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• Ukraine.

Geography

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area about 603 thousand km², making it the largest contiguous country on the European continent. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. 

History

Established by the Varangians in the 9th century, the medieval state of Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state, emerged as a powerful nation in the middle ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. After World War I it emerged on December 30, 1922 as one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. In 1945, the Ukraine became one of the founding members of the United Nations.

Ukraine became independent again after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Politics

A new Constitution of Ukraine was adopted under second President Leonid Kuchma in 1996, which turned Ukraine into a semi-presidential republic with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches and established a stable political system.

The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is the formal head of state. Ukraine's legislative branch includes the 450-seat unicameral parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The parliament is primarily responsible for the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers, which is headed by the Prime Minister. However, the President still retains the authority to nominate the Ministers of the Foreign Affairs and of Defence for parliamentary approval, as well as the power to appoint the Prosecutor General and the head of the Security Service.

Laws, acts of the parliament and the cabinet, presidential decrees, and acts of the Crimean parliament may be abrogated by the Constitutional Court, should they be found to violate the Constitution of Ukraine. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. Local self-government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets.  

President Leonid Kuchma was criticized by opponents for corruption, electoral fraud, discouraging free speech and concentrating too much of power in his office. 

In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych, then Prime Minister, was declared the winner of the presidential elections, which had been largely rigged, as the Supreme Court of Ukraine later ruled. The results caused a public outcry in support of the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, who challenged the outcome of the elections. This resulted in the peaceful Orange Revolution, bringing Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko to power, while casting Viktor Yanukovych in opposition.   Yanukovych returned to a position of power in 2006, when he became Prime Minister in the Alliance of National Unity, until snap elections in September 2007 made Tymoshenko Prime Minister again. However Viktor Yanukovych was elected President in 2010.

Ukraine has a large number of political parties, many of which have tiny memberships and are unknown to the general public. Small parties often join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocs) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections.

Ukraine is a unitary state composed of 24 provinces, one autonomous republic (the Crimea peninsula), and two cities with special status: Kiev, its capital and largest city, and Sevastopol, which houses the Russian Black Sea Fleet under a leasing agreement.

Foreign relations

Ukraine currently considers Euro-Atlantic integration its primary foreign policy objective, but in practice balances its relationship with European Union and the United States with strong ties to Russia. On January 31, 1992, Ukraine joined the then-Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe--OSCE), and on March 10, 1992, it became a member of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. Ukraine also has a close relationship with NATO and had previously declared interest in eventual membership, this however was removed from the government's foreign policy agenda, upon election of Viktor Yanukovych to the presidency, in 2010. It is the most active member of the Partnership for Peace. All major political parties in Ukraine support full eventual integration into the European Union. Association Agreement and suspension of visa restrictions with the EU are expected to be signed into effect at the end of 2011.  

Ukraine maintains peaceful and constructive relations with all its neighbours; it has especially close ties with Russia and Poland, although relations with the former are complicated by energy dependence and payment arrears. Conflicts with Russia over the price of natural gas briefly stopped all gas supplies to Ukraine in 2006 and again in 2009, leading to gas shortages in several other European countries.

Economy

Ukraine is regarded as being a developing economy with high potential for future success; however such a development is thought to be likely only with new all-encompassing economic and legal reforms.

Ukraine has a very large heavy-industry base and is one of the largest agricultural producers and refiners of metallurgical products in Eastern Europe. However, the country is also well known for its production of high-technological goods and transport products, such as Antonov aircraft and various private and commercial vehicles. The country's largest and most competitive firms are components of the PFTS index which is traded on the PFTS Ukraine Stock Exchange.

Well-known Ukrainian brands include, amongst others, Antonov, Naftogaz Ukrainy, AvtoZAZ, PrivatBank, Roshen, Yuzhmash, Nemiroff, Motor Sich, Khortytsa, Kyivstar, and Aerosvit.[139]

The country imports most energy supplies, especially oil and natural gas, and to a large extent depends on Russia as its energy supplier.  

Ukraine's 2007 GDP, as calculated by the CIA, is ranked 29th in the world and estimated at $359.9 billion. Its GDP per capita in 2008 according to the CIA was $7,800, ranked 83rd in the world.  The World Bank classifies Ukraine as a middle-income state. 

Demographics and Culture

The country is home to 46 million people, 77.8 percent of whom are ethnic Ukrainians, with sizable minorities of Russians (17.3%), Belarusians (0.6%), Moldovans (0.5%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Bulgarians (0.4%), Hungarians (0.3%), Romanians (0.3%), Poles (0.3%), Jews (0.2%), Armenians (0.2%), Greeks (0.2%) and Tatars (0.2%).

The Ukrainian language is the official language in Ukraine. Russian is also widely spoken.

The dominant religion in Ukraine is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which is currently split between three Church bodies: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church autonomous church body under the Patriarch of Moscow, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

A distant second by the number of the followers is the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which practices a similar liturgical and spiritual tradition as Eastern Orthodoxy, but is in communion with the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church and recognises the primacy of the Pope as head of the Church.

Additionally, there are 863 Latin Rite Catholic communities, and 474 clergy members serving some one million Latin Rite Catholics in Ukraine. 

Ukrainian culture is heavily influenced by Christianity. Gender roles also tend to be more traditional, and grandparents play a greater role in raising children than in the West. The culture of Ukraine has been also influenced by its eastern and western neighbours, which is reflected in its architecture, music and art.