Ukraine: Background & Geography
| Introduction | Ukraine |
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Background:
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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. |
| Geography | Ukraine |
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Location:
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Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east |
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Geographic coordinates:
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49 00 N, 32 00 E |
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Map references:
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Asia, Europe |
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Area:
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total: 603,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km land: 603,700 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Texas |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 4,663 km
border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 526 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 97 km |
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Coastline:
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2,782 km |
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Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
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territorial sea: 12 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation |
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Climate:
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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 |
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Terrain:
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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 |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m |
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Natural resources:
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iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land |
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Land use:
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arable land: 57.1%
permanent crops: 1.73% other: 41.17% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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24,540 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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NA |
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Environment - current issues:
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inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds |
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Geography - note:
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strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe |