Independence Year : 1991
Population : 50456000
Life Expectancy : 66.0
Capital : 3426
GNP : 42168.00
GNP Old : 49677.00
Local Name : Ukrajina
Government Form : Republic
Location : Eastern Europe, bordered on the West by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary; on the Southwest by Romania and Moldova; on the South by the Black Sea and Sea of Azov; on the East and Northeast by Russia; and on the North by Belarus.
Terrain : mostly flat; 95% of lands are plains and 5% are mountainous
Climate : two climatic zones: moderate, subtropical (southern shore of Crimea)
Ethnic Group : Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Moldovans, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Jews, Poles, Crimean Tatars, and other groups
Religions : Ukrainian Orthodoxy, Ukrainian Greek Catholicism, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Islam
Official Website :
www.president.gov.ua
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General Information - Ukraine
Background
Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe, and the second largest country in Europe after Russia. The Crimean Autonomous Republic - encompassing the Crimean Peninsula, or Crimea, in the South -is included in Ukraine's borders.
Richly endowed in natural resources, Ukraine has been fought over and subjugated for centuries; its 20th-century struggle for liberty is not yet complete. A short-lived independence from Russia (1917-1920) was followed by brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died, and World War II, in which German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 million more deaths.
Although independence was attained in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive as many of the former Soviet elite remain entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civic liberties.
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