Ukraine (2001) | Niger (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 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 |
8 regions (regions, singular - region) includes 1 capital district* (communite urbaine); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder |
Age structure | 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.) |
0-14 years: 46.9% (male 3,083,871/female 2,969,201)
15-64 years: 50.6% (male 3,354,783/female 3,174,039) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 155,430/female 157,541) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry |
Airports | 718 (2000 est.) | 28 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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.) |
total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | 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.) |
total: 19
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
Area | total:
603,700 sq km land: 603,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Texas | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Background | 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. | Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced single-party and military rule until 1991, when Gen. Ali SAIBOU was forced by public pressure to allow multiparty elections, which resulted in a democratic government in 1993. Political infighting brought the government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by Col. Ibrahim BARE. In 1999 BARE was killed in a coup by military officers who promptly restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power in December of that year. TANDJA was reelected in 2004. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world with minimal government services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base. The largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa. A predominately Tuareg ethnic group emerged in February 2007, the Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ), and attacked several military targets in Niger's northern region throughout 2007. Events have since evolved into a budding insurrection. |
Birth rate | 9.31 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 50.16 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$8.3 billion expenditures: $8.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
revenues: $320 million (includes $134 million from foreign sources)
expenditures: $320 million (2002 est.) |
Capital | Kiev (Kyyiv) | name: Niamey
geographic coordinates: 13 31 N, 2 07 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south |
Coastline | 2,782 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | adopted 28 June 1996 | new constitution adopted 18 July 1999 |
Country name | 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 |
conventional long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger local long form: Republique du Niger local short form: Niger |
Currency | hryvnia (UAH) | - |
Death rate | 16.43 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 20.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $10.3 billion (2000) | $2.1 billion (2003 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Bernadette M. ALLEN
embassy: Rue Des Ambassades, Niamey mailing address: B. P. 11201, Niamey telephone: [227] 20-73-31-69 FAX: [227] 20-73-55-60 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Aminata Djibrilla Maiga TOURE
chancery: 2204 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4224 through 4227 FAX: [1] (202)483-3169 |
Disputes - international | 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 | Libya claims about 25,000 sq km in a currently dormant dispute in the Tommo region; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries |
Economic aid - recipient | $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998) | $515.4 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | 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%. | Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking near last on the United Nations Development Fund index of human development. It is a landlocked, Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, and a 2.9% population growth rate, have undercut the economy. Niger shares a common currency, the CFA franc, and a common central bank, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), with seven other members of the West African Monetary Union. In December 2000, Niger qualified for enhanced debt relief under the International Monetary Fund program for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and concluded an agreement with the Fund on a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). Debt relief provided under the enhanced HIPC initiative significantly reduces Niger's annual debt service obligations, freeing funds for expenditures on basic health care, primary education, HIV/AIDS prevention, rural infrastructure, and other programs geared at poverty reduction. In December 2005, Niger received 100% multilateral debt relief from the IMF, which translates into the forgiveness of approximately US $86 million in debts to the IMF, excluding the remaining assistance under HIPC. Nearly half of the government's budget is derived from foreign donor resources. Future growth may be sustained by exploitation of oil, gold, coal, and other mineral resources. Uranium prices have increased sharply in the last few years. A drought and locust infestation in 2005 led to food shortages for as many as 2.5 million Nigeriens. |
Electricity - consumption | 146.675 billion kWh (1999) | 437.7 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 2.3 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 2.2 billion kWh (1999) | 220 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 157.823 billion kWh (1999) | 234.1 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
47.67% hydro: 9.65% nuclear: 42.67% other: 0.01% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Black Sea 0 m highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m |
lowest point: Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant | overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction |
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 |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Ukrainian 73%, Russian 22%, Jewish 1%, other 4% | Haoussa 55.4%, Djerma Sonrai 21%, Touareg 9.3%, Peuhl 8.5%, Kanouri Manga 4.7%, other 1.2% (2001 census) |
Exchange rates | hryvnia per US dollar - 5.4331 (January 2001), 5.4402 (2000), 4.1304 (1999), 2.4495 (1998), 1.8617 (1997), 1.8295 (1996) | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003) |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: President Mamadou TANDJA (since 22 December 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Seyni OUMAROU (since 3 June 2007); appointed by the president and shares some executive responsibilities with the president cabinet: 26-member Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); second round of election last held 4 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009) election results: Mamadou TANDJA reelected president; percent of vote - Mamadou TANDJA 65.5%, Mahamadou ISSOUFOU 34.5% |
Exports | $14.6 billion (2000 est.) | 0 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, machinery and transport equipment, food products | uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas, onions |
Exports - partners | Russia 24%, Europe 30%, US 5% (2000 est.) | France 34.8%, US 26.6%, Nigeria 18.3%, Russia 11.3% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky | three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and green with a small orange disk (representing the sun) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of India, which has a blue spoked wheel centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $189.4 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
12% industry: 26% services: 62% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 39%
industry: 17% services: 44% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,850 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2000 est.) | 4.5% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 49 00 N, 32 00 E | 16 00 N, 8 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe | landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture |
Highways | 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) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
3.9% highest 10%: 26.4% (1996) |
lowest 10%: 0.8%
highest 10%: 35.4% (1995) |
Illicit drugs | 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 | $15 billion (2000 est.) | 5,412 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | energy, machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals | foodstuffs, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals |
Imports - partners | Russia 42%, Europe 29%, US 3% (2000 est.) | US 14.1%, France 12.1%, China 7.8%, Nigeria 7.7%, French Polynesia 7.7%, Cote d'Ivoire 4.9% (2006) |
Independence | 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 3 August 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 12.9% (2000 est.) | 5.1% (2003 est.) |
Industries | coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar) | uranium mining, cement, brick, soap, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses |
Infant mortality rate | 21.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 116.83 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 120.78 deaths/1,000 live births female: 112.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 25.8% (2000 est.) | 0.2% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | 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 | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 32 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 26,050 sq km (1993 est.) | 730 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 22.8 million (yearend 1997) | 70,000 salaried workers, 60% of whom are employed in the public sector (1995) |
Labor force - by occupation | industry 32%, agriculture 24%, services 44% (1996) | agriculture: 90%
industry: 6% services: 4% (1995) |
Land boundaries | 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 |
total: 5,697 km
border countries: Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina Faso 628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km |
Land use | arable land:
58% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 13% forests and woodland: 18% other: 9% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 11.43%
permanent crops: 0.01% other: 88.56% (2005) |
Languages | Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian | French (official), Hausa, Djerma |
Legal system | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | 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 |
unicameral National Assembly (113 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 4 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MNSD 47, PNDS 25, CDS 22, RSD 7, RDP 6, ANDP 5, PSDN 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
66.15 years male: 60.62 years female: 71.96 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 44.03 years
male: 44.05 years female: 44 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 100% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 28.7% male: 42.9% female: 15.1% (2005 est.) |
Location | Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria |
Map references | Commonwealth of Independent States | Africa |
Maritime claims | continental shelf:
200-m or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | 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.) |
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Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Internal Troops, Border Troops | Nigerien Armed Forces (Forces Armees Nigeriennes, FAN): Army, Niger Air Force (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $500 million (FY99) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY99) | 1.3% (2006) |
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 | Independence Day, 24 August (1991) | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) |
Nationality | noun:
Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian |
noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien |
Natural hazards | NA | recurring droughts |
Natural resources | iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 4,000 km (1995); petroleum products 4,500 km (1995); natural gas 34,400 km (1998) | - |
Political parties and leaders | 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 |
Democratic and Social Convention-Rahama or CDS-Rahama [Mahamane OUSMANE]; National Movement for a Developing Society-Nassara or MNSD-Nassara [Hama AMADOU]; Niger Social Democratic Party or PSDN; Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Social Progress-Zaman Lahiya or ANDP-Zaman Lahiya [Moumouni DJERMAKOYE]; Nigerien Party for Autonomy or PNA-Alouma'a [Sanousi JACKOU]; Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism or PNDS-Tarrayya [Issifou MAHAMADOU]; Nigerien Progressive Party or PPN-RDA [Abdoulaye DIORI]; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP-jama'a [Hamid ALGABID]; Social and Democratic Rally or RSD-Gaskiyya [Cheiffou AMADOU] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | The Nigerien Movement for Justice or MNJ, a predominantly Tuareg rebel group demanding concessions including a greater share of the country's uranium revenues from the government |
Population | 48,760,474 (July 2001 est.) | 12,894,865 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (1999 est.) | 63% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.78% (2001 est.) | 2.898% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Berdyans'k, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol' | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 4 (2001) |
Radios | 45.05 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
23,350 km broad gauge: 23,350 km 1.524-m gauge (8,600 km electrified) |
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Religions | Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish | Muslim 80%, other (includes indigenous beliefs and Christian) 20% |
Sex ratio | 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.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.039 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.057 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.987 male(s)/female total population: 1.047 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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 |
general assessment: inadequate; small system of wire, radio telephone communications, and microwave radio relay links concentrated in the southwestern area of Niger
domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is less than 3 per 100 persons; domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations and 1 planned international: country code - 227; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 9.45 million (April 1999) | 24,000 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 236,000 (1998) | 323,900 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997) | 5 (2007) |
Terrain | 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 | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north |
Total fertility rate | 1.29 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 7.37 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 4.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December 1999) | NA% |
Waterways | 4,499 km
note: (1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dnistr) (1990) |
300 km (the Niger, the only major river, is navigable to Gaya between September and March) (2005) |