Ukraine Geographical position The territory of Ukraine

Ukraine

Geographical position The territory of Ukraine has the dimensions of 1316 km from west to east and 893 kilometers from north to south, lies approximately between 52 ° 20 'and 44 ° 20' north latitude and 22 ° 5 'and 41 ° 15' east longitude. The extreme northern point - the village of. Petrovka Chernihiv region, the southern - Cape Sarich (Crimea), a western - a villagenear the town of Chop Solomon Transcarpathian region, eastern - the village of Krasnaya Zvezda Luhansk region. The geographical center of Ukraine is in a small town. Dobrovelichkivka Kirovograd region. The total area of Ukraine - 603. 7 thousand km ², representing 5. 7% of European territory and 0, 44% of the world. It is widely believed that. Ukraine is the largest in size of the country in Europe, all located in it.

Administrative divisions The Constitution of Ukraine in 1996 provides for the following division of Ukraine: 24 regions, 2 cities of republican significance and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea In Ukraine there are 490 districts, 446 cities, 907 towns and 10196 villages and othersettlements. The territorial structure of Ukraine is based on the principles of unity and integrity of state territory, combination of centralization and decentralization in the exercise of state power, balance of socio-economic development of regions based on their historical, economic, geographic and demographic peculiarities, ethnic and cultural traditions.

The State Symbols Ukraine has 3 state symbols - the flag, emblem and anthem. June 28, 1996 Article 20 of the Constitution of Ukraine adopted a small emblem of the state - the golden trident on a blue background. Once upon a trident emblem of the state was Kievan Rus' during the reign of Rurik. To date, there are several options for treatment of the origin of this symbol. The trident was the symbol of Poseidon, god of the sea in Greek mythology. Also, this logo found among different peoples and nations - in Byzantium, Scandinavia, the Sarmatians, and it was used as a religious, governmental, military, heraldic symbols, and sometimes simply as a decorative ornament. Later instances of the trident. Were found by archaeologists in the territory of Ukraine. Small arms is a major part has not taken a large coat of arms: it shows a blue shield with yellow trident. January 28, 1992 Supreme Council decided to approve the State Flag of Ukraine's national flag, which is a rectangular cloth consisting of two equal width horizontal stripes: the top - blue, bottom - yellow. Flag of Ukraine is a rectangular panel with an aspect ratio of 2: 3 and consisting of two equal bands - blue and yellow

Climate In most of Ukraine's climate is moderately continental, except for the southern coast of Crimea, where the typical Mediterraneantype climate. The degree of continentalityincreases in the direction from the west and northwest to the east and southeast. As thecontinental summer becomes hotte r and winters colder and less rainfall. For the Crimean Mountains and the Carpathians typical mountain type of climate. Summer is warmthroughout the Ukraine and a long, east and south - hot and dry in the west - a warm and humid. Winter is heavily dependent on the region. Mild winter seen in the south and west, the coldest winter seen in the north-east of Ukraine.

Economy Ukraine's economy is the 39 th largest economy in the world GDP at PPP (2011). Ukraine's debt in March 2011 reached 93. 5% of GDP, GDP growth at 1 July 2010 was 3. 7%. Ukraine was considered when the Soviet Union an industrialagrarian republic. In the Soviet economy was the second most important after the RSFSR. Since 1992, there was a progressive de-industrialization that has adopted in the field ofhigh-tech industries and engineering total. By 1999, GDP was less than 40% from 1991 levels. The main industries are metallurgy, energy (nuclear power plants and has a cascade of hydroelectric stations on the Dnepr River), as well as chemical and mining (coal, iron ore). The most economically developed regions. Donbass (Donetsk and Lugansk region), Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia region), as well as the city of Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa and Lviv. In 2011, according to the WTO, Ukraine ranked 25 th among world importers (excludingintra-EU trade) of goods with a share of the global market of 0. 6%

Main Economic Issues facing Ukraine Today Inflation is no longer the main issue facing the country today. Ukraine today is facing the possibility of a financial crisis in the next few months as indicated by many international measures of default risk. One of the most common indicators used by investors of the risk of default of a bond is the premium on its Credit Default Swaps (CDS). A CDS is an insurance-like contract that promises to cover losses on a bond in the event of default by the bond issuer. Studies have shown that CDS premiums identify default risks earlier than bond spreads or bond ratings: it is a better leading indicator for defaults. A premium of more that 1, 000 basis points is an indication that investors do expect the bond to be in default. A few days before their collapses, CDS premiums reached 740 basis points for Bear Stearns and 724 basis points for Lehman Brothers.

