Afghanistan (2001) | Ukraine (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 30 provinces (velayat, singular - velayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamian, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghowr, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabol, Kandahar, Kapisa, Konar, Kondoz, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Oruzgan, Paktia, Paktika, Parvan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Vardak, Zabol; note - there may be two new provinces of Nurestan (Nuristan) and Khowst | 24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Dnipropetrovs'k, Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy, Kirovohrad, Kiev (Kyyiv)**, Kyyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
42.2% (male 5,775,921; female 5,538,836) 15-64 years: 55.01% (male 7,644,242; female 7,106,568) 65 years and over: 2.79% (male 394,444; female 353,046) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 15.6% (male 3,783,725/female 3,619,754)
15-64 years: 68.8% (male 15,619,989/female 16,992,628) 65 years and over: 15.6% (male 2,497,851/female 4,911,389) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | opium poppies, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, karakul pelts | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk |
Airports | 45 (2000 est.) | 656 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
10 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 174
over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 57 1,524 to 2,437 m: 30 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 70 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
35 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 12 (2000 est.) |
total: 482
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 34 under 914 m: 428 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
647,500 sq km land: 647,500 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 603,700 sq km
land: 603,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Texas | slightly smaller than Texas |
Background | Afghanistan was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in 1979. The USSR was forced to withdraw 10 years later by anti-communist mujahidin forces supplied and trained by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others. Fighting subsequently continued among the various mujahidin factions, but the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban movement has been able to seize most of the country. In addition to the continuing civil strife, the country suffers from enormous poverty, a crumbling infrastructure, and widespread land mines. | Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic state, Kievan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kievan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kievan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. The new government presents its citizens with hope that the country may at last attain true freedom and prosperity. |
Birth rate | 41.42 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.49 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $13.57 billion
expenditures: $12.26 billion, including capital expenditures of NA; note - these estimates probably do not include the government's doubling of pensions in September of 2004 (2004 est.) |
Capital | Kabul | Kiev (Kyyiv) |
Climate | arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers | 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 |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,782 km |
Constitution | none | adopted 28 June 1996 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Islamic State of Afghanistan; note - the self-proclaimed Taliban government refers to the country as Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan conventional short form: Afghanistan local long form: Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan local short form: Afghanestan former: Republic of Afghanistan |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Ukraine local long form: none local short form: Ukrayina former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | afghani (AFA) | - |
Death rate | 17.72 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 16.42 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $5.5 billion (1996 est.) | $16.37 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US embassy in Kabul has been closed since January 1989 due to security concerns | chief of mission: Ambassador John E. HERBST
embassy: 10 Yuriia Kotsiubynskoho Street, 04053 Kiev mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 490-4085 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none; note - embassy operations suspended 21 August 1997
consulate(s) general: New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Mykhailo B. REZNIK
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 349-2920 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco |
Disputes - international | support to Islamic militants worldwide by some factions; question over which group should hold Afghanistan's seat at the UN | 1997 boundary treaty with Belarus remains un-ratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete but the parties have agreed to defer demarcation; maritime boundary through the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions; Moldova and Ukraine have established joint customs posts to monitor transit through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region which remains under OSCE supervision; Ukraine and Romania have taken their dispute over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary to the ICJ for adjudication; Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through the Ukraine to the Black Sea |
Economic aid - recipient | US provided about $70 million in humanitarian assistance in 1997; US continues to contribute to multilateral assistance through the UN programs of food aid, immunization, land mine removal, and a wide range of aid to refugees and displaced persons | $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998) |
