II

  A Table of Contents  

  A Table of Contents  II

  B List of Figures IV  

  C List of Abbreviations V  

1  Introduction  1

2  Basic country information  1

2.1  Geography  1

2.2  Ethnic minorities  2

2.3  Cities  2

2.4  Climate  3

2.5  Environmental Problems  3

2.6  Infrastructure  3

2.7  Religion  3

2.8  Education  4

2.9  Language  4

2.10  Holidays  4

3  National symbols  5

3.1  The National Flag  5

3.2  The State Emblem  5

3.3  The State Anthem  5

4  History  5

5  Political Facts  6

5.1  The Political System  6

5.2  Political situation in the past  7

5.3  Elections of 2004  7

5.4  The Legislative branch  9

6  Economy  10

6.1  Economic situation  10

6.2  Role of Ukraine in former Soviet Union  11

III

6.3  Agriculture and Industry  11

6.4  Currency  12

6.5  Energy dependency  12

7  Culture in Ukraine  12

7.1  Music  12

7.2  Dance  13

7.3  Greetings  13

7.4  Gestures  13

7.5  Forms of Address  13

7.6  Negotiating  14

7.7  Equality and Inequality  14

7.8  Decision Making  14

7.9  Traditional Folk Beliefs  14

7.10  Art and Writing  15

7.11  The Easter Egg  15

8  Current Issues  15

8.1  Trade Relations to the EU  15

8.2  Ukraine s Foreign Policy  16

8.2.1  NATO 16  

8.2.2  European Union 17  

8.2.3  Russia 17  

9  Outlook  18

  D Bibliography X  

IV

B List of Figures

Figure 1: Ukraine’s main political groups ............................................................................ 9

V

C List of Abbreviations

EU European Union

MAP Membership Action Plan

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization

WTO World Trade Organization

1

1 Introduction

Since 1991, when Ukraine declared its indepence, the country has experienced enormous changes. The country is the largest country by size within Europe, and it is inhabited by more than 46 million people. Yet, many facts about the country remain unknown to most of the people living in Germany. The following paper will give further information about Ukraine, including basic country information, history, political facts, the country’s economy as well as culture and issues Ukraine currently deals with.

2 Basic country information

2.1 Geography

Ukraine is located in the East-Europe plain and it is the largest country measured by size within Europe spanning 603 700 km². 46.71 million inhabitants live in Ukraine. The median age of Ukraine’s population in 2006 is 39.2 years, compared to 42.6 years in Germany in 2006. Currently the birth rate is at 8.82 births per 1000 inhabitants, in comparison to 14.39 deaths per 1000 inhabitants, which shows that death rate is almost twice as high as the birth rate. Ukraine has a negative net migration rate, with - 0.43 migrants per 1000 inhabitants in the year 2006 (cf www.cia.gov). Life

expectancy at birth is 69.98 years for the total population, with the female expectancy a little higher at 75.59 years than the men expectancy at 64.71 years. Per woman, in 2006 1.17 chilcren were born in 2006 (cf www.cia.gov). More than 70% of inhabitants live in cities, about 2.6 Million of them in the capital Kijev. It is remarkable that the ukrainian population is shrinking, about -0.6% per year. This is due to the fact that many ukrainians move to foreign countries because of better work conditions and higher life standarts (cf www.welt-in-zahlen.de).

Ukraine borders Russia and The Republic of Belarus in the North and East, as well as Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in the West and Romania and

2

Moldawia in the South. Also, the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Carpathians are bordered (cf www.botschaft-ukraine.de). About 22,000 rivers are located in the country, the longest being the Dnieper river, which crosses the Ukraine from north to south, ending in the Black Sea. The Dnieper river is very important to the country. Also, many ponds and lakes are located in the country (cf Bogovin 2001). Ukraine has enormous natural resources, including very fertile soil. Three fifths of the total land area are made up by arable land. Also the country is very rich in minerals, such as iron ore, natural gas, anthracite, aluminium, graphite, brown coal and bituminous coal. One of the largest reserves in the world of manganese- bearing ores can be found in the country as well. (cf www.britannica.com). The size of irrigated land in Ukraine is 22,080 sq km. The coastline of Ukraine amounts to 2,782 km. The lowest point of the country is the Black Sea with 0 m, and the highest point is Hora Hoverla with 2,061 m (cf www.cia.gov ).

2.2 Ethnic minorities

Of the ukrainian population, 17.3% are ethnic russians. They are concentrated in the east and the south of Ukraine. Additionally, many ethnic Ukrainians living in the east and south of the country speak russian, and are in favor of close ties to Russia (cf Woehrel 2006, p.8 a). Other ethnic minorities living in Ukraine include Belarus, Moldawians, Bulgarians and Polish (cf www.cia.gov).

2.3 Cities

Kiev is the capital and has about 2.6 million inhabitants (cf www.cia.gov). The city even holds the status of a region, due to the great economic potential as well as the administrative structure. The capital of Ukraine is placed in the centre of the country, next to the dams of the river Dnieper. Many museums and sights can be found in the university city, including the Cathdral of Santa Sofia with its Byzantine mosaics and paintings (cf www.tery.org). Other big cities are Charkow with 1.47 million inhabitants, Dnjepropetrowsk inhabited by 1.1 million people, Odessa with 1.03 million