Украина /Eng./
Ukraine
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
Coastline: 2,782 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
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.)
Natural
hazards: NA
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 Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not
ratified: Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of
the Sea
Geography—note: strategic position at the crossroads
between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe
Population: 49,811,174 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (male 4,690,318; female 4,498,239)
15-64 years: 68% (male 16,136,296; female 17,572,011)
65 years and
over: 14% (male 2,251,664;
female 4,662,646) (1999 est.)
Population
growth rate: -0.62% (1999
est.)
Birth rate: 9.54 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 16.38 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration
rate: 0.63 migrant(s)/1,000
population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and
over: 0.48 male(s)/female
total
population: 0.86
male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant
mortality rate: 21.73
deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy
at birth:
total
population: 65.91 years
male: 60.23 years
female: 71.87 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility
rate: 1.34 children
born/woman (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
short form: Ukraine
local long
form: none
local short
form: Ukrayina
former: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Data code: UP
Government
type: republic
Capital: Kiev (Kyyiv)
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: oblasts have the administrative center
name following in parentheses
Independence: 1 December 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
Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO (since 16 July 1997), First Deputy Prime Minister
Volodymyr KURATCHENKO (since 14 January 1999), and three deputy prime ministers
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 26 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA
October 1999); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the
president and approved by the People's Council
election
results: Leonid D. KUCHMA
elected president; percent of vote—Leonid KUCHMA 52.15%, Leonid KRAVCHUK 45.06%
Legislative
branch: unicameral Supreme
Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, half of
the Rada's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that
gain 4% 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); note—repeat elections continuing to fill vacant seats
election
results: percent of vote
by party (for parties clearing 4% hurdle on 29 March 1998)—Communist 24.7%,
Rukh 9.4%, Socialist/Peasant 8.6%, Green 5.3%, People's Democratic Party 5.0%,
Hromada 4.7%, Progressive Socialist 4.0%, United Social Democratic Party 4.0%;
seats by party (as of 8 July 1998)—Communist 120, People's Democratic Party 88,
Rukh 47, Hromada 45, Socialist/Peasant 33, United Social Democratic 25, Green
24, Progressive Socialist 14, independents 26, vacant 28
Judicial
branch: Supreme Court;
Constitutional Court
Political
parties and leaders:
Communist Party of Ukraine [Petro SYMONENKO]; Hromad [Pavlo LAZARENKO];
Ukrainian Popular Movement or Rukh [Vyacheslav CHORNOVIL, chairman]; Socialist
Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Peasant Party of Ukraine
or SelPU [Serhiy DOVAN]; People's Democratic Party or NDPU [Anatoliy
MATVIYENKO, chairman]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; United Social
Democratic Party of Ukraine [Vasyl ONOPENKO]; Agrarian Party of Ukraine or APU
[Kateryna VASHCHUK]; Liberal Party of Ukraine or LPU [Volodymyr SHCHERBAN];
Green Party of Ukraine or PZU [Vitaliy KONONOV, leader]; Progressive Socialist
Party [Natalya VITRENKO]
note: and numerous smaller parties
Political
pressure groups and leaders:
New Ukraine (Nova Ukrayina); Congress of National Democratic Forces
International
organization participation:
BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS,
IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user),
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUA, NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW,
OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNPREDEP, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic
representation in the US:
chief of
mission: Ambassador Anton
Denysovych BUTEYKO
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 Steven
Karl PIFER
embassy: 10 Yuria Kotsubynskoho, 254053 Kiev 53
mailing
address: use embassy
street address
telephone: [380] (44) 246-9750
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 equipment
and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former
USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas. Shortly
after the implosion of the USSR 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 in 1992-98 fell to
less than half the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to
hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Since his election in July 1994, President
KUCHMA has pushed economic reforms, maintained financial discipline, and tried
to remove almost all remaining controls over prices and foreign trade. The
onset of the financial crisis in Russia dashed Ukraine's hopes for its first
year of economic growth in 1998 due to a sharp fall in export revenue and
reduced domestic demand. Although administrative currency controls will be
lifted in early 1999, they are likely to be reimposed when the hryvnia next
comes under pressure. The currency is only likely to collapse further if
Ukraine abandons tight monetary policies or threatens default. Despite
increasing pressure from the IMF to accelerate reform, significant economic
restructuring remains unlikely in 1999.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$108.5 billion
(1998 est.)
GDP—real growth
rate: -1.7% (1998 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$2,200 (1998 est.)
GDP—composition
by sector:
agriculture: 14%
industry: 30%
services: 56% (1997 est.)
Population
below poverty line: 50%
(1997 est.)
Household income
or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.1%
highest 10%: 20.8% (1992)
Inflation rate
(consumer prices): 20%
(yearend 1998 est.)
Labor force: 22.8 million (yearend 1997)
Labor force—by
occupation: industry and
construction 32%, agriculture and forestry 24%, health, education, and culture
17%, trade and distribution 8%, transport and communication 7%, other 12%
(1996)
Unemployment
rate: 3.7% officially
registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December
1998)
Budget:
revenues: $18 billion
expenditures: $21 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
Industries: coal, electric power, ferrous and
nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals,
food-processing (especially sugar)
Industrial
production growth rate:
-1.5% (1998 est.)
Electricity—production: 171.8 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity—production
by source:
fossil fuel: 47%
hydro: 9.2%
nuclear: 43.8%
other: 0% (1998)
Electricity—consumption: 174 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity—imports: 7 billion kWh (1998)
Agriculture—products: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds,
vegetables; beef, milk
Exports: $11.3 billion (1998 est.)
Exports—commodities: ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals,
machinery and transport equipment, food products
Exports—partners: Russia, China,, Turkey, Germany, Belarus
(1998)
Imports: $13.1 billion (1998 est.)
Imports—commodities: energy, machinery and parts, transportation
equipment, chemicals, plastics and rubber
Imports—partners: Russia, Germany, US, Poland, Italy (1998)
Debt—external: $10.9 billion (October 1998)
Economic
aid—recipient: $637.7
million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998)
Currency: 1 hryvna=100 kopiykas
Exchange rates: hryvnia per US$1—3.4270 (February 1999),
2.4495 (1998), 1.8617 (1997), 1.8295 (1996), 1.4731 (1995), 0.3275 (1994)
note: in August 1998, Ukraine introduced
currency controls in an attempt to fend off the impact of the Russian financial
crisis; it created an exchange rate corridor for the hryvnia of 2.5-3.5 hryvnia
per US$1
Fiscal year: calendar year
Telephones: 12,531,277 (1998)
Telephone
system: Ukraine's phone
systems are administered through the State Committee for Communications;
Ukraine has a telecommunication development plan through 2005; Internet service
is available in large cities
domestic: local—Kiev has a digital loop connected to
the national digital backbone; Kiev has several cellular phone companies
providing service in the different standards; some companies offer intercity
roaming and even limited international roaming; cellular phone service is
offered in at least 100 cities nationwide
international: foreign investment in the form of joint
business ventures greatly improved the Ukrainian telephone system; Ukraine's
two main fiber-optic lines are part of the Trans-Asia-Europe Fiber-Optic Line
(TAE); these lines connect Ukraine to worldwide service through Belarus,
Hungary, and Poland; Odesa is a landing point for the
Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia Undersea Fiber-Optic Cable (ITUR) giving Ukraine an
additional fiber-optic link to worldwide service; Ukraine has Intelsat,
Inmarsat, and Intersputnik earth stations
Radio broadcast
stations: AM NA, FM NA,
shortwave NA; note—at least 25 local broadcast stations of NA type (1998)
Radios: 15 million (1990)
Television
broadcast stations: at
least 33 (in addition 21 repeater stations that relay ORT broadcasts from
Russia) (1997)
Televisions: 17.3 million (1992)
Railways:
total: 23,350 km
broad gauge: 23,350 km 1.524-m gauge (8,600 km
electrified)
Highways:
total: 172,565 km
paved: 163,937 km (including 1,875 km of
expressways); note—these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, meaning that some
are paved and some are all-weather gravel surfaced
unpaved: 8,628 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: 4,400 km navigable waterways, of which
1,672 km were on the Pryp''yat' and Dnistr (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
Merchant
marine:
total: 181 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
1,022,047 GRT/1,101,278 DWT
ships by type: bulk 9, cargo 117, liquefied gas tanker 1,
container 4, multifunction large-load carrier 2, oil tanker 16, passenger 12,
passenger-cargo 3, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off
cargo 10, short-sea passenger 3 (1998 est.)
Airports: 706 (1994 est.)
Airports—with
paved runways:
total: 163
over 3,047 m: 14
2,438 to 3,047
m: 55
1,524 to 2,437
m: 34
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 57 (1994 est.)
Airports—with
unpaved runways:
total: 543
over 3,047 m: 7
2,438 to 3,047
m: 7
1,524 to 2,437
m: 16
914 to 1,523 m: 37
under 914 m: 476 (1994 est.)
Military
branches: Army, Navy, Air
Force, Air Defense Force, Internal Troops, National Guard, Border Troops
Military
manpower—military age: 18
years of age
Military
manpower—availability:
males age
15-49: 12,434,486 (1999
est.)
Military
manpower—fit for military service:
males age
15-49: 9,740,684 (1999
est.)
Military
manpower—reaching military age annually:
males: 365,762 (1999 est.)
Military
expenditures—dollar figure:
$414 million (1999)
Military
expenditures—percent of GDP:
1.4% (1999)
Disputes—international: dispute with Romania over continental
shelf of the Black Sea under which significant gas and oil deposits may exist;
agreed in 1997 to two-year negotiating period, after which either party can
refer dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ); 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