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 long form: none
    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. ............