Ukraine

republicIndependence 1 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Ukraine as the 1997 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 100 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)
Position49 00 N, 32 00 E
Area603,700 sq km
LocationEastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and
1997

Every edition of Ukraine

Populationas each edition published it
50.45 million July 1997 est. · 51.94m in 1992
Population growth% a year
-0.65% 1997 est. · 0.06% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 38 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
65.77 years 1997 est. · 69.87 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.36 children per woman 1997 est. · 2 in 1992
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
21.9 deaths per 1,000 live births 1997 est. · 22 in 1992
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$3,170 1996 est. · $3,960 in 1994
GDP real growth% a year
-10% 1996 est. · -13% in 1993

Geography

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

18 fields

Land useshare of 603,700 sq km

arable land 58%permanent crops 2%permanent pastures 13%forests and woodland 18%other 9% (1993 est.)irrigated 26,050 sq km (1993 est.)
Area
603,700sq km
land: 603,700 sq kmwater: 0 sq kmslightly smaller than Texas
Coastline
2,782km
continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitationexclusive economic zone: 200 nmterritorial sea : 12 nm
Highest point
2,061m
Hora Hoverlalowest point: Black Sea 0 m
Land boundaries
4,558km
border countries: 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

Geographic coordinates

49 00 N, 32 00 E

Map references

Commonwealth of Independent States

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

Natural resources

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

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, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified:
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Geography - note

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

People

15 fields
Population
50,447,719
(July 1997 est.)growth rate: -0.65% (1997 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1997 est.)

Birth
9.55Death
16.26Net migration
0.23

Male · female

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years (1997 est.)65.77
59.93 · 71.91
TotalMale · femaleLiteracy (1989 est.)98%
100% · 97%
MaleFemaleLiteracy definition : age 15 and over can read and write

Ethnic groups

Ukrainian 73%Russian 22%Jewish 1%other 4%

Age structure

0-14 years:
19% (male 5,000,518; female 4,802,193)
15-64 years:
67% (male 16,087,147; female 17,429,313)
65 years and over:
14% (male 2,308,354; female 4,820,194) (July 1997 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 (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate

21.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.36 children born/woman (1997 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, Hungarian

Government

Republic; Prime Minister Pavlo LAZARENKO (since NA May 1996), First Deputy Prime Minister Vasyl DURDYNETS (since NA July 1996), and three deputy prime ministers

21 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

52.15%
Leonid KUCHMA 52.15%Leonid KRAVCHUK 45.06%election last held 26 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 1999)

Legislature, 405 seats, elected 27 March 1994 with repeat elections continuing through December 1998 to fill empty seatsseats by party

Communists 91Rukh 22Agrarians 18Socialists 15Republicans 11Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists 5Labor 5Party of Democratic Revival 4Democrats 2Social Democrats 2Civil Congress 2Conservative Republicans 1Party of Economic Revival of Crimea 1Christian Democrats 1independents 225

Country name

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

National 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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

chief of state :
President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994)
head of government:
Prime Minister Pavlo LAZARENKO (since NA May 1996), First Deputy Prime Minister Vasyl DURDYNETS (since NA July 1996), and three deputy prime ministers
cabinet:
Council 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 President KUCHMA;

the NSDC includes the president, prime minister, ministers of defense, internal affairs, foreign relations, and chairman of the security service; the NSC 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 created by President KUCHMA in September 1994 that includes the Kiev and Sevastopol City Supreme Councils and the chairmen of Oblast

elections:
  • president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
  • election last held 26 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 1999);
  • prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council
election results:
Leonid D. KUCHMA elected president; percent of vote - Leonid KUCHMA 52.15%, Leonid KRAVCHUK 45.06%

