July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Anatoliy KINAKH (since 29
May 2001), First Deputy Prime Minister Oleh DUBYNA (since 29 May 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president and approved
by the Supreme Council elections: president elected by popular vote for
a five-year term; election last held 31 October and 14 November 1999
(next to be held NA 2004); prime minister and deputy prime ministers
appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council election
results: 57.7%, Petro SYMONENKO 38.8% note: there is also a National
Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the
National Security Council, but significantly revamped and strengthened
under President KUCHMA; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national
security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the
president; a Presidential Administration that helps draft presidential
edicts and provides policy support to the president; and a Council of
Regions that serves as an advisory body created by President KUCHMA in
September 1994 that includes chairmen of the Kyyiv (Kiev) and Sevastopol'
municipalities and chairmen of the oblasti
Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450
seats; under Ukraine's new election law, 225 of the Supreme Council's
seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4%
or more of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are elected
by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all serve four-year
terms) election results: percent of vote by party - Our Ukraine 24%,
For One Ukraine 12%, CPU 20%, Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine 6%,
SPU 7%, Juliya Tymochenko Election Bloc 7%, other 24%; seats by party -
Our Ukraine 112, For One Ukraine 101, CPU 67, Social-Democratic Party
of Ukraine 24, SPU 23, Juliya Tymochenko Election Bloc 21, Democratic
Party of Ukraine 4, Unity 3, others 95 elections: last held 31 March 2002
(next to be held NA 2006)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders: Agrarian Party [Mykhaylo HLADIY];
Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Democratic Union
[Oleksandr OMELCHENKO]; Fatherland (Motherland) All Ukrainian Party
[Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, chairperson]; For One Ukraine [leader NA]; Green Party
of Ukraine or PZU [Vitaliy KONONOV, chairman]; Juliya Tymochenko Election
Bloc [leader NA]; Liberal Party [Volodymyr SHCHERBAN]; Our Ukraine [leader
NA]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Party
of Regions [Volodymyr SEMYNOZHENKO]; Party of Ukrainian Unity [Ivan
BILAS]; Peasant Party of Ukraine or SelPU [Serhiy DOVHAN]; People's
Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO, chairman]; People's
Movement of Ukraine or Rukh U [Hennadiy UDOVENKO, chairman]; Progressive
Socialist Party [Nataliya VITRENKO]; Reforms Congress [Viktor PYNZENYK];
Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]; Socialist
Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Solidarity [Petro
POROSHENKO]; Trudova Ukrayina/Working Ukraine [Viktor PINCHUK, chairman];
Ukrainian Popular Movement or Rukh K [Yuriy KOSTENKO, chairman]; Unity
[Oleksandr OMELCHENKO]; Working Ukraine/Labort Ukraine [Serhiy TYHYPKO];
Yabluko [BRODSKY] note: and numerous smaller parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS,
EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer),
OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE,
UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Konstantin Ivanovych HRYSHCHENKO FAX: [1]
Chicago and New York telephone:
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Carlos PASCUAL embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynskyi Street, Kiev 01901 mailing
address: use embassy street address telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX:
[380] (44) 244-7350
Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden
yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky
Economy Ukraine
Economy - overview: After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and
away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union,
producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its
fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural
output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk,
grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy
industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes)
and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling
apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Ukraine depends on
imports of energy, especially natural gas, to meet some 85% of its
annual energy requirements. Shortly after independence in late 1991,
the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal
framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within
the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to
some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% the 1991
level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary
levels in late 1993. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy
supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the
Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Now in his second
term, President KUCHMA has pledged to reduce the number of government
agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment
to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul.
Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and
land privatization are still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly
the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms
and have threatened to withdraw financial support. GDP in 2000 showed
strong export-based growth of 6% - the first growth since independence -
and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in
2001 as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth
was undergirded by strong domestic demand and growing consumer and
investor confidence.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $205 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 9% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,200 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 13% industry: 40% services:
47% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 29% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 23.2% (1999)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 30 (1999)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 22.8 million (yearend 1997)
Labor force - by occupation: industry 32%, agriculture 24%, services 44%
(1996)
Unemployment rate: 3.6% officially registered; large number of
unregistered or underemployed workers (November 2001)
Budget: revenues: $10.2 billion expenditures: $11.1 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.)
