Short facts about the geography of Ukraine

Location:

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia

Geographic coordinates:

49 00 N, 32 00 E

Map references:

Commonwealth of Independent States

Area:

total:  603,700 sq km land:  603,700 sq km water:  0 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries:

total:  4,558 km border countries:  Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km

Coastline:

2,782 km

Maritime claims:

continental shelf:  200-m or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone:  200 NM territorial sea:  12 NM

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

Terrain:

most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Elevation extremes:

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:

arable land:  58% permanent crops:  2% permanent pastures:  13% forests and woodland:  18% other:  9% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:

26,050 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:

NA

Environment - current issues:

inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant

Environment - international agreements:

party to:  Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified:  Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note:

strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe

Source: World Factbook