Economy - overview | Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations have played second fiddle to political and military upheavals during two decades of war, including the nearly 10-year Soviet military occupation (which ended 15 February 1989). During that conflict one-third of the population fled the country, with Pakistan and Iran sheltering a combined peak of more than 6 million refugees. In early 2000, 2 million Afghan refugees remained in Pakistan and about 1.4 million in Iran. Gross domestic product has fallen substantially over the past 20 years because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade and transport; severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998-2000. The majority of the population continues to suffer from insufficient food, clothing, housing, and medical care. Inflation remains a serious problem throughout the country. International aid can deal with only a fraction of the humanitarian problem, let alone promote economic development. In 1999-2000, internal civil strife continued, hampering both domestic economic policies and international aid efforts. Numerical data are likely to be either unavailable or unreliable. Afghanistan was by far the largest producer of opium poppies in 2000, and narcotics trafficking is a major source of revenue. | After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas, to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements. Shortly after independence in December 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukrainian government officials have taken some steps to reform the country's Byzantine tax code, such as the implementation of lower tax rates aimed at bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including closing tax loopholes and eliminating tax privileges and exemptions. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatization are still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms. GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6% - the first growth since independence - and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001 as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth of 4.6% in 2002 was more moderate, in part a reflection of faltering growth in the developed world. In general, growth has been undergirded by strong domestic demand, low inflation, and solid consumer and investor confidence. Growth was a sturdy 9.3% in 2003 and a remarkable 12% in 2004, despite a loss of momentum in needed economic reforms. |
Electricity - consumption | 480.6 million kWh (1999) | 132 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 1.2 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 90 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 420 million kWh (1999) | 180 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
35.71% hydro: 64.29% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Amu Darya 258 m highest point: Nowshak 7,485 m |
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m |
Environment - current issues | soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification | 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:
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation |
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 |
Ethnic groups | Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Hazara 19%, minor ethnic groups (Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others) 12%, Uzbek 6% | Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census) |
Exchange rates | afghanis per US dollar - 4,700 (January 2000), 4,750 (February 1999), 17,000 (December 1996), 7,000 (January 1995), 1,900 (January 1994), 1,019 (March 1993), 850 (1991); note - these rates reflect the free market exchange rates rather than the official exchange rate, which was fixed at 50.600 afghanis to the dollar until 1996, when it rose to 2,262.65 per dollar, and finally became fixed again at 3,000.00 per dollar in April 1996 | hryvnia per US dollar - 5.3192 (2004), 5.3327 (2003), 5.3266 (2002), 5.3722 (2001), 5.4402 (2000) |
Executive branch | on 27 September 1996, the ruling members of the Afghan Government were displaced by members of the Islamic Taliban movement; the Islamic State of Afghanistan has no functioning government at this time, and the country remains divided among fighting factions
note: the Taliban have declared themselves the legitimate government of Afghanistan; however, the UN still recognizes the government of Burhanuddin RABBANI; the Organization of the Islamic Conference has left the Afghan seat vacant until the question of legitimacy can be resolved through negotiations among the warring factions; the country is essentially divided along ethnic lines; the Taliban controls the capital of Kabul and approximately two-thirds of the country including the predominately ethnic Pashtun areas in southern Afghanistan; opposing factions have their stronghold in the ethnically diverse north |
chief of state: President Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO (since 23 January 2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Yuriy YEKHANUROV (since 22 September 2005); First Deputy Prime Minister - Stanislav STASHEVSKYY (since 27 September 2005) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council, but significantly revamped and strengthened under former-President KUCHMA; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Administration that helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president; and a Council of Regions that serves as an advisory body elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; note - a special repeat runoff presidential election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004 after the earlier 21 November 2004 contest - won by Mr. YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant violations; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 51.99%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2% |
Exports | $80 million (does not include opium) (1996 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems | ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products |
Exports - partners | FSU, Pakistan, Iran, Germany, India, UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic | Russia 18%, Germany 5.8%, Turkey 5.7%, Italy 5%, US 4.6% (2004) |
Fiscal year | 21 March - 20 March | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a gold emblem centered on the three bands; the emblem features a temple-like structure with Islamic inscriptions above and below, encircled by a wreath on the left and right and by a bolder Islamic inscription above, all of which are encircled by two crossed scimitars
note: the Taliban uses a plain white flag |
two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $21 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
53% industry: 28.5% services: 18.5% (1990) |
agriculture: 18%
