nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices
Languages
Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, other 9% (includes small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities)
Spanish 67.6% (official), other 32.4% (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) (1994 census)
Exports
ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products
petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa
External Debt
$132,400,000,000 $
$1,232,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
hryvnia (UAH) per US dollar - 4.9523 (2008 est.), 5.05 (2007), 5.05 (2006), 5.1247 (2005), 5.3192 (2004)
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar 441.72 (2008 est.), 481.83 (2007), 522.4 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.600%
0.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
27
0
Location
Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east
Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon
Area
603,550 km sq
28,051 km sq
Coastline
2,782 km
296 km
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
