Azerbaijan (2007) | Ukraine (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | 59 rayons (rayonlar; rayon - singular), 11 cities (saharlar; sahar - singular), 1 autonomous republic (muxtar respublika)
rayons: Abseron Rayonu, Agcabadi Rayonu, Agdam Rayonu, Agdas Rayonu, Agstafa Rayonu, Agsu Rayonu, Astara Rayonu, Balakan Rayonu, Barda Rayonu, Beylaqan Rayonu, Bilasuvar Rayonu, Cabrayil Rayonu, Calilabad Rayonu, Daskasan Rayonu, Davaci Rayonu, Fuzuli Rayonu, Gadabay Rayonu, Goranboy Rayonu, Goycay Rayonu, Haciqabul Rayonu, Imisli Rayonu, Ismayilli Rayonu, Kalbacar Rayonu, Kurdamir Rayonu, Lacin Rayonu, Lankaran Rayonu, Lerik Rayonu, Masalli Rayonu, Neftcala Rayonu, Oguz Rayonu, Qabala Rayonu, Qax Rayonu, Qazax Rayonu, Qobustan Rayonu, Quba Rayonu, Qubadli Rayonu, Qusar Rayonu, Saatli Rayonu, Sabirabad Rayonu, Saki Rayonu, Salyan Rayonu, Samaxi Rayonu, Samkir Rayonu, Samux Rayonu, Siyazan Rayonu, Susa Rayonu, Tartar Rayonu, Tovuz Rayonu, Ucar Rayonu, Xacmaz Rayonu, Xanlar Rayonu, Xizi Rayonu, Xocali Rayonu, Xocavand Rayonu, Yardimli Rayonu, Yevlax Rayonu, Zangilan Rayonu, Zaqatala Rayonu, Zardab Rayonu cities: Ali Bayramli Sahari, Baki Sahari, Ganca Sahari, Lankaran Sahari, Mingacevir Sahari, Naftalan Sahari, Saki Sahari, Sumqayit Sahari, Susa Sahari, Xankandi Sahari, Yevlax Sahari autonomous republic: Naxcivan Muxtar Respublikasi |
24 oblasti (singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkas'ka (Cherkasy), Chernihivs'ka (Chernihiv), Chernivets'ka (Chernivtsi), Dnipropetrovs'ka (Dnipropetrovs'k), Donets'ka (Donets'k), Ivano-Frankivs'ka (Ivano-Frankivs'k), Kharkivs'ka (Kharkiv), Khersons'ka (Kherson), Khmel'nyts'ka (Khmel'nyts'kyy), Kirovohrads'ka (Kirovohrad), Kyyiv**, Kyyivs'ka (Kiev), Luhans'ka (Luhans'k), L'vivs'ka (L'viv), Mykolayivs'ka (Mykolayiv), Odes'ka (Odesa), Poltavs'ka (Poltava), Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Rivnens'ka (Rivne), Sevastopol'**, Sums'ka (Sumy), Ternopil's'ka (Ternopil'), Vinnyts'ka (Vinnytsya), Volyns'ka (Luts'k), Zakarpats'ka (Uzhhorod), Zaporiz'ka (Zaporizhzhya), Zhytomyrs'ka (Zhytomyr); note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending "s'ka" or "z'ka," the word Oblast' should be added to the place name
note: oblasts have the administrative center name following in parentheses |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 25.4% (male 1,086,271/female 975,100)
15-64 years: 67.7% (male 2,695,428/female 2,799,047) 65 years and over: 7% (male 211,438/female 352,963) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 16.3% (male 4,004,948; female 3,832,931)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 15,779,735; female 17,225,103) 65 years and over: 15% (male 2,419,612; female 4,793,110) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco; cattle, pigs, sheep, goats | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk |
Airports | 35 (2007) | 790 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 27
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
total: 182
over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 51 1,524 to 2,437 m: 31 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 81 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 7 (2007) |
total: 608
over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 36 1,524 to 2,437 m: 50 914 to 1,523 m: 42 under 914 m: 466 (2002) |
Area | total: 86,600 sq km
land: 86,100 sq km water: 500 sq km note: includes the exclave of Naxcivan Autonomous Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh region; the region's autonomy was abolished by Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991 |
total: 603,700 sq km
land: 603,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maine | slightly smaller than Texas |
Background | Azerbaijan - a nation with a Turkic and majority-Muslim population - was briefly independent from 1918 to 1920; it regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh enclave (largely Armenian populated). Azerbaijan has lost 16% of its territory and must support some 600,000 internally displaced persons as a result of the conflict. Corruption is ubiquitous, and the promise of widespread wealth from Azerbaijan's undeveloped petroleum resources remains largely unfulfilled. | 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 (1917-1920), 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 independence was achieved 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 civil liberties. |
Birth rate | 17.47 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 9.89 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $4.775 billion
expenditures: $5.735 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues: $10.2 billion
expenditures: $11.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) |
Capital | name: Baku (Baki, Baky)
geographic coordinates: 40 23 N, 49 52 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Kiev (Kyyiv) |
Climate | dry, semiarid steppe | 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); note - Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea (800 km est.) | 2,782 km |
Constitution | adopted 12 November 1995 | adopted 28 June 1996 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Azerbaijan
conventional short form: Azerbaijan local long form: Azarbaycan Respublikasi local short form: Azarbaycan former: Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic |
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 | - | hryvnia (UAH) |
Death rate | 8.35 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 16.39 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.972 billion (2006 est.) | $14.2 billion (2002) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Anne E. DERSE
embassy: 83 Azadliyg Prospecti, Baku AZ1007 mailing address: American Embassy Baku, US Department of State, 7050 Baku Place, Washington, DC 20521-7050 telephone: [994] (12) 4980-335 through 337 FAX: [994] (12) 4656-671 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Carlos E. PASCUAL
embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynskyi Street, Kiev 01901 mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Hafiv Mir Jalal PASHAYEV
chancery: 2741 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 337-3500 FAX: [1] (202) 337-5911 Consulate(s) general: Los Angeles |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Sergiy KORSUNSKYI
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 349-2920 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York |
Disputes - international | Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh and since the early 1990s has militarily occupied 16% of Azerbaijan; over 800,000 mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis were driven from the occupied lands and Armenia; about 230,000 ethnic Armenians were driven from their homes in Azerbaijan into Armenia; Azerbaijan seeks transit route through Armenia to connect to Naxcivan exclave; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) continues to mediate dispute; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on an even one-fifth allocation and challenges Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon exploration in disputed waters; bilateral talks continue with Turkmenistan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to discuss the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas | 1997 boundary treaty with Belarus remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and encouraging illegal cross-border activities; land delimitation of boundary with Russia is complete, but maritime regime of the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait remains unresolved; difficulties in the Transnistria region of Moldova complicate border crossing and customs, facilitating smuggling, arms transfers, and other illegal activities; has not resolved Romanian claims to Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary despite ongoing talks based on 1997 friendship treaty to find a solution in two years |
Economic aid - recipient | ODA, $223.4 million (2005 est.) | $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998) |
Economy - overview | Azerbaijan's number one export is oil. Azerbaijan's oil production declined through 1997, but has registered an increase every year since. Negotiation of production-sharing arrangements (PSAs) with foreign firms, which have committed $60 billion to long-term oilfield development, should generate the funds needed to spur future industrial development. Oil production under the first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, began in November 1997. A consortium of Western oil companies began pumping 1 million barrels a day from a large offshore field in early 2006, through a $4 billion pipeline it built from Baku to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. By 2010 revenues from this project will double the country's current GDP. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable problems of the former Soviet republics in making the transition from a command to a market economy, but its considerable energy resources brighten its long-term prospects. Baku has only recently begun making progress on economic reform, and old economic ties and structures are slowly being replaced. Several other obstacles impede Azerbaijan's economic progress: the need for stepped up foreign investment in the non-energy sector, the continuing conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and the pervasive corruption. Trade with Russia and the other former Soviet republics is declining in importance, while trade is building with Turkey and the nations of Europe. Long-term prospects will depend on world oil prices, the location of new pipelines in the region, and Azerbaijan's ability to manage its oil wealth. | 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. Now in his second term, President KUCHMA has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. 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 4.1% 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 6% in 2003 despite a loss of mementum in needed economic reforms. |
Electricity - consumption | 19.08 billion kWh (2005) | 152.4 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 880 million kWh (2005) | 800 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 2.082 billion kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 20.1 billion kWh (2005) | 164.7 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 48.6%
hydro: 7.9% nuclear: 43.5% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Bazarduzu Dagi 4,485 m |
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m |
Environment - current issues | local scientists consider the Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) (including Baku and Sumqayit) and the Caspian Sea to be the ecologically most devastated area in the world because of severe air, soil, and water pollution; soil pollution results from oil spills, from the use of DDT pesticide, and from toxic defoliants used in the production of cotton | 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, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, 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-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Azeri 90.6%, Dagestani 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.9% (1999 census)
note: almost all Armenians live in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region |
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) |
Exchange rates | Azerbaijani manats per US dollar - 0.8934 (2006), 4,727.1 (2005), 4,913.48 (2004), 4,910.73 (2003), 4,860.82 (2002)
note: on 1 January 2006 Azerbaijan revalued its currency, with 5,000 old manats equal to 1 new manat |
hryvnia per US dollar - 5.33 (2002), 5.37 (2001), 5.44 (2000), 4.13 (1999), 2.45 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ilham ALIYEV (since 31 October 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister Artur RASIZADE (since 4 November 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Abbas ABBASOV (since 10 November 2003) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly elections: president elected by popular vote to a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 15 October 2003 (next to be held in October 2008); prime minister and first deputy prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly election results: Ilham ALIYEV elected president; percent of vote - Ilham ALIYEV 76.8%, Isa GAMBAR 14% |
chief of state: President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Viktor YANUKOVYCH (since 21 November 2002); First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola AZAROV (since 26 November 2002) 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 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 created by President KUCHMA in September 1994 that includes chairmen of the Kiev (Kyyiv) and Sevastopol' municipalities and chairmen of the oblasti elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 31 October and 14 November 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council election results: Leonid D. KUCHMA elected president; percent of vote - Leonid KUCHMA 57.7%, Petro SYMONENKO 38.8% |
Exports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | oil and gas 90%, machinery, cotton, foodstuffs | ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products |
Exports - partners | Italy 44.7%, Israel 10.7%, Turkey 6.1%, France 5.5%, Russia 5.4%, Iran 4.6%, Georgia 4.5% (2006) | Russia 18.6%, Italy 7.4%, Turkey 5.6%, Germany 4.1%, China 4.1% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), red, and green; a crescent and eight-pointed star in white are centered in red band | two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $218 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 7.5%
industry: 63.5% services: 28.9% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 23%
industry: 42% services: 35% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $4,500 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 34.5% (2006 est.) | 4.8% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 40 30 N, 47 30 E | 49 00 N, 32 00 E |
Geography - note | both the main area of the country and the Naxcivan exclave are landlocked | strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe |
Heliports | 1 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total: 169,491 km
paved: 163,898 km unpaved: 5,593 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 29.5% (2001) |
lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 23.2% (1999) |
Illicit drugs | limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; small government eradication program; transit point for Southwest Asian opiates bound for Russia and to a lesser extent the rest of Europe | 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; drug-related money laundering a minor, but growing, problem; lax anti-money-laundering regime |
Imports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, oil products, foodstuffs, metals, chemicals | energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Russia 22.4%, UK 8.6%, Germany 7.7%, Turkey 7.3%, Turkmenistan 7%, Ukraine 6%, China 4.2% (2006) | Russia 32.3%, Germany 11.7%, Turkmenistan 7.4%, Poland 6%, Italy 4% (2002) |
Independence | 30 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 50% (2006 est.) | 6% (2002 est.) |
Industries | petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel, iron ore; cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles | coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar) |
Infant mortality rate | total: 58.31 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 64.03 deaths/1,000 live births female: 51.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 20.87 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.2 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.3% (2006 est.) | -1.2% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, BSEC, CE, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) | BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, GUUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 260 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 14,550 sq km (2003) | 24,540 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court |
Labor force | 5.165 million (2006 est.) | 22.8 million (yearend 1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 41%
industry: 7% services: 52% (2001) |
industry 32%, agriculture 24%, services 44% (1996) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,013 km
border countries: Armenia (with Azerbaijan-proper) 566 km, Armenia (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 221 km, Georgia 322 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-proper) 432 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 179 km, Russia 284 km, Turkey 9 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: 20.62%
permanent crops: 2.61% other: 76.77% (2005) |
arable land: 57.1%
permanent crops: 1.73% other: 41.17% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Azerbaijani (Azeri) 90.3%, Lezgi 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified 1% (1999 census) | Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian |
Legal system | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Milli Mejlis (125 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 6 November 2005 (next to be held in November 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Yeni 58, Azadliq coalition 8, CSP 2, YES 2, Motherland 2, other parties with single seats 7, independents 42, undetermined 4 |
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, 225 of the Supreme Council's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4% or more of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Our Ukraine 24%, CPU 20%, United Ukraine 12%, United Social Democratic Party 6%, SPU 7%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7%, other 24%; seats by party - Our Ukraine 102, CPU 60, Regions of Ukraine 42, Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 41, United Social Democratic Party 39, Democratic Initiatives 22, SPU 20, People's Power 19, European Choice 18, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 18, Agrarian Party 17, People's Democratic Party 16, People's Choice 15, others 21 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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 65.96 years
male: 61.86 years female: 70.66 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 66.5 years
male: 61.1 years female: 72.17 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.8% male: 99.5% female: 98.2% (1999 census) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.7% male: 99.8% female: 99.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia, with a small European portion north of the Caucasus range | Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia |
Map references | Asia | Asia, Europe |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 86 ships (1000 GRT or over) 421,061 GRT/460,968 DWT
by type: cargo 26, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 45, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 3 registered in other countries: 4 (Georgia 1, Malta 3) (2007) |
total: 131 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 633,932 GRT/640,743 DWT
ships by type: bulk 7, cargo 89, container 5, liquefied gas 2, passenger 14, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 10, railcar carrier 2, short-sea passenger 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Cyprus 1, Greece 1, Panama 1, Russia 4, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces | Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Interior Troops, Border Troops |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $617.9 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.6% (2005 est.) | 1.4% (FY02) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 12,236,811 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 9,597,172 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 389,499 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, 28 May (1918) | 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: Azerbaijani(s), Azeri(s)
adjective: Azerbaijani, Azeri |
noun: Ukrainian(s)
adjective: Ukrainian |
Natural hazards | droughts | NA |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, bauxite | iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land |
Net migration rate | -2.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 3,190 km; oil 2,436 km (2006) | gas 20,069 km; oil 4,435 km; refined products 4,098 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | Azadliq coalition (Musavat, APF, and DPA); Azerbaijan Popular Front or APF [Ali KARIMLI, leader of "Reform" faction; Mirmahmud MIRALI-OGLU, leader of "Classic" faction]; Civic Solidarity Party or CSP [Sabir RUSTAMKHANLY]; Civic Union Party [Ayaz MUTALIBOV]; Communist Party of Azerbaijan or CPA [Ramiz AHMADOV]; Compatriot Party [Mais SAFARLI]; Democratic Party for Azerbaijan or DPA [Rasul QULIYEV]; Justice Party [Ilyas ISMAILOV]; Liberal Party of Azerbaijan [Lala Shovkat HACIYEVA]; Motherland Party; Musavat [Isa GAMBAR, chairman]; Yeni Azerbaijan Party; Party for National Independence of Azerbaijan or PNIA [Etibar MAMMADLI]; Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan or SDP [Araz ALIZADE]
note: opposition parties regularly factionalize and form new parties |
Agrarian Party [Kateryna VASHCHUK]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Democratic Initiatives [Stepan HAVRYSH]; European Choice [Volodymyr STASYUK]; Our Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; People's Choice [Mykola HAPOCHKA]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO, chairman]; People's Power [Bohdan HUBSKYY]; Regions of Ukraine [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; United Social Democratic Party [Leonid KRAVCHUK]; Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Ihor SHAROV]; Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]
note: and numerous smaller parties |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Sadval, Lezgin movement; self-proclaimed Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic; Talysh independence movement; Union of Pro-Azerbaijani Forces (UPAF); Karabakh Liberation Organization | NA |
Population | 8,120,247 (July 2007 est.) | 48,055,439 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (2002 est.) | 29% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.688% (2007 est.) | -0.69% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Berdyans'k, Feodosiya, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Kiliya, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol', Yalta, Yuzhnyy |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 10, FM 17, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Railways | total: 2,122 km
broad gauge: 2,122 km 1.520-m gauge (1,278 km electrified) (2006) |
total: 22,473 km
broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2002) |
Religions | Muslim 93.4%, Russian Orthodox 2.5%, Armenian Orthodox 2.3%, other 1.8% (1995 est.)
note: religious affiliation is still nominal in Azerbaijan; percentages for actual practicing adherents are much lower |
Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.15 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.114 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.963 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.599 male(s)/female total population: 0.968 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: inadequate; requires considerable expansion and modernization; teledensity of 15 main lines per 100 persons is low; mobile cellular penetration is increasing and is currently about 40 telephones per 100 persons
domestic: fixed-line telephony and a broad range of other telecom services are controlled by a state-owned telecoms monopoly and growth has been stagnant; more competition exists in the mobile-cellular market with three providers in 2006; satellite service connects Baku to a modern switch in its exclave of Naxcivan international: country code - 994; the old Soviet system of cable and microwave is still serviceable; satellite earth stations - 2 (2007) |
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: 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 which 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 | 1.189 million (2006) | 9.45 million (April 1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3.324 million (2006) | 236,000 (1998) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997) |
Terrain | large, flat Kur-Araz Ovaligi (Kura-Araks Lowland) (much of it below sea level) with Great Caucasus Mountains to the north, Qarabag Yaylasi (Karabakh Upland) in west; Baku lies on Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) that juts into Caspian Sea | 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 | 2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 1.2% official rate (2006 est.) | 3.8% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (2002) |
Waterways | - | 4,499 km
note: 1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dniester (Dnister) (1990) |