industry: 45.1% services: 36.9% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $800 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 12% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 33 00 N, 65 00 E | 49 00 N, 32 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked | strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe |
Heliports | 3 (2000 est.) | 8 (2004 est.) |
Highways | total:
21,000 km paved: 2,793 km unpaved: 18,207 km (1998 est.) |
total: 169,679 km
paved: 164,249 km unpaved: 5,430 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 23.2% (1999) |
Illicit drugs | world's largest illicit opium producer, surpassing Burma (potential production in 1999 - 1,670 metric tons; cultivation in 1999 - 51,500 hectares, a 23% increase over 1998); a major source of hashish; increasing number of heroin-processing laboratories being set up in the country; major political factions in the country profit from drug trade | limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia; Ukraine has improved anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF |
Imports | $150 million (1996 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, food and petroleum products; most consumer goods | energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals |
Imports - partners | FSU, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, Singapore, India, South Korea, Germany | Russia 41.8%, Germany 9.6%, Turkmenistan 6.7% (2004) |
Independence | 19 August 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs) | 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 16.5% (2004 est.) |
Industries | small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, oil, coal, copper | coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar) |
Infant mortality rate | 147.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 20.34 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.55 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 12% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, CP, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WToO | BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GUUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer), ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 30,000 sq km (1993 est.) | 24,540 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | upper courts were non-functioning as of March 1995 (local Shari'a or Islamic law courts are functioning throughout the country) | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court |
Labor force | 10 million (2000 est.) | 21.11 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 70%, industry 15%, services 15% (1990 est.) | agriculture 24%, industry 32%, services 44% (1996) |
Land boundaries | total:
5,529 km border countries: China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan 1,206 km, Turkmenistan 744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km |
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 |
Land use | arable land:
12% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 3% other: 39% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 56.21%
permanent crops: 1.61% other: 42.18% (2001) |
Languages | Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism | Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%; small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities |
Legal system | a new legal system has not been adopted but all factions tacitly agree they will follow Shari'a (Islamic law) | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
Legislative branch | non-functioning as of June 1993 | unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under recent amendments to Ukraine's election law, the Rada's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; members serve five-year terms beginning with the next election in 2006)
elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held March 2006) election results: percent of vote by party/bloc - Our Ukraine 24%, CPU 20%, United Ukraine 12%, SPU 7%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7%, United Social Democratic Party 6%, other 24%; seats by party/bloc - Our Ukraine 101, Regions of Ukraine 61, CPU 59, Working Ukraine 14, United Social Democratic Party 33, Agrarian Party 22, SPU 20, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 19, United Ukraine 19, People's Democratic Party-Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 16, Center Group 15, Democratic Initiatives 14, unaffiliated 57 (December 2004) note: following the election, United Ukraine splintered into the Agrarian Party, European Choice, People's Choice, People's Democratic Party, Regions of Ukraine, and Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; these factions have since undergone a number of changes |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
46.24 years male: 46.97 years female: 45.47 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 69.68 years
male: 64.39 years female: 75.31 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 31.5% male: 47.2% female: 15% (1999 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.7% male: 99.8% female: 99.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran | Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east |
Map references | Asia | Asia, Europe |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | - | total: 201 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 675,904 GRT/709,802 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 148, container 4, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 11, roll on/roll off 7, specialized tanker 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Russia 1) registered in other countries: 113 (2005) |
Military branches | NA; note - the military does not exist on a national basis; some elements of the former Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard, Border Guard Forces, National Police Force (Sarandoi), and tribal militias still exist but are factionalized among the various groups | Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces (Viyskovo-Povitryani Syly), Air Defense Forces (2002) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | $617.9 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 1.4% (FY02) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
6,645,023 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
3,561,957 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 22 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
252,869 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 19 August (1919) | Independence Day, 24 August (1991); the date of 22 January (1918), the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia), is now celebrated as Unity Day |
Nationality | noun:
Afghan(s) adjective: Afghan |
noun: Ukrainian(s)
adjective: Ukrainian |
Natural hazards | damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts | NA |
Natural resources | natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones | iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land |
Net migration rate | 11.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
People - note | - | the sex trafficking of Ukrainian women is a serious problem that has only recently been addressed |
Pipelines | petroleum products - Uzbekistan to Bagram and Turkmenistan to Shindand; natural gas 180 km | gas 20,069 km; oil 4,540 km; refined products 4,169 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Taliban (Religious Students Movement) [Mullah Mohammad OMAR]; United National Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan or UNIFSA [Burhanuddin RABBANI, chairman; Gen. Abdul Rashid DOSTAM, vice chairman; Ahmad Shah MASOOD, military commander; Mohammed Yunis QANUNI, spokesman]; note - made up of 13 parties opposed to the Taliban including Harakat-i-Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Movement of Afghanistan), Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party), Hizb-i-Wahdat-i-Islami (Islamic Unity Party), Jumaat-i-Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Afghan Society), Jumbish-i-Milli (National Front), Mahaz-i-Milli-i-Islami (National Islamic Front) | Agrarian Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Democratic Initiatives [Stepan HAVRYSH]; Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Our Ukraine bloc (comprised of several parties the most prominent of which are Rukh, the Ukrainian People's Party, Reforms and Order, and Solidarity) [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO]; Regions of Ukraine [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; United Social Democratic Party [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]; Working Ukraine [Serhiy TYHYPKO]; Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]
note: as well as numerous smaller parties; United Ukraine and Center Group are not actual political parties, but rather deputy groups (factions not based on a party) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Australia, US, and elsewhere have organized politically; Mellat (Social Democratic Party) [leader NA]; Peshawar, Pakistan-based groups such as the Coordination Council for National Unity and Understanding in Afghanistan or CUNUA [Ishaq GAILANI]; tribal elders represent traditional Pashtun leadership; Writers Union of Free Afghanistan or WUFA [A. Rasul AMIN] | NA |
Population | 26,813,057 (July 2001 est.) | 47,425,336 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 29% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | 3.48% (2001 est.)
note: this rate reflects the continued return of refugees from Iran |
-0.63% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Kheyrabad, Shir Khan | Feodosiya, Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Yuzhnyy |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7 (6 are inactive; the active station is in Kabul), FM 1, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pushtu, Dari, Urdu, and English) (1999) | AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Radios | 167,000 (1999) | - |
Railways | total:
24.6 km broad gauge: 9.6 km 1.524-m gauge from Gushgy (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi; 15 km 1.524-m gauge from Termiz (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya |
total: 22,473 km
broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2004) |
Religions | Sunni Muslim 84%, Shi'a Muslim 15%, other 1% | Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate 19%, Orthodox (no particular jurisdiction) 16%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 9%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 6%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 1.7%, Protestant, Jewish, none 38% (2004 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.12 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.51 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | NA; previously males 15-50 years of age | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
very limited telephone and telegraph service domestic: in 1997, telecommunications links were established between Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Kabul through satellite and microwave systems international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) linked only to Iran and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); commercial satellite telephone center in Ghazni |
general assessment: Ukraine's telecommunication development plan, running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular system
domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine inherited a telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in disrepair; more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied; telephone density is now rising slowly and the domestic trunk system is being improved; the mobile cellular telephone system is expanding at a high rate international: country code - 380; two new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and by earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems |
Telephones - main lines in use | 29,000 (1996)
note: there were 21,000 main lines in service in Kabul in 1998 |
10,833,300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 4.2 million (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | at least 10 (one government run central television station in Kabul and regional stations in nine of the 30 provinces; the regional stations operate on a reduced schedule; also, in 1997, there was a station in Mazar-e Sharif reaching four northern Afghanistan provinces) (1998) | at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest | 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 |
Total fertility rate | 5.79 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.4 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 3.5% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is around 9-10 percent (2004 est.) |
Waterways | 1,200 km
note: chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels with DWT up to about 500 (2001) |
1,672 km (most on Dnieper River) (2004) |