Ukraine

Geography

Ukraine

Area

land

579,330 sq km

water

24,220 sq km

total

603,550 sq km

Climate

The climate is predominantly temperate continental; Mediterranean conditions are found solely along the southern coast of Crimea; precipitation is unevenly distributed, with the highest amounts occurring in the west and north, while the east and southeast receive less; winter temperatures range from cool near the Black Sea to colder conditions further inland; the majority of the country experiences warm summers, which can be hot in the southern regions

Terrain

The landscape consists mainly of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountainous regions located only in the west (the Carpathians) or the far south of the Crimean Peninsula

Land use

other

10.4% (2023 est.)

forest

17.3% (2023 est.)

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.)

Location

Located in Eastern Europe, it borders the Black Sea, situated between Poland, Belarus, Romania, and Moldova to the west and Russia to the east

Coastline

2,782 km

Elevation

lowest point

Black Sea 0 m

highest point

Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

mean elevation

175 m

Irrigated land

1,000 sq km (2022)

Map references

AsiaEurope

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

Maritime claims

territorial sea

12 nm

continental shelf

200 m or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive economic zone

200 nm

Natural hazards

Experiences occasional flooding and sporadic droughts

Geography - note

Holds a strategic location at the intersection of Europe and Asia; it is the second-largest nation in Europe, following Russia

Natural resources

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

Area - comparative

It is nearly four times larger than Georgia and slightly smaller than Texas

Geographic coordinates

49 00 N, 32 00 E

Population distribution

The highest population density is found in the eastern (Donbas) and western areas; significant urban concentrations exist in and around major cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa

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)

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