Legislative branch

unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; members are elected by popular vote from one-member districts by complex procedures to serve four-year terms)

elections:
last held 27 March 1994 with repeat elections continuing through December 1998 to fill empty seats (next to be held NA March 1998)
election results:
  • percent of vote by party - NA;
  • seats by party - Communists 91, Rukh 22, Agrarians 18, Socialists 15, Republicans 11, Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists 5, Labor 5, Party of Democratic Revival 4, Democrats 2, Social Democrats 2, Civil Congress 2, Conservative Republicans 1, Party of Economic Revival of Crimea 1, Christian Democrats 1, independents 225;
  • note - most recent repeat election held in April 1996 filling 422 of 450 seats as follows: independents 238, Communist 95, Rukh 22, Agrarians 18, Socialist 15, Republicans 11, Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists 5, Labor 5, Party of Democratic Revival 4, Democratic Party of Ukraine 2, Social Democrats 2, Civil Congress 2, Conservative Republicans 1, Party of Economic Revival of Crimea 1, Christian Democrats 1, vacant 28 (in February 1997 there were 35 vacant seats)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders

  • Green Party of Ukraine [Vitaliy KONONOV, leader];
  • Liberal Party of Ukraine;
  • Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine [Volodymyr KLYMCHUK, chairman];
  • Democratic Party of Ukraine [Volodymyr Oleksandrovych YAVORIVSKIY, chairman];
  • People's Party of Ukraine;
  • Peasants' Party of Ukraine;
  • Party of Democratic Rebirth or Revival of Ukraine [Volodymyr FILENKO, chairman];
  • Social Democratic Party of Ukraine [Vasyl ONOPENKO, 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 LANDYK, chairman];
  • Ukrainian Party of Justice [Yuriy ZUBKO, chairman];
  • Ukrainian Peasants' Democratic Party [Serhiy PLACHINDA, chairman];
  • Ukrainian Republican Party [Bondan YAROSHPSKYY, chairman];
  • Ukrainian National Conservative Party;
  • Ukrainian People's Movement for Restructuring or Rukh [Vyacheslav CHORNOVIL, chairman];
  • Ukrainian Communist Party [Petr SYMONENKO];
  • Agrarian Party;
  • Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists [Slava STESTKO];
  • Civil Congress [O. BAZYLUK];
  • Party of Economic Revival of Crimea;
  • Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine [Nataliya VITRENKO and Volodymyr MARCHENKO, leaders];
  • People's Democratic Party [Anatoliy MATVIYENKO, chairman]

Political pressure groups and leaders

New Ukraine (Nova Ukrayina); Congress of National Democratic Forces

International organization participation

BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNPREDEP, UNTAES, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission :
Ambassador Yuriy Mikolayevych SHCHERBAK
chancery:
3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone:
[1] (202) 333-0606

FAX

[1] (202) 333-0817; consulate(s) general : Chicago and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission:
Ambassador William Green MILLER
embassy:
10 Yuria Kotsyubinskovo, 254053 Kiev 53
mailing address:
use embassy street address
telephone:
[380] (44) 244-7345

FAX

[380] (44) 244-7350

Flag description

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

Economy

22 fields
Real growth rate
-10%
(1996 est.)industrial production growth: -5.1% (1996 est.)
Unemployment rate
1%officially registered
large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December 1996)
Labor force
23million
(January 1996)by occupation: industry and construction 33%, agriculture and forestry 21%, health, education, and culture 16%, trade and distribution 7%, transport and communication 7%, other 16% (1992)

GDP - composition by sector(1995 est.)

agriculture 14%industry 45%services 41% (1995 est.)

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 equipment and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former USSR. Shortly after the implosion of the USSR 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 in 1992-96 fell precipitously to less than half the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Since his election in July 1994, President KUCHMA has pushed a comprehensive economic reform program, maintained financial discipline, and tried to remove almost all remaining controls over prices and foreign trade.

Implementation of KUCHMA's economic agenda is encountering considerable resistance from parliament, entrenched bureaucrats, and industrial interests. However, if KUCHMA succeeds in implementing aggressive market reforms during 1997, the economy should reverse its downward trend, with real growth occurring by late 1997 and into 1998.

GDP

purchasing power parity - $161.1 billion (1996 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $3,170 (1996 est.)

