Country Details

Ukraine

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Belarus, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east

Geography

Detailed information and insights

Location

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Belarus, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east

Geographic coordinates

49 00 N, 32 00 E

Map references

AsiaEurope

Area

Total

603,550 sq km

Land

579,330 sq km

Water

24,220 sq km

Area - comparative

almost four times the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries

Total

5,581 km

Border countries

Belarus 1,111 km; Hungary 128 km; Moldova 1,202 km; Poland 498 km; Romania 601 km; Russia 1,944 km, Slovakia 97 km

Coastline

2,782 km

Maritime claims

Territorial sea

12 nm

Exclusive economic zone

200 nm

Continental shelf

200 m or to the depth of exploitation

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

Terrain

mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula

Elevation

Highest point

Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

Lowest point

Black Sea 0 m

Mean elevation

175 m

Natural resources

iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land

Land use

Agricultural land

71.3% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 56.8% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 1.5% (2023 est.)

Agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 13% (2023 est.)

Forest

17.3% (2023 est.)

Other

10.4% (2023 est.)

Irrigated land

1,000 sq km (2022)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Dunay (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Dnipro (Dnieper) river mouth (shared with Russia [s] and Belarus) - 2,287 km; Dnister (Dniester) river source and mouth (shared with Moldova) - 1,411 km; Vistula (shared with Poland [s/m] and Belarus) - 1,213 km

note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage

(Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), Don (458,694 sq km), Dnieper (533,966 sq km)

Population distribution

densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; notable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa

Note

note: the ongoing war with Russia has shifted significant portions of the population, particularly in the east

Natural hazards

occasional floods; occasional droughts

Geography - note

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