Cayman Islands (2004) | Ukraine (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 8 districts; Creek, Eastern, Midland, South Town, Spot Bay, Stake Bay, West End, Western | 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: 21.4% (male 4,608; female 4,616)
15-64 years: 70.6% (male 14,858; female 15,593) 65 years and over: 8% (male 1,607; female 1,821) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years:
17.3% (male 4,310,158; female 4,127,677) 15-64 years: 68.57% (male 15,965,079; female 17,468,035) 65 years and over: 14.13% (male 2,275,004; female 4,614,521) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | vegetables, fruit; livestock, turtle farming | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk |
Airports | 3 (2003 est.) | 718 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
total:
114 over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 50 1,524 to 2,437 m: 21 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 26 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total:
604 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 52 914 to 1,523 m: 45 under 914 m: 457 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 262 sq km
land: 262 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
603,700 sq km land: 603,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Texas |
Background | The Cayman Islands were colonized from Jamaica by the British during the 18th and 19th centuries. Administered by Jamaica since 1863, they remained a British dependency after 1962 when the former became independent. | 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. |
Birth rate | 13.11 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 9.31 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $265.2 million
expenditures: $248.9 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997) |
revenues:
$8.3 billion expenditures: $8.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | George Town | Kiev (Kyyiv) |
Climate | tropical marine; warm, rainy summers (May to October) and cool, relatively dry winters (November to April) | 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 | 160 km | 2,782 km |
Constitution | 1959, revised 1972 and 1992 | adopted 28 June 1996 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Cayman Islands |
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 | Caymanian dollar (KYD) | hryvnia (UAH) |
Death rate | 4.76 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 16.43 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $70 million (1996) | $10.3 billion (2000) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Carlos PASCUAL embassy: 10 Yuria Kotsubynskoho, 254053 Kiev 53 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Konstantin Ivanovych HRYSHCHENKO chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York |
Disputes - international | none | has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation |
Economic aid - recipient | NA (1999) | $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998) |
Economy - overview | With no direct taxation, the islands are a thriving offshore financial center. More than 40,000 companies were registered in the Cayman Islands as of 1998, including almost 600 banks and trust companies; banking assets exceed $500 billion. A stock exchange was opened in 1997. Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP and 75% of foreign currency earnings. The tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from North America. Total tourist arrivals exceeded 1.2 million in 1997, with 600,000 from the US. About 90% of the islands' food and consumer goods must be imported. The Caymanians enjoy one of the highest outputs per capita and one of the highest standards of living in the world. | 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 late 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 in 1992-99 fell to less than 40% 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 and streamline the regulation process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs and protect ownership rights, 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 and have threatened to withdraw financial support. GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6% - the first growth since independence - and industrial production grew 12.9%. As the capacity for further export-based economic expansion diminishes, GDP growth in 2001 is likely to decline to around 3%. |
Electricity - consumption | 355.2 million kWh (2001) | 146.675 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 2.3 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 2.2 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 381.9 million kWh (2001) | 157.823 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
47.67% hydro: 9.65% nuclear: 42.67% other: 0.01% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: The Bluff 43 m |
lowest point:
Black Sea 0 m highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m |
Environment - current issues | no natural fresh water resources; drinking water supplies must be met by rainwater catchments | 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-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 | mixed 40%, white 20%, black 20%, expatriates of various ethnic groups 20% | Ukrainian 73%, Russian 22%, Jewish 1%, other 4% |
Exchange rates | Caymanian dollars per US dollar - 0.82 (29 October 2001), 0.83 (3 November 1995), 0.85 (22 November 1993) | hryvnia per US dollar - 5.4331 (January 2001), 5.4402 (2000), 4.1304 (1999), 2.4495 (1998), 1.8617 (1997), 1.8295 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Governor Bruce DINWIDDY (since 29 May 2002)
head of government: Chief Secretary W. McKeeva BUSH (since NA December 2001) cabinet: Executive Council (three members appointed by the governor, four members elected by the Legislative Assembly) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor is appointed by the monarch; the chief secretary is appointed by the governor |
chief of state:
President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Anatoliy KINAKH (since 29 May 2001), First Deputy Prime Minister Oleh DUBYNA (since 29 May 2001) 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 Kyyiv (Kiev) 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 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 (2001) | $14.6 billion (2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | turtle products, manufactured consumer goods | ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, machinery and transport equipment, food products |
Exports - partners | mostly US | Russia 24%, Europe 30%, US 5% (2000 est.) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Caymanian coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms includes a pineapple and turtle above a shield with three stars (representing the three islands) and a scroll at the bottom bearing the motto HE HATH FOUNDED IT UPON THE SEAS | two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.27 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $189.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 3.2% services: 95.4% (1994 est.) |
agriculture:
12% industry: 26% services: 62% (1998 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $35,000 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3,850 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.7% (2002 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 19 30 N, 80 30 W | 49 00 N, 32 00 E |
Geography - note | important location between Cuba and Central America | strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe |
Highways | total: 785 km
paved: 785 km (2000) |
total:
273,700 km paved: 236,400 km (including 1,770 km of expressways); note - (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather) unpaved: 37,300 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%:
3.9% highest 10%: 26.4% (1996) |
Illicit drugs | offshore financial center; vulnerable to drug transshipment to the US and Europe | limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey, and to Europe and Russia; drug-related money laundering a minor, but growing, problem |
