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| Introduction | Ukraine |
| Background: | Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic state, Kievan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kievan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kievan 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 (1917-1920), 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 independence was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive, as the legacy of state control has been difficult to throw off. Where state control has dissipated, endemic corruption has filled much of the resulting vacuum, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. |
| People | Ukraine |
| Population: | 47,732,079 (July 2004 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 15.9% (male 3,883,485; female 3,715,668) 15-64 years: 68.7% (male 15,692,388; female 17,096,611) 65 years and over: 15.4% (male 2,472,023; female 4,871,904) (2004 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 38.1 years male: 34.8 years female: 41.1 years (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | -0.66% (2004 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 10.21 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Death rate: | 16.41 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.51 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 20.61 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 21.87 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 66.68 years male: 61.35 years female: 72.27 years (2004 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.37 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 2% (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 250,000 (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 11,000 (2001 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) |
| Religions: | Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 26.5%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate 20%, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate) 13%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish |
| Languages: | Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write female: 99.6% (2003 est.) male: 99.8% total population: 99.7% |
| People - note: | the sex trafficking of Ukrainian women is a serious problem that has only recently been addressed |
| Government | Ukraine |
| Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Ukraine local long form: none former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic local short form: Ukrayina |
| Government type: | republic |
| 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 - when using a place name with an adjectival ending "s'ka" or "z'ka," the word Oblast' should be added to the place name note: oblasts have the administrative center name following in parentheses |
| Independence: | 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day, 24 August (1991); the date of 22 January (1918), the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia), is now celebrated as Unity Day |
| Constitution: | adopted 28 June 1996 |
| Legal system: | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Viktor YANUKOVYCH (since 21 November 2002); First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola AZAROV (since 26 November 2002); note - on 1 December 2004 parliament passed a no-confidence vote on Prime Minister Viktor YANUKOVYCH's government; on 7 December 2004 YANUKOVYCH was granted leave, ostensibly to pursue campaigning for the new 26 December 2004 election for president; First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola AZAROV was appointed temporary successor cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 31 October and 14 November 1999 (next to be held 31 October 2004); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council; note - the 21 November 2004 run-off election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor YANUKOVYCH was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court on 3 December 2004; it ruled that a new election must take place on 26 December 2004 election results: Leonid D. KUCHMA elected president; percent of vote - Leonid KUCHMA 57.7%, Petro SYMONENKO 38.8% 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 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 chairmen of the Kiev (Kyyiv) and Sevastopol' municipalities and chairmen of the oblasti |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's election law, 225 of the Supreme Council's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4% or more of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all serve four-year terms) election results: percent of vote by party - Our Ukraine 24%, CPU 20%, United Ukraine 12%, SPU 7%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7%, United Social Democratic Party 6%, other 24%; seats by party - Our Ukraine 102, Regions of Ukraine 67, CPU 59, Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 42, United Social Democratic Party 36, People's Power 22, SPU 20, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 19, Democratic Initiatives 18, Agrarian Party 16, People's Democratic Party 14, People's Choice 14, others 21 (January 2004) note: following the election, United Ukraine splintered into the Agrarian Party, European Choice, People's Choice, People's Democratic Party, Regions of Ukraine, and Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; European Choice joined Regions of Ukraine in the fall of 2003 elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court |
| Political parties and leaders: | Agrarian Party [Kateryna VASHCHUK]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Democratic Initiatives [Stepan HAVRYSH]; Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Our Ukraine bloc (comprised of several parties the most prominent of which are Rukh, the Ukrainian People's Party, Reforms and Order, and Solidarity) [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; People's Choice [Mykola HAPOCHKA]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO]; People's Power [Bohdan HUBSKYY]; Regions of Ukraine [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; United Social Democratic Party [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]; Working Ukraine [Serhiy TYHYPKO]; Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO] note: and numerous smaller parties; Democratic Initiatives, People's Choice, and People's Power are not actual political parties, but rather deputy groups (factions not based on a party) |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA |
| International organization participation: | BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, GUUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Mykhailo B. REZNIK FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York telephone: [1] (202) 349-2920 chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador John E. HERBST embassy: 10 Yuriia Kotsiubynskoho Street, 04053 Kiev 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 grainfields under a blue sky |
| Communications | Ukraine |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 10,833,300 (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 4.2 million (2002) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: Ukraine's 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 now 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; two new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three 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: | AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998) |
| Radios: | 45.05 million (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997) |
| Televisions: | 18.05 million (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .ua |
| Internet hosts: | 94,345 (2004) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 260 (2001) |
| Internet users: | 900,000 (2002) |
| Transportation | Ukraine |
| Railways: | total: 22,473 km broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2003) |
| Highways: | total: 169,491 km paved: 163,898 km unpaved: 5,593 km (2000) |
| Waterways: | 1,672 km (most on Dnieper River) (2004) |
| Pipelines: | gas 20,069 km; oil 4,540 km; refined products 4,169 km (2004) |
| Ports and harbors: | Berdyans'k, Feodosiya, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Kiliya, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol', Yalta, Yuzhnyy |
| Merchant marine: | total: 140 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 675,904 GRT/709,802 DWT by type: bulk 7, cargo 92, container 7, liquefied gas 2, passenger 11, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 10, rail car carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 3, short-sea/passenger 1 foreign-owned: Belize 2, Canada 1, Cyprus 1, Hungary 2, Italy 1, Russia 4, Turkey 3 registered in other countries: 87 (2003 est.) |
| Airports: | 702 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 174 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 57 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 70 (2003 est.) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 30 |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 528 under 914 m: 469 (2003 est.) over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 35 1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 |
| Heliports: | 8 (2003 est.) |
| Military | Ukraine |
| Military branches: | Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVS) Troops, Border Troops |
| Military manpower - military age and obligation: | 18-27 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months for Army and Air Force, 24 months for Navy (2004) |
| Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 12,196,319 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 9,565,088 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 386,945 (2004 est.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $617.9 million (FY02) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.4% (FY02) |
| Transnational Issues | Ukraine |
| Disputes - international: | 1997 boundary treaty with Belarus remains unratified due to unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete but boundary through the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions; Ukraine protests Russia's construction of a causeway in the direction of Ukrainian-administered Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait; difficulties with Moldova's Transnistria region complicate controlling border crossing and customs regimes despite concordance on the 2003 delimitation and customs protocols and OSCE assistance; has not resolved Romanian claims to Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary despite ongoing talks based on 1997 friendship treaty to find a solution in two years |
| Illicit drugs: | limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia; drug-related money laundering a minor, but growing, problem; anti-money-laundering regime improving but remains on Financial Action Task Force Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories List for continued failure to address deficiencies in money-laundering control regime |
| This page was last updated on 16 December, 2004 |
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