Geographic Location

Location:

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea (Bulgaria, Turkey), between Poland, Hungary, 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: 603,700 sq km
 

Land boundaries:

Total: 4,663 km
Border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 526 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 97 km

Coastline:

2,782 km

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: 56.21%
Permanent crops: 1.61%
Other: 42.18% (2001)

Irrigated land:

24,540 sq km (1998 est.)

Environment - international agreements:

Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Geography - note:

Strategic position as the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe