4,558 km
border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km,
Poland 428 km, Romania (southwest) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km,
Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km

Coastline: 2,782 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea : 12 nm

Climate: 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

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 58%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures : 13%
forests and woodland: 18%
other: 9% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 26,050 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water;
air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the
northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Environmental
Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Geography - note: strategic position at the crossroads between Europe
and Asia; second-largest country in Europe

@Ukraine:People

Population: 50,447,719 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 5,000,518; female 4,802,193)
15-64 years: 67% (male 16,087,147; female 17,429,313)
65 years and over: 14% (male 2,308,354; female 4,820,194) (July 1997
est.)

Population growth rate: -0.65% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 9.55 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 16.26 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex rat