Destination Ukraine, a Nations Online Project profile of the country in Eastern Europe.

The largest country entirely within Europe has a coastline at the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the southeast. Ukraine borders Russia in the northeast and east, Belarus in the northwest, Poland, and Slovakia in the west, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova to the southwest.

The country covers an area of 600,000 km²; it is about twice the size of Italy or slightly smaller than the US state of Texas.

Ukraine's landscape consists mainly of plains and plateaus, only the Carpathian mountains in the west reach 2,061 m (6,760 ft.) at Mount Hoverla (Hora Hoverla), the highest peak in the country.

The country has a population of 41.9 million people (in 2019), the capital and largest city is Kyiv. Spoken languages are Ukrainian; Russian is widely spoken, especially in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

Background:
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe and the second-largest country in Europe after Russia. The Crimean Autonomous Republic - encompassing the Crimean Peninsula, or Crimea, in the south was part of Ukraine but is now occupied by Russia.

The country is rich in natural resources, Ukraine has been fought over and subjugated for centuries. Its 20th-century struggle for liberty is not yet complete. Short-lived independence from Russia (1917-1920) was followed by brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and Holodomor 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 million more deaths.

Although independence was achieved with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, true freedom remains difficult to grasp as many of the former Soviet elites remain deeply rooted and block efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil rights.

Country Profile

Official Name: Ukrayina
int'l form: Ukraine
formerly: Carpathian Ukraine, Ukrainian Socialists Soviet Republic.

ISO Country Code: UA, UKR

Time:
Local Time = UTC +2h
Actual Time: Mon-Dec-23 11:38
Daylight Saving Time (DST) March - October (UTC +3)

Country Calling Code: +380

Capital City: Kiev (Kyiv)

Other Cities:
Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa

Government:
Type: Presidential-parliamentary.
Independence: August 24, 1991.
Constitution: First post-Soviet constitution adopted June 28, 1996.

Geography:
Location: Eastern Europe north of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, bordered by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Russia, and Belarus.
Area: 603,000 km² (233,100 sq mi)
Terrain: mostly flat; 95% of lands are plains and 5% are mountainous.

Climate: two climatic zones: moderate and subtropical at the southern shore of Crimea.

People:
Nationality: Ukrainian(s)
Population: 42 million (2020)
Ethnic Groups: Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Moldovans, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Jews, Poles, Crimean Tatars, and other groups.
Religions: Ukrainian Orthodoxy, Ukrainian Greek Catholicism, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Islam
Languages: Ukrainian (official), Russian, others
Literacy: 98%

Agriculture products: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables, beef, and milk.

Natural resources: oil, natural gas, manganese, coal, iron ore, mercury, nickel, kaolin, magnesium, titanium, graphite, sulfur, and salt.

Industries: coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, and food processing.

Exports - commodities: ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, and transport equipment, foodstuffs.

Exports - partners: Russia 9.2%, Poland 6.5%, Turkey 5.6%, India 5.5%, Italy 5.2%, China 4.6%, Germany 4.3% (2017)

Imports - commodities: energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals.

Imports - partners: Russia 14.5%, China 11.3%, Germany 11.2%, Poland 7%, Belarus 6.7%, US 5.1% (2017)

Currency: Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH)