Ukraine

A state in Central-Eastern Europe. Area - 603.7 thousand km². Capital - Kyiv (2,630 thousand, as of January 1, 1996), largest cities: Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Lviv. In terms of administrative-territorial division, it consists of 24 regions. Population - 47.28 million (2005); Ukrainians - 73%, others - Russians (17.3%), Jews, Belarusians, Moldovans, Poles, and others. The official language is Ukrainian. The Declaration of the Rights of Nationalities of Ukraine (from November 1, 1991) guarantees all peoples and national groups the right to freely use their native languages in all spheres of public life (education, production, obtaining and disseminating information). The Constitution guarantees the free development, use, and protection of the Russian language and other languages of national minorities in Ukraine. Religion - Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and other confessions. Currency - Hryvnia.
Part of the CIS. In 1997, a Russian-Ukrainian Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership was signed.
National holiday - August 24 - Independence Day (1991).
Ukraine is a republic. The Constitution of 1996 is in effect. According to the Constitution, the head of state is the president, who is elected based on universal equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of 5 years. The highest legislative authority is the unicameral parliament - the Verkhovna Rada (450 people's deputies, elected based on universal equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of 4 years). The highest executive authority is the Cabinet.
More than 125 parties and movements are registered. Major political parties: Our Ukraine, Ukrainian People's Party, Communist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, Party of Regions, and others.
In the IX-XII centuries, most of present-day Ukraine was part of Kievan Rus. In the 15th century, the Ukrainian nationality mainly formed. Ukrainians fought against Polish-Lithuanian invasion and Turkish aggression. The liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people from 1648 to 1654 ended with reunification with Russia (the Pereyaslav Council). Left-bank Ukraine received autonomy within Russia. In the second half of the 18th century, southern Ukrainian lands were freed from Turkish rule. Right-bank Ukraine reunited with Russia in the 18th century. Soviet power was established in November 1917 - January 1918. The Ukrainian SSR was formed on December 12, 1917. From 1917 to 1920, the territory of Ukraine saw the existence of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and the Ukrainian State, with which the Ukrainian SSR was in a state of civil war. As a result of the Soviet-Polish War of 1920, Western Ukraine was ceded to Poland. Since December 30, 1922, the Ukrainian SSR has been part of the USSR. In November 1939, Western Ukraine was reunited with the Ukrainian SSR. In August 1940, Northern Bukovina and part of Bessarabia joined the Ukrainian SSR. From 1941 to 1944, Ukraine was subjected to Nazi occupation, and a partisan movement unfolded on its territory.
In June 1945, Transcarpathian Ukraine joined the Ukrainian SSR. In 1954, the Crimean region was transferred from the RSFSR to Ukraine. The Declaration of State Sovereignty was adopted on July 16, 1990. The Act of Independence of Ukraine was proclaimed on August 24, 1991.
Ukraine is a member of the UN (since 1945), Council of Europe (since 1995). On July 9, 1997, in Madrid, former President of Ukraine L. Kuchma and top leaders of 16 NATO member countries signed the Charter on Special Relations between Ukraine and NATO, which provides for the establishment of a mechanism for consultations, dialogue, and cooperation on European security issues.
Ukraine is an industrial-agrarian state. It has a complex of heavy, food, and light industries, a diversified agricultural sector, a construction industry, and a transport network. Economic reforms have begun, transitioning to market forms of management.
The structure of national income: industry accounts for 50.5%, agriculture.
The volume of industrial production increased by 12.5% in 2004 compared to 2003. GDP growth in 2004 was 12%, GDP per capita - $950.
Agriculture specializes mainly in the production of grain, industrial crops, and livestock products. Agriculture accounts for over 45% of gross agricultural output. The main agricultural crops are grains (about 50% of sown area): winter wheat (grown in the steppe and forest-steppe zones), corn for grain (in the steppe zone), rice (in irrigated lands of the south), as well as barley, millet, buckwheat, legumes, and others. Sugar beets (grown mainly in the forest-steppe zone), sunflowers (grown mainly in the steppe zone), flax (main production areas - in Polissia and the west of the republic), potatoes (grown everywhere except arid southern areas), hops (grown in the northwest), hemp (in eastern Polissia and the Middle Dnieper region), tobacco (in Transcarpathia, Dnipropetrovsk), and fodder crops. Vegetable growing (especially around large cities and industrial areas), fruit growing (widespread), melon growing (mainly in the south), and viticulture (main areas - Transcarpathia, Black Sea region) are also important.
The most important branch of animal husbandry is cattle breeding, developed almost everywhere; pig farming - in the forest-steppe and steppe, sheep farming - mainly in the steppe zone, in the Carpathians and Polissia.
The volume of agricultural production in 2004 increased by 19.1% (compared to 2003).
The most widespread national newspapers are "Mirror of the Week" and "Labor-Ukraine" (150-180 thousand copies each), "Kyiv Vedomosti" (up to 150 thousand), "Ukrainian Truth", "Izvestia-Ukraine", "Day", "Facts and Comments" (100-120 thousand each). Leading news agencies: fakty.ictv.ua, Ukrinform, Interfax-Ukraine, Irma-Press, Unian. There are 15 television centers and more than 250 relay stations operating.
In the transport system, railways play a major role (length - over 20 thousand km); the length of highways is over 100 thousand km. Maritime and air ports connect Ukraine with more than 80 countries worldwide. The total length of navigable waterways is 4.5 thousand km.
Ukraine's national debt is $16.1 billion, having increased by 2.8% compared to 2003.
In Ukraine, more than 100 thousand commercial structures are registered, and about 2 thousand joint ventures with foreign partners are operating.
The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Ukrainian economy is over $8.3 billion (as of January 1, 2005). In 2004, foreign investors invested over $1.93 billion in the country's economy. The net increase in FDI in 2004 amounted to a total of $1,559.5 million; per capita - $177. The volume of FDI increased by 23% compared to 2003.
In the republic, there are over 150 higher educational institutions, including 9 universities.