Ukraine: Facts and Figures
| COUNTRY NAME: |
Ukraine |
| FLAG: |
Two equal horizontal bands of azure and yellow
representing a blue sky above golden wheat fields |
| LAND MASS: |
Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, in
terms of countries whose entire boundaries lie within the European continent. It is larger
than France in area - 233,100 sq mi/603,700 sq km. It extends 818 miles/1316 km from west
to east, and 555 miles/893 km north to south |
| GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: |
Ukraine is in a strategic position at the
crossroads between Europe and Asia in central southeastern Europe, bordering the Black
Sea. The geographical centre of Europe is the village (selo) of Dilove, district of
Rakhiv, province (oblast) of Zakarpatia, in Western Ukraine. Ukraine is situated between
44°20 and 52°20 north latitude, and 22°5 and 41°15 east longitude. |
| NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES: |
Bordered by (clockwise) Romania, Moldova,
Romania, and Hungary on the southwest, Slovakia on the west, Poland on the northwest,
Belarus on the north, and Russia on the northeast. |
| LAND BOUNDARIES: |
4,558 km |
| COASTLINE: |
2,782 km |
| CLIMATE: |
Temperate continental, subtropical on the
southern coast. Winters are cool in the south and cold inland; while summers range from
warm inland to hot in the south. |
| TERRAIN: |
Fertile plains (steppes) and plateaux, with
Karpathian Mountains in the southwest and on the Crimean peninsula in the south. In the
south, Ukraine is bounded by the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. |
| HIGHEST PEAK: |
Mt. Hoverlia, Karpathian Mountains - 2,061 m |
| LONGEST RIVER: |
Dnipro |
| INLAND WATERWAYS: |
1,672 km perennially navigable including Dnipro
and Prypiat rivers. |
| SEAPORTS: |
Berdianske, Illichivske, Kerch, Kherson,
Mariupil, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Sevastopil, Pivdenne. Inland port - Kyiv. |
| CAPITAL CITY: |
Kyiv (Kiev) with a population of 2,645,000, and
an area of 780 sq km. |
| PRINCIPAL CITIES: |
Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrivske, Donetske, Kharkiv,
Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Ternopil, Uzhhorod, and Zaporizhia. |
| OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: |
Ukrainian, an East Slavic language. The second
most widely spoken language of the 12 surviving Slavic group members of the Indo-European
language family. Writing is based on the Cyrillic script |
| POPULATION: |
Third largest in Europe. Exceeds 52.1 million -
68% urban and 32% rural. Density - 224 inhabitants per sq mi/86 per sq km. Composed of
over 100 ethnic groups and entities: Ukrainians - 74%, Russians - 21%, minorities - 5%
including Belarussian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Jewish, Moldovan, Polish, and Romanian |
| ADULT LITERACY RATE: |
95% |
| RELIGION: |
Predominantly Christian, Ukrainian Orthodox.
Ukrainian Eastern Byzantine Rite Orthodox - 76%; Ukrainian Eastern Byzantine Rite Catholic
- 13%; Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and other - 11%. |
| GOVERNMENT: |
Multiparty democratic republic with a single
legislative body, the Verkhovna Rada, consisting of 450 seats. |
| CURRENCY: |
Hryvnia forthcoming. Karbovanets (plural -
karbovantsi) in the interim |
| NATIONAL INCOME: |
Industrial - 42%, agricultural - 31%. |
| DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYMENT BY SECTOR: |
Industry - 56%, services - 25%, agriculture -
19%. |
| NATURAL RESOURCES: |
An estimated 5.5 thousand deposits of valuable
minerals exist in Ukraine including: coal, oil, natural gas, iron ore, manganese,
titanium, uranium, bauxite, graphite, salt, potash, potassium, kaolin, sulphur, magnesium,
mercury, nickel, gold, garnet, opal, and diamonds. Hydro- electric energy, and forestry. |
| AGRICULTURE: |
Possesses the world’s greatest resources of
fertile black soil called chornozem. Former "Breadbasket of Europe" with cereal
crops, wheat, rye, barley, oats, hops, corn, flax, vegetables, sugar beets, potatoes,
orchards, vineyards, sunflower, tobacco, hemp and cotton. |
| ANIMAL HUSBANDRY: |
Cattle, horses, swine, sheep, goats, poultry,
rabbits, fishing, bee keeping and silkworms. |
| INDUSTRIES: |
Aircraft, aerospace technology, shipping, public
transport vehicles, locomotives, turbines, tractors, food-processing, excavators, mining,
heavy machinery, machine tools, electric power, electronic equipment, computers,
appliances, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cast iron, steel, rolled metal, piping,
chemicals, textiles, leather and consumer goods. |
| DIASPORA POPULATION: |
20 million |
SOURCE: JUDY JURDYGA, CURATOR, MUSEE UKRAINA MUSEUM; FOCUS UKRAINE, THE
TORONTO STAR; AND VARIOUS OTHERS.
© COMPILED BY UKRAINIAN SOURCES.
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