Budget

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

Industries

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

Electricity - capacity

54.24 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production

181 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture - products

grain, sugar beets, vegetables; meat, milk

Exports

total value :
$18.6 billion (1996 est.)
commodities:
coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, grain, meat
partners:
Russia, Belarus, US, Germany, China (1995)

Imports

total value :
$19.4 billion (1996 est.)
commodities:
energy, machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals, textiles
partners:
Russia, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Germany, Switzerland

Debt - external

$8.8 billion (including $4.5 billion to Russia) (late 1995 est.)

Economic aid

recipient: ODA, $220 million (1993) note : commitments, 1992-95, $4.5 billion ($4.1 billion drawn)

Currency

on 2 September 1996, Ukraine introduced the long-awaited hryvnia (plural hryvni) as its national currency, replacing the karbovanets (in circulation since 12 November 1992) at a rate of 100,000 karbovantsi to 1 hryvnia

Exchange rates

hryvnia per US$1 - 1.8592 (November 1996), 1.4731 (1995), 0.3275 (1994), 0.0453 (1993)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

6 fields

Telephone system

  • system is unsatisfactory both for business and for personal use;
  • 3.56 million applications for telephones had not been satisfied as of January 1991;
  • electronic mail services have been established in Kiev, Odessa, and Luhans'k by Sprint
domestic:
an NMT-450 analog cellular telephone network operates in Kiev (Kyyiv) and allows direct dialing of international calls through Kiev's digital exchange
international:
  • calls to other CIS countries are carried by landline or microwave radio relay;
  • calls to 167 other countries are carried by satellite or by the 150 leased lines through the Moscow international gateway switch;
  • satellite earth stations - NA Intelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean Regions), and NA Intersputnik

Radio broadcast stations

2 radio broadcast stations of NA type

Radios

15 million (1990)

Televisions

17.3 million (1992)

Transportation

9 fields

Airports by runway lengthpaved only

under 914 m
57
over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 55 1,524 to 2,437 m : 34 914 to 1,523 m: 3

Airports by runway lengthunpaved only

under 914 m
476
over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m : 16 914 to 1,523 m: 37

Networkskm

Highways
172,257Waterways
4,400 (1990)
Highways: paved: 163,300 km (including 1,875 km of expressways); note - these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, meaning that some are paved and some are all-weather gravel surfaced · unpaved: 8,957 km (1995 est.) · Waterways: , of which 1,672 km were on the Pryp''yat' and Dnistr

Railways

total :
23,350 km
broad gauge:
23,350 km 1.524-m gauge (8,600 km electrified)

Highways

total:
172,257 km
paved:
  • 163,300 km (including 1,875 km of expressways);
  • note - these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, meaning that some are paved and some are all-weather gravel surfaced
unpaved:
8,957 km (1995 est.)

Waterways

4,400 km navigable waterways, of which 1,672 km were on the Pryp''yat' and Dnistr (1990)

Pipelines

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

Ports and harbors

Berdyans'k, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni

Merchant marine

total :
301 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,507,463 GRT/3,156,522 DWT
ships by type:
barge carrier 5, bulk 21, cargo 192, chemical tanker 2, combination bulk 1, container 10, multifunction large-load carrier 3, oil tanker 23, passenger 7, passenger-cargo 4, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 20, short-sea passenger 6

note : Ukraine owns an additional 61 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,283,735 DWT operating under the registries of The Bahamas, Cyprus, Liberia, Malta, Panama, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1996 est.)

Airports

706 (1994 est.)

Military

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Internal | Troops, National Guard, Border Troops

7 fields

Military branches

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Internal Troops, National Guard, Border Troops

Military manpower - availability

males age 15-49: 12,408,912 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure

  • 1.35 billion hryvni (Ukrainian Government's forecast for 1996);
  • note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

less than 2% (Ukrainian Government's forecast for 1996)

Transnational Issues

2 fields

Disputes - international

  • dispute with Romania over continental shelf of the Black Sea under which significant gas and oil deposits may exist;
  • agreed to two-year negotiating period, after which either party can refer dispute to the International Court of Justice;
  • potential dispute with Russia over Crimea;
  • 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

Illicit drugs

  • limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption;
  • limited government eradication program;
  • used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs to Western Europe and Russia UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Central Intelligence Agency. “Ukraine.” The World Factbook 1997. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/ukraine/1997.

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