro SYMONENKO]; Fatherland (Motherland) All
Ukrainian Party [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, chairperson]; Green
Party of Ukraine or PZU [Vitaliy KONONOV, chairman];
Hromada [Pavlo LAZARENKO]; Party of Regional Revival of
Ukraine or PRVU [Volodymyr RYBAK]; Peasant Party of
Ukraine or SelPU [Serhiy DOVHAN]; People's Democratic
Party [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO, chairman]; People's Movement
of Ukraine or Rukh U [Hennadiy UDOVENKO, chairman];
Progressive Socialist Party [Nataliya VITRENKO]; Reforms
and Order Party/Reforms-Congress [Viktor PYNZENYK];
Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ,
chairman]; Solidarity [leader NA]; Trudova Ukrayina/Working
Ukraine [Igor SHAROV, chairman]; Ukrainian Popular
Movement or Rukh K [Yuriy KOSTENKO, chairman]; United
Social Democratic Party of Ukraine [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]
note: and numerous smaller parties |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
| International
organization participation: |
BSEC, CCC, CE,
CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC,
IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory
user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM
(observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN,
UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET,
UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Konstantin Ivanovych
HRYSHCHENKO
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC
20007
telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606
FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817
consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Carlos PASCUAL
embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynskyi Street, Kiev
01901
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000
FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350 |
| Flag
description: |
two equal
horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow
represent grainfields under a blue sky |
| 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
late 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 in 1992-99 fell to less than 40%
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 and streamline the regulation process,
create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs and
protect ownership rights, 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 and have threatened to withdraw financial support.
GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6% - the
first growth since independence - and industrial
production grew 12.9%. As the capacity for further
export-based economic expansion diminishes, GDP growth in
2001 is likely to decline to around 3%. |
| GDP: |
purchasing
power parity - $189.4 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
6% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing
power parity - $3,850 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
12%
industry: 26%
services: 62% (1998 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
50% (1999 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
3.9%
highest 10%: 26.4% (1996) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
25.8% (2000
est.) |
| Labor
force: |
22.8 million
(yearend 1997) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
industry 32%,
agriculture 24%, services 44% (1996) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
4.3% officially
registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed
workers (December 1999) |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$8.3 billion
expenditures: $8.8 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
| Industries: |
coal, electric
power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and
transport equipment, chemicals, food processing
(especially sugar) |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
12.9% (2000
est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
157.823 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
47.67%
hydro: 9.65%
nuclear: 42.67%
other: 0.01% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
146.675 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
2.3 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
2.2 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
grain, sugar
beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk |
| Exports: |
$14.6 billion
(2000 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
ferrous and
nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, machinery
and transport equipment, food products |
| Exports
- partners: |
Russia 24%,
Europe 30%, US 5% (2000 est.) |
| Imports: |
$15 billion
(2000 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
energy,
machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals |
| Imports
- partners: |
Russia 42%,
Europe 29%, US 3% (2000 est.) |
| Debt
- external: |
$10.3 billion
(2000) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$637.7 million
(1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998) |
| Exchange
rates: |
hryvnia per US
dollar - 5.4331 (January 2001), 5.4402 (2000), 4.1304
(1999), 2.4495 (1998), 1.8617 (1997), 1.8295 (1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
9.45 million
(April 1999) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
236,000 (1998) |
| 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: 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 which
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 |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 134, FM 289,
shortwave 4 (1998) |
| Radios: |
45.05 million
(1997) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
at least 33
(plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia)
(1997) |
| Televisions: |
18.05 million
(1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.ua |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
32 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
200,000 (2000) |
| Railways: |
total:
22,510 km
broad gauge: 21,951 km 1.524-m gauge (8,927
km electrified)
standard gauge: 49 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 510 km 0.750-m gauge (2001) |
| Highways: |
total:
273,700 km
paved: 236,400 km (including 1,770 km of
expressways); note - (these roads are said to be
hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally
paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other
coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather)
unpaved: 37,300 km (these roads are made of
unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet
weather) (1990) |
| Waterways: |
4,499 km
note: 1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and
Dniester (Dnister) (1990) |
| Pipelines: |
crude oil 4,000
km (1995); petroleum products 4,500 km (1995); natural gas
34,400 km (1998) |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Berdyans'k, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch,
Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol' |
| Merchant
marine: |
total:
156 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 757,582 GRT/841,755
DWT
ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 110, container
3, liquefied gas 2, passenger 11, passenger/cargo 2,
petroleum tanker 14, railcar carrier 2, roll on/roll off
2, short-sea passenger 2 (2000 est.) |
| Airports: |
718 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
114
over 3,047 m: 14
2,438 to 3,047 m: 50
1,524 to 2,437 m: 21
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 26 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
604
over 3,047 m: 13
2,438 to 3,047 m: 37
1,524 to 2,437 m: 52
914 to 1,523 m: 45
under 914 m: 457 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
Army, Navy, Air
Force, Air Defense Force, Internal Troops, Border Troops |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
18 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 12,285,623 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age
15-49: 9,630,184 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males:
390,823 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$500 million
(FY99) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.4% (FY99) |
| Disputes
- international: |
has made no
territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the
right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any
other nation |
| Illicit
drugs: |
limited
cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS
consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to
West; limited government eradication program; used as
transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs
from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey, and to Europe and
Russia; drug-related money laundering a minor, but
growing, problem |
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