| Location: |
Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia
|
| Geographic coordinates: |
49 00 N, 32 00 E
|
| Map references: |
Commonwealth of Independent States
|
| Area: |
total:
603,700 sq km
land:
603,700 sq km
water:
0 sq km
|
| Area - comparative: |
slightly smaller than Texas
|
| 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
|
| 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, arable land
|
| 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.)
|
| 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-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, 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-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
|
| Geography - note: |
strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe
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