Country profile
Ukraine is situated in the south-eastern part of Central Europe and has its own territory, government, national emblem, flag and anthem. It borders on Russia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Slovakia, Roumania, Hungary and Poland on land and Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Roumania and Turkey on sea.
The territory of Ukraine is mostly a level, treeless plain, calls "steppe". There are the Crimean Mountains in the Crimean peninsula and the Carpathians in the west, but they are not very high. Mixed forests of pine and fir-trees, beeches, limes, oaks and elms cover the mountains, but the thickest woods can still be found in the northern part of the republic, in Volyn. Kiev and Cherkassy lie in the midst of Ukrainian southernmost pine forest. The main Ukrainian river is the Dnieper. It is one of the longest European rivers and one of the republic's main source of hydroelectric power. The Dnieper and its tributary the Ross had been the cradle of the Ukrainian and Russian people in time immemorial.
The climate of the country is moderate. Winter is rather mild, with no severe frosts but with regular snowfalls everywhere except the south. The rivers and lakes freeze in winter. The average winter temperature varies -20 Centigrade in the north to -3-5 in the south. Summer is quite hot and dry, with occasional showers and thunderstorms. The fertile black soil is well watered in spring and autumn and gets plenty of sunshine in summer.
Due to favorable climatic conditions, Ukraine is traditionally an agricultural area. It grows wheat, maize, buckwheat and other corn, red and green vegetables, all kinds of fruit, melons and berries. Ukraine is one of the world's main centers of sugar production. It produces sugar both for her own needs and for export.
The country is rich in natural resources, such as iron ore, coal, color metal, oil, gas, mineral salts, clay and potential water power.
It has developed a varied industry concentrated mostly in and around big cities, such as Kiev, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Dnyeprodzerzhinsk, Odessa, Kharkov, Lviv, Nickolayev and other. It produces planes and ships, lorries and buses, motorcars and locomotives, computer and electronic equipment, precision instruments and agricultural machines, TV and radioset, chemicals and textiles and various consumer goods. Odessa, Sebastopol, Nickolayev, Kherson and Kerch are main Ukrainian ports.
Ukraine is a country with high scientific potential. Ukrainian scientific institutions are known for unique achievements in development of new materials, investigations in low temperature physics, electric welding, information science and many other spheres.
Democratic reforms in a society are impossible without democratization in the sphere of economic relations. Economic democratization demands that the rules regulating the activity of all economic entities of Ukraine operating in both foreign and domestic market regardless of their level and the sphere of business be legislatively fixed.
Ukraine has reached such a stage of political and economic development when the formation of civilized relations and authentic topics in economic sphere, under which the entire world lives, become especially urgent.
Economic strategy of Ukraine's development should be pragmatic to the maximum, free of politicization, ideological schemes and stereotypes. This will allow Ukraine to integrate into the world's economic process as a country with competitive economy able to solve the most difficult tasks of its development.
Written with the materials of:
www.ukraine-gateway.org.ua - Ukraine Gateway
www.wumag.kiev.ua - Welcome to Ukraine
www.president.gov.ua - President of Ukraine
