Introduction

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 (1917-20), 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. The new government presents its citizens with hope that the country may at last attain true freedom and prosperity.

Geography

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

Geographic coordinates: 49 00 N, 32 00 E

Map references: Asia, Europe

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

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries: total: 4,663 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

Coastline: 2,782 km

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

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: 56.21%;permanent crops: 1.61%;other: 42.18% (2001)

Irrigated land: 24,540 sq km (1998 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-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

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

People

Population: 47,425,336 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 15.6% (male 3,783,725/female 3,619,754);15-64 years: 68.8% (male 15,619,989/female 16,992,628);65 years and over: 15.6% (male 2,497,851/female 4,911,389) (2005 est.)

Median age: total: 38.22 years;male: 34.91 years;female: 41.21 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.63% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 10.49 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 16.42 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

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 (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 20.34 deaths/1,000 live births;male: 21.55 deaths/1,000 live births;female: 19.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 66.85 years;male: 61.6 years;female: 72.38 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.4% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 360,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 20,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality: noun: Ukrainian(s);adjective: Ukrainian

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)

Religions: Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate 19%, Orthodox (no particular jurisdiction) 16%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 9%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 6%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 1.7%, Protestant, Jewish, none 38% (2004 est.)

Languages: Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%; small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities

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

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

Government

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

Capital: Kiev (Kyyiv)

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), Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyy, Kirovohrad, Kiev (Kyyiv), Kyyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsya, Volyn (Lutsk), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr

note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence: 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

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

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 Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO (since 23 January 2005);head of government: Prime Minister Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (since 4 February 2005); First Deputy Prime Minister - Anatoliy KINAKH (since 4 February 2005);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 former-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;elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year 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 Mr. YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant violations; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council

election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 51.99%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2%

Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under recent amendments to Ukraine's election law, the Rada's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; members serve five-year terms beginning with the next election in 2006);elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held March 2006);election results: percent of vote by party/bloc - Our Ukraine 24%, CPU 20%, United Ukraine 12%, SPU 7%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7%, United Social Democratic Party 6%, other 24%; seats by party/bloc - Our Ukraine 101, Regions of Ukraine 61, CPU 59, Working Ukraine 14, United Social Democratic Party 33, Agrarian Party 22, SPU 20, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 19, United Ukraine 19, People's Democratic Party-Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 16, Center Group 15, Democratic Initiatives 14, unaffiliated 57 (December 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; these factions have since undergone a number of changes

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
 

Economy

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. Ukrainian government officials have taken some steps to reform the country's Byzantine tax code, such as the implementation of lower tax rates aimed at bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including closing tax loopholes and eliminating tax privileges and exemptions. 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 4.6% 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 9.3% in 2003 and a remarkable 12% in 2004, despite a loss of momentum in needed economic reforms.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $299.1 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 12% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18%;industry: 45.1%;services: 36.9% (2004 est.)

Labor force: 21.11 million (2004 est.)

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

Unemployment rate: 3.5% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is around 9-10 percent (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line: 29% (2003 est.)

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

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 29 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 18.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget: revenues: $13.57 billion;expenditures: $12.26 billion, including capital expenditures of NA; note - these estimates probably do not include the government's doubling of pensions in September of 2004 (2004 est.)

Public debt: 24.7% of GDP (2004 est.)

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

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

Industrial production growth rate: 16.5% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production: 180 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption: 132 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports: 1.2 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production: 72,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption: 303,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports: NA

Oil - imports: NA

Oil - proved reserves: 395 million bbl (9 November 2004)

Natural gas - production: 19.6 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 79.86 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 5.8 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 60.4 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 560.7 billion cu m (9 November 2004)

Current account balance: $4.584 billion (2004 est.)

Exports: $32.91 billion (2004 est.)

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

Exports - partners: Russia 17.4%, Turkey 7.1%, Italy 5.7% (2004)

Imports: $31.45 billion (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities: energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals

Imports - partners: Russia 31.9%, Germany 11.9%, Turkmenistan 5.8%, Italy 4.5% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $11.33 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external: $16.37 billion (2004 est.)

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