Industries: coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals,
machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially
sugar)
Industrial production growth rate: 14.2% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production: 163.57 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 49.54% hydro: 7.02%
other: 0.01% (2000) nuclear: 43.44%
Electricity - consumption: 151.72 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 400 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables;
beef, milk
Exports: $17.3 billion (2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum
products, machinery and transport equipment, food products
Exports - partners: Russia 22.6%, Turkey 6.2%, Italy 5.1%, Germany
(2001 est.)
Imports: $17.1 billion (2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: energy, machinery and parts, transportation
equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners: Russia 36.9%, Turkmenistan 10.5%, Germany 8.7%, US
(2001 est.)
Debt - external: $11.8 billion (2001)
Economic aid - recipient: $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds
Facility $2.2 billion (1998)
Currency: hryvnia (UAH)
Currency code: UAH
Exchange rates: hryvnia per US dollar - 5.3126 (January 2002), 5.3722
(2001), 5.4402 (2000), 4.1304 (1999), 2.4495 (1998), 1.8617 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Ukraine
Telephones - main lines in use: 9.45 million (April 1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 236,000 (1998)
Telephone system: general assessment: Ukraine's telecommunication
development plan, running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic
trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular
system domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine inherited
a telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in disrepair;
more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied;
telephone density is now rising slowly and the domestic trunk system
is being improved; the mobile cellular telephone system is expanding
at a high rate international: two new domestic trunk lines are a part
of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three Ukrainian
links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL)
project which connects 18 countries; additional international service is
provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine
cable and by earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik
satellite systems
Radio broadcast stations: AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998)
Radios: 45.05 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that
relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997)
Televisions: 18.05 million (1997)
Internet country code: .ua
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 260 (2001)
Internet users: 750,000 (2001)
Transportation Ukraine
Railways: total: 22,510 km broad gauge: 21,951 km 1.524-m gauge (8,927
km electrified) standard gauge: 49 km 1.435-m gauge note: these data do
not include railroads dedicated to serving industry and not in common
carrier service (2001) narrow gauge: 510 km 0.750-m gauge
Highways: total: 273,700 km paved: 236,400 km (including 1,770 km of
expressways and a substantial amount of all-weather roads with gravel
surfaces) unpaved: 37,300 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth
and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990)
Waterways: 4,499 km note: 1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dniester
(Dnister) (1990)
Pipelines: crude oil 4,000 km (1995); petroleum products 4,500 km
(1995); natural gas 34,400 km (1998)
Ports and harbors: Berdyans'k, Feodosiya, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch,
Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Kiliya, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni,
Sevastopol', Yalta, Yuzhnyy
Merchant marine: total: 138 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 669,303
GRT/707,857 DWT ships by type: bulk 7, cargo 100, container 3, liquefied
gas 2, passenger 11, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 12, railcar
carrier 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as
a flag of convenience: Cyprus 1, Greece 1, Panama 1, Russia 4, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: 718 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: 50 1,524 to 2,437 m: Airports - with
unpaved runways: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: Military Ukraine
Military branches: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force, Air Defense
Forces, Interior Troops, Border Troops
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 12,263,178 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 9,616,864
(2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 390,823
(2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $500 million (FY99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (FY99)
Transnational Issues Ukraine
Disputes - international: Ukraine and Romania have yet to resolve claims
over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and delimitation
of Black Sea maritime boundary, despite 1997 bilateral treaty to
find a solution in two years and numerous talks; Russia and Ukraine
have successfully delimited land boundary in 2001, but disagree on
delimitation of maritime boundary in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea;
Moldovan difficulties with break-away Transnistria region inhibit
establishment of a joint customs regime with Ukraine to curtail smuggling,
arms transfers, and other illegal activities
Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly
for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to West;
limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for
opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey,
and to Europe and Russia; drug-related money laundering a minor, but
growing, problem
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
========================================================================
United States
Introduction
United States
Background: Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country
in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of
America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th
centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation
expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of
overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's
history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the
1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold
War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation-state. The
economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation,
and rapid advances in technology.
