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Location: Home > Battlefield > Lessons Learned > Ukraine - General Information
UKRAINE - GENERAL INFORMATION
Original name: Ukraine
National flag:
Briefly:
| Official language |
Ukrainian |
| Capital |
Kiev |
| President |
Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO |
Area
-Total
-% water |
603,700 sq km
- |
Population
-Total (2003)
|
48,055,439 |
| GDP |
 $48.4 billion |
Independence
-Declared
-Recognised |
From Soviet Union
August 24, 1999
1999 |
| Currency |
Hryvnia |
| Time zone |
GMT +2 |
Geography
 Ukraine , formerly The Ukraine (when as a part of USSR), is a country in eastern Europe which borders the Black Sea to the south, the Russian Federation to the east, Belarus to the north and Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the west. It has 4,558km of border with these neighbors and a 2,782km coastline. Besides the Carpathian Mountain range in the west, most of Ukraine is made up of fertile plains.
Land boundaries:
total: 4,558 km
border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km.
Coastline: 2,782 km.
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.
Demographics
Ukraine has roughly 46,490,400 people. Ethnic Ukrainians make up about 75% of the total population, ethnic Russians number about 20%. The industrial regions in the east and southeast are the most heavily populated, and about 70% of the population is urban. Other minorities include small groups of Belarusians, Moldovans, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Romanians, Poles.
The dominant religions are the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, an Eastern Orthodox church, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church . The largest part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church belongs to the Moscow Patriarchy; however, following Ukrainian independence a separate Kiev Patriarchy also was established, which declared independence from Moscow. In addition to these, there also is a Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, as well as smaller Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Moslem communities.
 Population: 48,055,439 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.3% (male 4,004,948; female 3,832,931)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 15,779,735; female 17,225,103)
65 years and over: 15% (male 2,419,612; female 4,793,110)
(2003 est.)
Population growth rate: -0.69% (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 250,000 (2001 est.)
Ethnic groups: Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Romanian 0.8% (divided in Moldovan 0.5% and Romanian 0.3%), Belarussian 0.6%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, other 2,0% (2001)
Religions: Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish.
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian.
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.7%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.6% (2003 est.)
Economy
GDP
The GDP in 2000 showed growth of 6% - the first growth since independence - and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001 as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. In 2005, economic growth slowed as world energy prices went up and metal prices went down. However, 2006 brought with it returned economic gains as the economy again experienced above 5% growth. In that same year, Ukraine was ranked 99 out of 157 in Economic Freedom. At the start of 2007 the average individual salary in Ukraine was measured at about 200 euros per month.
The IMF approved a $2.2 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with Ukraine in September 1998. In July 1999, the 3-year program was increased to $2.6 billion. Ukraine's failure to meet monetary targets and/or structural reform commitments caused the EFF to either be suspended or disbursements delayed on several occasions. The last EFF disbursement was made in September 2001. Ukraine met most monetary targets for the EFF disbursement due in early 2002; however, the tranche was not disbursed.
In 1992, Ukraine became a member of the IMF and the World Bank. It is a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development but not a member of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (WTO).
GDP: $48.4 billion (2004)
GDP growth rate: 9.1%
GDP per capita: $986
Poverty
Population below poverty line :
50% (1999 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December 1999)
Budget:
revenues: $8.3 billion
expenditures: $8.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)
History
Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Ukraine was briefly independent, but not united, until 1920. By 1922 it was split between Poland and Soviet Union. At the onset of the World War II, in 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland and incorporated the Westen Ukraine into the Ukrainian SSR. After the WWII, the borders of then Soviet Ukraine were extended to the West, uniting most Ukrainians under one political state. Renewed independence was achieved in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Ukraine is a parliamentary democracy with separate executive, judicial, and legislative branches. The president, elected by popular vote for a five-year term, nominates the prime minister as well as the rest of the cabinet, who must be confirmed by the parliament.
After the introduction and passing of substantial constitutional reforms in 2006, Ukraine underwent a period of political turmoil. The reforms, which altered the government from a presidential republic to a mixed parliamentary-presidential republic spurred heated political tensions. The reforms created a power struggle between the President Viktor Yushchenko, and Ukraine’s Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who come from vastly different sides of the political spectrum. The President, Viktor Yushchenko, constantly accused the coalition of trying to take away his power, while the coalition accused the President of being unwilling to accept the constitutional reforms.
Finally, in March of 2007, Yushchenko dissolved parliament and called for an early election to be held on May 27, 2007. Thousands of Protestors, both in favor of Yushchenko’s decision and against, flooded the streets in front of parliament. The Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych was adamantly against the President’s move. After long debate, both Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed to reschedule the parliamentary elections for September 30, 2007.
Currently the status of the parliament is unclear. While the parliament has formally been dissolved as more than a third of its members have resigned, Ukraine’s constitution states that any parliament is valid until a new parliament is selected.
Leonid Kuchma
 Leonid Kuchma (born August 8, 1938) has been the president of Ukraine since 1994.
He studied at Dnipropetrovsk State University and got a degree in rocket engineering. He was a leading engineer at Baikonur, and moved into senior management posts. From 1990 to 1992 he was a member of the Ukrainian Committee on Defence and State Security, and became Prime Minister of Ukraine in 1992.
He resigned his position in September 1993, to run for the presidency in 1994, on a platform to boost the economy and strengthen ties with Russia. He was re-elected in 1999. Opponents have accused him of involvement of the killing in 2000 of journalist Georgiy Gongadze, which he has always denied. His Prime Minister has since 2002 been Viktor Yanukovich. Under the current constitution he will step down as president in October 2004.
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