Ukraine

republicIndependence 1 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Ukraine as the 1993 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 79 fields, one of 34 editions from 1992 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalKiev (Kyyiv)
Area603,700 km2
LocationEastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia
1993

Every edition of Ukraine

Populationas each edition published it
51.82 million July 1993 est. · 51.94m in 1992
Population growth% a year
0.06% 1993 est. · 2.42% in 2025
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 38 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
69.87 years 1993 est. · 70.5 yrs in 2025
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.82 children per woman 1993 est. · 2 in 1992
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
21 deaths per 1,000 live births 1993 est. · 22 in 1992
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $3,960 in 1994
GDP real growth% a year
-13% 1992 est. · 2.9% in 2025

Geography

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia

14 fields

Land useshare of 603,700 km2

arable land 56%permanent crops 2%meadows and pastures 12%forest and woodland 0%other 30%irrigated 26,000 km2 (1990)
Area
603,700km2
land area: 603,700 km2comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas
Coastline
2,782km
Maritime claims: NA
Land boundaries
4,558km
total · Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (southwest) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km

Location

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia

Map references

Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

International disputes

  • potential border disputes with Moldova and Romania in northern Bukovina and southern Odes'ka Oblast';
  • potential dispute with Moldova over former southern Bessarabian areas;
  • 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

Climate

  • temperate continental;
  • subtropical 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 plateaux, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Natural resources

iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulphur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber

Environment

air and water pollution, deforestation, radiation contamination around Chornobyl' nuclear power plant

Note

strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second largest country in Europe

People

14 fields
Population
51,821,230
(July 1993 est.)growth rate: 0.06% (1993 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1993 est.)

Birth
12.38Death
12.53Net migration
0.69

Male · female(1993 est.)

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years69.87
65.32 · 74.65
TotalMale · femaleLiteracy100%
100% · 100%
MaleFemaleLiteracy age 9-49 can read and write (1970)

Ethnic divisions

Ukrainian 73%Russian 22%Jewish 1%other 4%
Labor force
25.277million
by occupation: industry and construction 41%, agriculture and forestry 19%, health, education, and culture 18%, trade and distribution 8%, transport and communication 7%, other 7% (1990)

Infant mortality rate

21 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.82 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Nationality

noun:
Ukrainian(s)
adjective:
Ukrainian

Religions

Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish

Languages

Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish

Government

Republic

21 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

61.59%
Leonid KRAVCHUK 61.59%Vyacheslav CHERNOVIL 23.27%Levko LUKYANENKO 4.49%Volodymyr HRYNYOV 4.17%Iher YUKHNOVSKY 1.74%Leopold TABURYANSKYY 0.57%other 4.17%

Names

conventional long form:
none
conventional short form:
Ukraine
local long form:
none
local short form:
Ukrayina
former:
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Type

republic

Capital

Kiev (Kyyiv)

Administrative divisions

24 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya, respublika), and 2 Ivano-Frankivs'ka, Kharkivs'ka, Khersons'ka, Khmel'nyts'ka, Kirovohrads'ka, Kyyiv (Kiev)**, Kyyivs'ka (Kiev), Luhans'ka, L'vivs'ka, Mykolayivs'ka,, Odes'ka, Poltavs'ka,

Independence

1 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Constitution

using 1978 pre-independence constitution; new consitution currently being drafted

National holiday

Independence Day, 24 August (1991)

Political parties and leaders

  • Green Party of Ukraine, Vitaliy KONONOV, leader;
  • Liberal Party of Ukraine, Ihor MERKULOV, chairman;
  • Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine, Volodymyr KLYMCHUK, chairman;
  • Democratic Party of Ukraine, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych YAVORIVSKIY, chairman;
  • People's Party of Ukraine, Leopol'd TABURYANSKYY, chairman;
  • Peasants' Party of Ukraine, Serhiy DOVGRAN', chairman;
  • Party of Democratic Rebirth of Ukraine, Volodymyr FILENKO, chairman;
  • Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, Yuriy ZBITNEV, chairman;
  • Socialist Party of Ukraine, Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman;
  • Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party, Vitaliy ZHURAVSKYY, chairman;
  • Ukrainian Conservative Republican Party, Stepan KHMARA, chairman;
  • Ukrainian Labor Party, Valentyn LANDIK, chairman;
  • Ukrainian Party of Justice, Mykhaylo HRECHKO, chairman;
  • Ukrainian Peasants' Democratic Party, Serhiy PLACHINDA, chairman;
  • Ukrainian Republican Party, Mykhaylo HORYN', chairman;
  • Ukrainian National Conservative Party, Viktor RADIONOV, chairman

Other political or pressure groups

  • Ukrainian People's Movement for Restructuring (Rukh);
  • New Ukraine (Nova Ukrayina);
  • Congress of National Democratic Forces

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Elections

President:
  • last held 1 December 1991 (next to be held NA 1996);
  • results - Leonid KRAVCHUK 61.59%, Vyacheslav CHERNOVIL 23.27%, Levko LUKYANENKO 4.49%, Volodymyr HRYNYOV 4.17%, Iher YUKHNOVSKY 1.74%, Leopold TABURYANSKYY 0.57%, other 4.17%
Supreme Council:
  • last held 4 March 1990 (next scheduled for 1995, may be held earlier in late 1993);
  • results - percent of vote by party NA;
  • seats - (450 total) number of seats by party NA

Executive branch

president, prime minister, cabinet

Legislative branch

unicameral Supreme Council

Judicial branch

being organized

Leaders

Chief of State:
President Leonid Makarovych KRAVCHUK (since 5 December 1991)
Head of Government:
  • Prime Minister Leonid Danilovych KUCHMA (since 13 October 1992);
  • Acting First Deputy Prime Minister Yukhym Leonidovych ZVYAHIL'SKYY (since 11 June 1993) and five deputy prime ministers

Member of

BSEC, CBSS (observer), CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNPROFOR, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission:
Ambassador Oleh Hryhorovych BILORUS
chancery:
3350 M Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20007
telephone:
(202) 333-0606
FAX:
(202) 333-0817

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission:
Ambassador Roman POPADIUK
embassy:
10 Vul. Yuria Kotsyubinskovo, 252053 Kiev 53
mailing address:
APO AE 09862
telephone:
[7] (044) 244-7349
FAX:
[7] (044) 244-7350

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky

Economy

After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important | economic component of the former Soviet Union producing more than three | times the output of the next-ranking republic.

19 fields
Real growth rate
-13%
(1992 est.)industrial production growth: growth rate -9% (1992)
Inflation, consumer prices
20%
-30% per month (first quarter 1993)
External debt
$12billion
(1992 est.)

Overview

After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union producing more than three 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 well-developed and diversified heavy industry supplied equipment and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former USSR. In 1992 the Ukrainian government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatizing state enterprises while retaining many central economic controls and continuing subsidies to state production enterprises.

In November 1992 the new Prime Minister KUCHMA launched a new economic reform program promising more freedom to the agricultural sector, faster privatization of small and medium enterprises, and stricter control over state subsidies. Even so, the magnitude of the problems and the slow pace in building new market-oriented institutions preclude a near-term recovery of output to the 1990 level.

Budget

revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Exports

$13.5 billion to outside of the successor states of the former USSR (1990)

commodities:
coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, grain, meat
partners:
NA

Imports

$16.7 billion from outside of the successor states of the former USSR (1990)

commodities:
machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals, textiles
partners:
NA

Electricity

55,882,000 kW capacity; 281,000 million kWh produced, 5,410 kWh per capita (1992)

Industries

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

Agriculture

grain, vegetables, meat, milk, sugar beets

Illicit drugs

  • illicit producer of cannabis and opium;
  • mostly for CIS consumption;
  • limited government eradication program;
  • used as transshipment points for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Currency

  • Ukraine withdrew the Russian ruble from circulation on 12 November 1992 and declared the karbovanets (plural karbovantsi) sole legal tender in Ukrainian markets;
  • Ukrainian officials claim this is an interim move toward introducing a new currency - the hryvnya - possibly in late 1993

Exchange rates

Ukrainian karbovantsi per $US1 - 3,000 (1 April 1993)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

8 fields

Merchant marine, 394 ships by type

cargo 234container 18barge carriers 7bulk cargo 55oil tanker 10chemical tanker 2liquefied gas 1passenger 12passenger cargo 5short-sea passenger 9roll-on/roll-off 33railcar carrier 2multi-function-large-load-carrier 1refrigerated cargo 5394 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,952,328 GRT/5,262,161 DWT

Networkskm

Highways
273,700Railroads
22,800 (1990)Inland waterways
1,672
Highways: (1990); 236,400 km hard surfaced, 37,300 km earth · Railroads: ; does not include industrial lines · Inland waterways: (Pripyat and Dnipro River)

Railroads

22,800 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Highways

273,700 km total (1990); 236,400 km hard surfaced, 37,300 km earth

Inland waterways

1,672 km perennially navigable (Pripyat and Dnipro River)

Pipelines

crude oil 2,010 km, petroleum products 1,920 km, natural gas 7,800 km (1992)

Ports

coastal - Berdyans'k, Illichivs'k Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol' (formerly Zhdanov), Mykolayiv, Odesa, Sevastopol', Pirdenne; inland - Kiev (Kyyiv)

Airports

total:
694
useable:
100
with permanent-surface runways:
111
with runways over 3,659 m:
3
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
81
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
78

Telecommunications

  • international electronic mail system established in Kiev;
  • Ukraine has about 7 million telephone lines (135 telephones for each 1000 persons);
  • as of mid-1992, 650 telephone lines per 1000 persons in Kiev with 15-20 digital switches as of mid-1991;
  • NMT-450 analog cellular network under construction in Kiev;
  • 3.56 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied as of January 1990;
  • international calls can be made via satellite, by landline to other CIS countries, and through the Moscow international switching center on 150 international lines;
  • satellite earth stations employ INTELSAT, INMARSAT, and Intersputnik;
  • fiber optic cable installation (intercity) remains incomplete;
  • new international digital telephone exchange operational in Kiev for direct communication with 167 countries

Defense Forces

Army, Navy, Airspace Defense Forces, Republic Security Forces (internal and | border troops), National Guard

3 fields
Defense expenditures
544,256million karbovantsi
NA% of GDP (forecast for 1993); note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Branches

Army, Navy, Airspace Defense Forces, Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard

Manpower availability

  • males age 15-49 12,070,775;
  • fit for military service 9,521,697;
  • reach military age (18) annually 365,534 (1993 est.)

Central Intelligence Agency. “Ukraine.” The World Factbook 1993. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/ukraine/1993.

How to cite ← 1992 edition 1994 edition →