Ukraine

Geography

The country's terrain is mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west.

The densest settlement is in the eastern and western regions. Major urban areas, including Kyiv, seen here, has notable concentrations.

Location

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east

Geographic Coordinates

49 00 N, 32 00 E

Map References

Asia Europe

Area

Total: 603,550 sq km

Land: 579,330 sq km

Water: 24,220 sq km

Note: Approximately 43,133 sq km, or about 7.1% of Ukraine's area, is Russian occupied; the seized area includes all of Crimea and about one-third of both Luhans'k and Donets'k oblasts

Country comparison to the world: 47

Area Comparative: Almost four times the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Texas

Land Boundaries

Total: 5,618 km

Border Countries (7): Belarus 1111 km, Hungary 128 km, Moldova 1202 km, Poland 535 km, Romania 601 km, Russia 1944 km, Slovakia 97 km

Coastline: 2,782 km

Maritime Claims

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Continental shelf: 200 m or to the depth of exploitation

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; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

Terrain

Mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula

Elevation

Mean elevation: 175 m

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

Agricultural land: 71.2% (2011 est.)

Arable land: 56.1% (2011 est.)

Permanent crops: 1.5% (2011 est.)

Permanent pasture: 13.6% (2011 est.)

Forest: 16.8% (2011 est.)

Other: 12% (2011 est.)

Irrigated land: 21,670 sq km (2012)

Population Distribution

Densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa

Natural Hazards

Occasional floods; occasional droughts

Current Environmental Issues

Air and water pollution; land degradation; solid waste management; biodiversity loss; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant

Notes

Strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia
Second-largest country in Europe after Russia