Geography United States
Location: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and
the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Geographic coordinates: 38 00 N, 97 00 W
Map references: North America
Area: 470,131 sq km note: Area - comparative: about half the size
of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size
of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than
China; about two and a half times the size of Western Europe
Land boundaries: total: 12,034 km border countries: Canada 8,893 km
(including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km note: US Naval Base at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased by the US and thus remains part of Cuba;
the base boundary is 29 km
Coastline: 19,924 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: not specified
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic
in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River,
and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures
in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February
by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
Terrain: vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains
in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged,
volcanic topography in Hawaii
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Death Valley -86 m highest point:
Mount McKinley 6,194 m
Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium,
bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc,
petroleum, natural gas, timber
Land use: arable land: 19% other: 81% (1998 est.) permanent crops: NEGL%
Irrigated land: 214,000 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around
Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts;
tornadoes in the midwest and southeast; mud slides in California;
forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska,
a major impediment to development
Environment - current issues: air pollution resulting in acid rain in
both the US and Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of carbon
dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of
pesticides and fertilizers; very limited natural fresh water resources
in much of the western part of the country require careful management;
desertification
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Hazardous Wastes
Geography - note: world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and
Canada) and by population (after China and India); Mt. McKinley is highest
point in North America and Death Valley the lowest point on the continent
People United States
Population: 280,562,489 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 21% (male 30,116,782; female 28,765,183) 15-64
years: 66.4% (male 92,391,120; female 93,986,468) 65 years and over: 12.6%
(male 14,748,522; female 20,554,414) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.89% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 14.1 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 8.7 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 6.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.4 years male: 74.5 years
female: 80.2 years (2002 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.07 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.61% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 850,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 20,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: American(s) adjective: American
Ethnic groups: white 77.1%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and
Alaska native 1.5%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.3%,
other 4% (2000) note: Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin
American descent (especially of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin)
living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black,
Asian, etc.)
Religions: Protestant 56%, Roman Catholic 28%, Jewish 2%, other 4%,
none 10% (1989)
Languages: English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write male: 97%
female: 97% (1979 est.) total population: 97%
People - note: note: data for the US are based on projections that do
not take into consideration the results of the 2000 census
Government United States
Country name: United States of America conventional short form:
Government type: federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Capital: Washington, DC
Administrative divisions: 50 states and 1 district*; Alabama, Alaska,
Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District
of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North
Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia,
Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Dependent areas: American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island,
Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa
Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin
Islands, Wake Island note: from 18 July 1947 until 1 October 1994, the
US administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but recently
entered into a new political relationship with all four political units:
the Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with
the US (effective 3 November 1986); Palau concluded a Compact of Free
Association with the US (effective 1 October 1994); the Federated States
of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective
3 November 1986); the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact
of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986)
Independence: 4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 July (1776)
Constitution: 17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative
acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President George W. BUSH (since 20
January 2001) and Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January
2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government head of government: Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001);
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with Senate approval
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by
a college of representatives who are elected directly from each state;
president and vice president serve four-year terms; election last held 7
November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004) election results: George
W. BUSH elected president; percent of popular vote - George W. BUSH
(Republican Party) 48%, Albert A. GORE, Jr. (Democratic Party) 48%,
Ralph NADER (Green Party) 3%, other 1%
Legislative branch: bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (100
seats, one-third are renewed every two years; two members are elected
from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House
of Representatives (435 seats; members are directly elected by popular
vote to serve two-year terms) election results: Senate - percent of vote
by party - NA%; seats by party - Democratic Party 50, Republican Party
49, independent 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party
- NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 221, Democratic Party 211,
independent 2, vacant 1 elections: Senate - last held 7 November 2000
(next to be held 4 November 2002); House of Representatives - last held
7 November 2000 (next to be held 4 November 2002)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (its nine justices are appointed for
life by the president with confirmation by the Senate); United States
Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party [Terence McAULIFFE,
national committee chairman]; Green Party [leader NA]; Republican Party
[Governor Marc RACICOT, national committee chairman]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA