Ukraine

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Introduction - Ukraine:
Country	Ukraine
Background	Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan 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. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006.
Location - Ukraine:
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: 53.8% permanent crops: 1.5% other: 44.7% (2005)
Irrigated land	22,080 sq km (2003)
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 - Ukraine:
Population	46,299,862 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure	0-14 years: 14% (male 3,334,428/female 3,163,378) 15-64 years: 69.6% (male 15,465,544/female 16,769,495) 65 years and over: 16.3% (male 2,564,512/female 5,002,505) (2007 est.)
Median age	total: 39.2 years male: 36 years female: 42.3 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate	-0.675% (2007 est.)
Birth rate	9.45 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate	16.07 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate	-0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.054 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.922 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.513 male(s)/female total population: 0.857 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate	total: 9.5 deaths/1,000 live births male: 11.75 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.11 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 67.88 years male: 62.16 years female: 73.96 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate	1.24 children born/woman (2007 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 - Kyiv 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%, other 9% (includes small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.4% male: 99.7% female: 99.2% (2001 census)
Government - Ukraine:
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	name: Kyiv (Kiev) geographic coordinates: 50 26 N, 30 31 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
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, Kyiv**, Kyiv, 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); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Central Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day
Constitution	adopted 28 June 1996
Legal system	based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal
Executive branch	chief of state: President Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO (since 23 January 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Viktor YANUKOVYCH (since 4 August 2006); First Deputy Prime Minister - Mykola AZAROV (since 5 August 2006) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers selected by the prime minister; the only exceptions are the foreign and defense ministers, who are chosen by the president note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Secretariat helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second 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 YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant violations; under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the prime minister 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; members allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 26 March 2006 (next to be held 30 September 2007); note - pre-term parliamentary elections were scheduled following a political crisis during which the Verkhovna Rada was dissolved by the president election results: percent of vote by party/bloc in 2002 - Party of Regions 32.1%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 22.3%, Our Ukraine 13.9%, SPU 5.7%, CPU 3.7%, other parties 22.3%; seats by party/bloc - Party of Regions 186, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 129, Our Ukraine 81, SPU 33, CPU 21
Judicial branch	Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders	Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Fatherland Party (Batkivshchyna) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]; Peoples Party Our Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Peoples Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]; Peoples Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; PORA! (Its Time!) party [Vladyslav KASKIV]; Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Party of Regions [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Republican Party [Yuriy BOYKO]; Social Democratic Party (United) or SDPU(o) [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Ukrainian Peoples Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO]; Viche [Inna BOHUSLOVSKA]
Political pressure groups and leaders	Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Ihor POPOV]; Peoples Self-Defense [Yuriy LUTSENKO]; Ne Tak [Leonid KRAVCHUK]
International organization participation	Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CE, CEI, CIS, EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the us	chief of mission: Ambassador Oleh V. SHAMSHUR chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the us	chief of mission: Ambassador William B. TAYLOR embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynsky Street, 04053 Kyiv mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 490-4085
Flag description	two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky
Economy - Ukraine:
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. Shortly after independence was ratified 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. Ukraines dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukraine depends on imports to meet about three-fourths of its annual oil and natural gas requirements. A dispute with Russia over pricing in late 2005 and early 2006 led to a temporary gas cut-off; Ukraine concluded a deal with Russia in January 2006 that almost doubled the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas, and could cost the Ukrainian economy $1.4-2.2 billion. Ukrainian Government officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraines large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, and improving the legislative framework for businesses. 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. In its efforts to accede to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ukraine passed more than 20 laws in 2006 to bring its trading regime into consistency with WTO standards. GDP growth was 7% in 2006, up from 2.4% in 2005 thanks to rising steel prices worldwide and growing consumption domestically. Although the economy is likely to expand in 2007, long-term growth could be threatened by the governments plans to reinstate tax, trade, and customs privileges and to maintain restrictive grain export quotas.
Gdp purchasing power parity	$364.3 billion (2006 est.)
Gdp official exchange rate	$82.36 billion (2006 est.)
Gdp real growth rate	7.1% (2006 est.)
Gdp per capita ppp	$7,800 (2006 est.)
Gdp composition by sector	agriculture: 17.5% industry: 42.7% services: 39.8% (2006 est.)
Labor force	22.3 million (2006 est.)