Imports | NA (2001) | $15 billion (2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, manufactured goods | energy, machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals |
Imports - partners | US, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, Netherlands Antilles, Japan | Russia 42%, Europe 29%, US 3% (2000 est.) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of the UK) | 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 12.9% (2000 est.) |
Industries | tourism, banking, insurance and finance, construction, construction materials, furniture | coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar) |
Infant mortality rate | total: 8.41 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
21.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.8% (2002) | 25.8% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU | BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 32 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 26,050 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Summary Court; Grand Court; Cayman Islands Court of Appeal | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court |
Labor force | 19,820 (1995) | 22.8 million (yearend 1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 1.4%, industry 12.6%, services 86% (1995) | industry 32%, agriculture 24%, services 44% (1996) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 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 |
Land use | arable land: 3.85%
permanent crops: 0% other: 96.15% (2001) |
arable land:
58% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 13% forests and woodland: 18% other: 9% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English | Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian |
Legal system | British common law and local statutes | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (18 seats, three appointed members from the Executive Council and 15 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 8 November 2000 (next to be held 17 November 2004) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA |
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, half 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 29 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party (for parties clearing 4% hurdle on 29 March 1998) - Communist Party 24.7%, Rukh (combined) 9.4%, SPU/SelPU 8.6%, PZU 5.3%, People's Democratic Party 5.0%, Hromada Party 4.7%, Progressive Socialist Party 4.0%, United Social Democratic Party 4.0%; seats by party (as of 25 February 2000) - Communist Party 115, PRVU 36, Fatherland Party 35, United Social Democratic Party 34, People's Democratic Party 27, Trudova Ukrayina Party 27, Rukh K 27, left-center 23, PZU 18, Rukh U 17, SelPU 15, Hromada Party 14, Reforms-Congress 12, independents 14, unaffiliated 31, vacant 5 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 79.81 years
male: 77.21 years female: 82.45 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
66.15 years male: 60.62 years female: 71.96 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 100% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island group in Caribbean Sea, nearly one-half of the way from Cuba to Honduras | Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Commonwealth of Independent States |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
continental shelf:
200-m or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 137 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,827,837 GRT/4,555,974 DWT
by type: bulk 27, cargo 7, chemical tanker 36, container 2, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 25, refrigerated cargo 33, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea/passenger 1, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: Germany 9, Greece 25, Hong Kong 3, Italy 14, Norway 4, Singapore 1, Spain 11, Sweden 13, Switzerland 1, United Kingdom 18, United States 43 registered in other countries: 2 (2004 est.) |
total:
156 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 757,582 GRT/841,755 DWT ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 110, container 3, liquefied gas 2, passenger 11, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 14, railcar carrier 2, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea passenger 2 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Royal Cayman Islands Police Force | Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Internal Troops, Border Troops |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $500 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.4% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
12,285,623 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
9,630,184 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
390,823 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Constitution Day, first Monday in July | Independence Day, 24 August (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Caymanian(s)
adjective: Caymanian |
noun:
Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian |
Natural hazards | hurricanes (July to November) | NA |
Natural resources | fish, climate and beaches that foster tourism | iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land |
Net migration rate | 18.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: major destination for Cubans trying to migrate to the US (2004 est.) |
-0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 4,000 km (1995); petroleum products 4,500 km (1995); natural gas 34,400 km (1998) |
Political parties and leaders | no national teams (loose groupings of political organizations) were formed for the 2000 elections; United Democratic Party or UDP [leader McKeeva BUSH]; People's Progressive Movement or PPM [leader Kurt TIBBETTS] | Communist Party of Ukraine [Petro SYMONENKO]; Fatherland (Motherland) All Ukrainian Party [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, chairperson]; Green Party of Ukraine or PZU [Vitaliy KONONOV, chairman]; Hromada [Pavlo LAZARENKO]; Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine or PRVU [Volodymyr RYBAK]; Peasant Party of Ukraine or SelPU [Serhiy DOVHAN]; People's Democratic Party [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO, chairman]; People's Movement of Ukraine or Rukh U [Hennadiy UDOVENKO, chairman]; Progressive Socialist Party [Nataliya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order Party/Reforms-Congress [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Solidarity [leader NA]; Trudova Ukrayina/Working Ukraine [Igor SHAROV, chairman]; Ukrainian Popular Movement or Rukh K [Yuriy KOSTENKO, chairman]; United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]
note: and numerous smaller parties |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 43,103 (July 2004 est.) | 48,760,474 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA (2002 est.) | 50% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.71% (2004 est.) | -0.78% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Cayman Brac, George Town | Berdyans'k, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol' |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Radios | - | 45.05 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
23,350 km broad gauge: 23,350 km 1.524-m gauge (8,600 km electrified) |
Religions | United Church (Presbyterian and Congregational), Anglican, Baptist, Church of God, other Protestant, Roman Catholic | Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 1-345; 1 submarine coaxial cable; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
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 | 38,000 (2002) | 9.45 million (April 1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 17,000 (2002) | 236,000 (1998) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 with cable system | at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997) |
Terrain | low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs | 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 | 1.9 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.29 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 4.1% (1997) | 4.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December 1999) |
Waterways | - | 4,499 km
note: (1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dnistr) (1990) |