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General Information
Area 603,700 sq km (233,090 sq miles). Population 47,622,436 (official estimate 2003). Population Density 78.9 per sq km. Capital Kyiv. Population: 2,611,000 (2001). Geography Ukraine is bordered by the Russian Federation to the north and east; Belarus to the north; Poland, the Slovak Republic and Hungary to the west; and Romania and Moldova to the southwest. It is a varied country with mountains in the west, plains in the centre and the Black Sea views to the south. The north of the state is dominated by forests. Its other two main features are wooded steppe with beech and oak forests and the treeless steppe. The River Dnieper divides Ukraine roughly in half, and flows into the Black Sea. Government Republic. Gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Head of State: President Viktor Yuschchenko since 2005. Head of Government: Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko since 2005. Language Ukrainian is the sole official state language. A member of the eastern Slav languages and similar to Russian, it was discouraged for centuries by Tsarist and Soviet authorities. It is still widely spoken in western and central Ukraine, although Russian is spoken by virtually everyone. Russian is the main language spoken in Kyiv, eastern Ukraine and Crimea. The present government uses every opportunity to promote the revival of Ukrainian, particularly in schools. There are 12 million ethnic Russians in Ukraine, 500,000 Jews and more than 250,000 Crimean Tatars. Religion There are about 35 million Ukrainian Orthodox faithful, although the church is divided into a traditional pro-Moscow and a breakaway pro-Kyiv faction. 5 million Eastern-rite (Uniate) Catholics, subservient to Rome, are concentrated in western Ukraine and it is now several years since a Stalin-era ban on their church was lifted. There are also Protestant and Muslim minorities. Mass emigration has reduced the numbers of Jews, concentrated in Kyiv, Lviv and Odessa. Time GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October). Electricity 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Communications Telephone Ukraine has reliable communications with the West, and most major cities provide IDD facilities and can be dialled from abroad. Country code: 380. Outgoing international code: 810. Telephone counters in the central post offices of city centres are usually open 24 hours. Mobile telephone GSM 900/1800. Operators are Kyivstar (website: www.kyivstar.net), Ukrainian Mobile Comms (website: www.umc.ua) and Ukranian Radio Systems (website: www.welcome2well.com). GSM 1800 operator is Astelit, Golden Telecom (website: www.goldentele.com). Coverage is limited to Kyiv and other main urban areas. Fax Facilities are good and are available in most offices and hotels. Telegram These can be sent from central post offices in large cities 24 hours a day. Internet ISPs include UANet (website: www.ua.net) and Ukraine Intercom (website: www.ukrcom.net.ua). E-mail can be accessed from Internet cafes in Cherkassy, Kyiv, Lyiv and Odessa . Post Services are erratic. Letters to Western Europe can take two weeks or more. The main post office in Kyiv is located at Khreshchatik 22 and is open 24 hours. Post office hours: Generally 0800-1700. Press The most widely read include the daily Uryadoviy Kuryer, the parliamentary daily, Holos Ukrainy, Kievskiye Vedomosti, and the thrice-weekly, Silski Visti. The Russian press is also widely available. News from Ukraine is published in English and available in 70 other countries. Western newspapers are now available in Kyiv, but not in other parts of the country. Radio BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online. |