Tourism Ukraine occupies 8 th place in Europe by the number of tourists visiting, according to the World Tourism Organisation rankings. Ukraine is a destination on the crossroads between central and eastern Europe, between north and south. It borders Russia and is not far from Turkey. It has mountain ranges – the Carpathian Mountains suitable for skiing, hiking, fishing and hunting. The coastline on the Black Sea is a popular summer destination for vacationers. Ukraine has vineyards where they produce native wines, ruins of ancient castles, historical parks, Orthodox and Catholic churches as well as a few mosques and synagogues. Kiev, the country's capital city has many unique structures such as Saint Sophia Cathedral and broad boulevards. There are other cities well-known to tourists such as the harbour town Odessa and the old city of Lviv in the west. The Crimea, a little "continent" of its own, is a popular vacation destination for tourists for swimming or sun tanning on the Black Sea with its warm climate, rugged mountains, plateaus and ancient ruins. Cities there include: Sevastopol and Yalta – location of the peace conference at the end of World War II. Visitors can also take cruise tours by ship on Dnieper River from Kiev to the Black Sea coastline. Ukrainian cuisine has a long history and offers a wide variety of original dishes. The Seven Wonders of Ukraine are the seven historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine; the sites were chosen by the general public through an internet-based vote.

Agriculture The numbers fall in agricultural production in Ukraine in comparison with Soviet times, it is difficult to assess objectively. The sharp decline of agriculture occurred in the 1990 s. Fell sharply the amount of applied fertilizer, and in many areas of Western Ukraine were again plowing by horses instead of tractors. Official statistics are hard and difficult to match. In the 2000 s, there a number of large farms, which began to lease vacant land from the villagers. Even more difficult to assess the widespread practice of paying farmers to avoid taxation, wages in kind - flour, corn, barley, which are sold in the markets, without falling into the official statistics. On the other hand, Ukraine has to produce in commercial quantities are scarce in the. Soviet products, such as buckwheat, high-yielding rice, there were even ostrich farm.

Transport The total length of roads is 169, 491 km of railways 22, 473 miles. The length of the rivernavigable waterways - 1672 km. The Dnieper River and the Danube - the important ways to transport international cargo. in Ukraine there is a developed network of oil and gas pipelines (20 070 and 4540 km respectively, and 4170 km of pipelines for refinedproducts). Major ports on the Black and Azov seas Odessa port, Illichivsk, South Port, Kherson, Mykolaiv Mariupol. Total turnover in 20 08 of all the ports was 132. 18 milliontons

Culture Ukrainian customs are heavily influenced by Christianity, which is the dominant religion in the country. Gender roles also tend to be more traditional, and grandparents play a greater role in raising children than in the West. The culture of Ukraine has been also influenced by its eastern and western neighbours, which is reflected in its architecture, music and art. The Communist era had quite a strong effect on the art and writing of Ukraine. In 1932, Stalin made socialist realism state policy in the Soviet Union when he promulgated the decree "On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organisations". This greatly stifled creativity. During the 1980 s glasnost (openness) was introduced and Soviet artists and writers again became free to express themselves as they wanted. The tradition of the Easter egg, known as pysanky, has long roots in Ukraine. These eggs were drawn on with wax to create a pattern; then, the dye was applied to give the eggs their pleasant colours, the dye did not affect the previously wax-coated parts of the egg. After the entire egg was dyed, the wax was removed leaving only the colourful pattern. This tradition is thousands of years old, and precedes the arrival of Christianity to Ukraine. In the city of Kolomya near the foothills of the Carpathian mountains in 2000 was built the museum of Pysanka which won a nomination as the monument of modern Ukraine in 2007, part of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine action.

Literature The history of Ukrainian literature dates back to the 11 th century, following the Christianisation of the Kievan Rus’. The writings of the time were mainly liturgical and were written in Old Church Slavonic. Historical accounts of the time were referred to as chronicles, the most significant of which was the Primary Chronicle. Literary activity faced a sudden decline during the Mongol invasion of Rus'. Ukrainian literature again began to develop in the 14 th century, and was advanced significantly in the 16 th century with the introduction of print and with the beginning of the Cossack era, under both Russian and Polish dominance. The Cossacks established an independent society and popularized a new kind of epic poems, which marked a high point of Ukrainian oral literature. These advances were then set back in the 17 th and early 18 th centuries, when publishing in the Ukrainian language was outlawed and prohibited. Nonetheless, by the late 18 th century modern literary Ukrainian finally emerged

Cuisine The traditional Ukrainian diet includes chicken, pork, beef, fish and mushrooms. Ukrainians also tend to eat a lot of potatoes, grains, fresh and pickled vegetables. Popular traditional dishes include varenyky (boiled dumplings with mushrooms, potatoes, sauerkraut, cottage cheese or cherries), borscht (soup made of beets, cabbage and mushrooms or meat) and holubtsy (stuffed cabbage rolls filled with rice, carrots and meat). Ukrainian specialties also include Chicken Kiev and Kiev Cake. Ukrainians drink stewed fruit, juices, milk, buttermilk (they make cottage cheese from this), mineral water, tea and coffee, beer, wine and horilka.