Labor force by occupation	agriculture: 25% industry: 20% services: 55% (1996)
Unemployment rate	2.7% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraines real unemployment level is 6.7% (2006)
Population below poverty line	29% (2003 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 25.7% (2006)
Distribution of family income gini index	31 (2006)
Inflation rate consumer prices	11.6% (2006)
Investment gross fixed	22.9% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget	revenues: $33.41 billion expenditures: $35.6 billion; note - this is the planned, consolidated budget (2006 est.)
Public debt	12.7% of GDP (2006 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	6.3% (2006 est.)
Electricity production	192.1 billion kWh (2006)
Electricity consumption	181.9 billion kWh (2006)
Electricity exports	10.44 billion kWh (2006)
Electricity imports	20 billion kWh (2006)
Oil production	90,400 bbl/day (2006)
Oil consumption	284,600 bbl/day (2006)
Oil exports	214,600 bbl/day (2004)
Oil imports	469,600 bbl/day (2004)
Oil proved reserves	395 million bbl (1 January 2005)
Natural gas production	20.85 billion cu m (2006)
Natural gas consumption	73.94 billion cu m (2006 est,)
Natural gas exports	4 billion cu m (2006)
Natural gas imports	57.09 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas proved reserves	1.121 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
Current account balance	-$1.933 billion (2006 est.)
Exports	$38.88 billion (2006 est.)
Exports commodities	ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products
Exports partners	Russia 21.2%, Turkey 6.9%, Italy 6.3%, US 4% (2006)
Imports	$44.11 billion (2006 est.)
Imports commodities	energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports partners	Russia 28.4%, Germany 11.7%, Poland 7.6%, China 7.1%, Turkmenistan 5.7% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	$22.26 billion (2006)
Debt external	$48.87 billion (30 October 2006)
Economic aid recipient	$463 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (2005)
Currency code	hryvnia (UAH)
Exchange rates	hryvnia per US dollar - 5.05 (2006), 5.1247 (2005), 5.3192 (2004), 5.3327 (2003), 5.3266 (2002)
Communications - Ukraine:
Fiscal year	calendar year
Telephones main lines in use	12.341 million (2006)
Telephones mobile cellular	49.076 million (2006)
Telephone system	general assessment: Ukraines 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 rising slowly and the domestic trunk system is being improved; the mobile cellular telephone system is expanding at a high rate international: country code - 380; 2 new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and 3 Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that 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	524 (station types NA) (2006)
Television broadcast stations	647 (2006)
Internet country code	.ua
Internet hosts	229,110 (2006)
Internet users	5.545 million (2006)
Transportation - Ukraine:
Airports	499 (2006)
Airports with paved runways	total: 193 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 55 1,524 to 2,437 m: 27 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 93 (2006)
Airports with unpaved runways	total: 306 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 274 (2006)
Heliports	10 (2006)
Pipelines	gas 19,951 km; oil 4,514 km; refined products 4,211 km (2006)
Railways	total: 22,473 km broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2006)
Roadways	total: 169,477 km paved: 164,732 km (includes 15 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,745 km (2004)
Waterways	2,253 km (most on Dnieper River) (2006)
Merchant marine	total: 202 ships (1000 GRT or over) 782,456 GRT/911,201 DWT by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 151, container 4, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 11, roll on/roll off 7, specialized tanker 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Russia 1) registered in other countries: 160 (Belize 7, Cambodia 17, Comoros 14, Cyprus 4, Dominica 2, Georgia 22, Liberia 16, Malta 24, Moldova 3, Mongolia 1, Panama 8, Russia 11, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 12, Sierra Leone 4, Slovakia 8, unknown 4) (2006)
Ports and terminals	Feodosiya, Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Yuzhnyy
Military - Ukraine:
Military branches	Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces (Viyskovo-Povitryani Syly), Air Defense Forces (2002)
Military service age and obligation	18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months for Army and Air Force, 24 months for Navy (2004)
Manpower available for military service	males age 18-49: 11,020,222 females age 18-49: 11,370,687 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service	males age 18-49: 7,376,050 females age 18-49: 9,313,385 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually	males age 18-49: 382,751 females age 18-49: 365,599 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures percent of gdp	1.4% (2005 est.)
Disputes international	1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus remains un-ratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete with preparations for demarcation underway; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and ongoing expert-level discussions; Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor transit of people and commodities through Moldovas break-away Transnistria Region, which remains under OSCE supervision; the ICJ gave Ukraine until December 2006 to reply, and Romania until June 2007 to rejoin, in their dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary; Romania opposes Ukraines reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea