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Kiev Travel Guide -

[http://www.Explore-Kiev.com] Other cities Amman Amsterdam Athens Barcelona Beijing Berlin Bratislava Brussels Bucharest Budapest Buenos Aires Cairo Capetown Copenhagen Cyprus Delhi Dublin Dubrovnik Florence Geneva Helsinki Hong Kong Istanbul Jerusalem Kiev Krakow Lisbon Lithuania London Madrid Malta Manila Moscow Panama City Paris Prague Reykjavik Riga Rio de Janeiro Rome Saint Petersburg San Jose Sofia Stockholm Sydney Tallin Venice Vienna Warsaw Warsaw Zurich Country Overview People Government Economy Weather Accommodation Transportation Transportation Kiev Maps Book Kiev Hotels at Discount Rates! HotelsUkraine.com Ukraine Overview Background: Richly endowed in natural resources, Ukraine has been fought over and subjugated for centuries; its 20th-century struggle for liberty is not yet complete. A short-lived independence from Russia (1917-1920) was followed by brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died, and World War II, in which German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 million more deaths. Although independence was attained in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive as many of the former Soviet elite remain entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civic liberties. 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 Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, 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.