Location:
Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia
Geographic coordinates:
49 00 N, 32 00 E
Map references:
Asia, Europe
Area:
total: 603,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 603,700 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries:
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
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,
arable land
Land use:
arable land: 57.1%
permanent crops: 1.73%
other: 41.17% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
24,540 sq km (1998 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-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