Country Information
Ukraine is situated in the south-eastern part of Central Europe and has its own territory, government, national emblem, flag and anthem. It borders Russia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Poland on land and Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey on sea.
The territory of Ukraine is mostly level, treeless plain, called "steppe" (prairie). There are the Crimean Mountains on the Crimean peninsula and the Carpathians in the west, though they are not very high. Mixed forests of pine and fir-trees, beeches, limes, oaks and elms cover the mountains, however the thickest woods can still be found in the northern part of the republic. Kiev and Cherkassy lie in the midst of Ukrainian southernmost pine forest. The main Ukrainian river is the Dnieper. It is one of the longest European rivers and one of the republic's main sources of hydroelectric power.
Ukraine was a Soviet Republic from 1922 until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 when it gained its independence. Four years before that Ukraine suffered the worlds worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, an incident so bad that a 30 km exclusion zone had to be created around the reactor and a new city had to be built to house those who had lived within the area. Today around 4000 children have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which is thought to be a direct effect of the radiation.
As of the year 2000, Ukraine has seen one of the world’s highest rates of economic growth, meaning that the country’s infrastructure is gradually being improved. In 2004, as a result of a rigged election, the peaceful Orange Revolution took place, which has left Ukraine’s political situation rather unstable. As part of the country is pro-Western and the other part pro-Russian, it has reached a point of political stalemate between the pro-Russian Prime Minister and the pro-Western President. There are still deep divides within the Ukrainian society that will take a long time to resolve.
Ukraine is co-hosting the European Championships with Poland in 2012, a greatly needed push towards improvements to infrastructure and tolerance within the country.
Time
Ukraine is 2 hours ahead of GMT.
Getting There
You will need to arrange your flights into Kiev, Ukraine. UK passport holders will gain a 90-day tourist visa on arrival.
Climate
| Month |
Average Sunlight (hours) |
Average Temp |
Average Precipitation (mm) |
Wet Days (+0.25 mm) |
| Min |
Max |
| Jan |
1 |
-10 |
-4 |
58 |
18 |
| Feb |
2 |
-8 |
-2 |
59 |
18 |
| March |
4 |
-4 |
3 |
51 |
16 |
| April |
6 |
5 |
14 |
45 |
11 |
| May |
9 |
11 |
21 |
49 |
13 |
| June |
9 |
14 |
24 |
55 |
11 |
| July |
10 |
15 |
25 |
91 |
13 |
| Aug |
8 |
14 |
24 |
91 |
12 |
| Sept |
7 |
10 |
20 |
30 |
8 |
| Oct |
5 |
6 |
13 |
33 |
10 |
| Nov |
2 |
0 |
6 |
56 |
15 |
| Dec |
1 |
-6 |
-1 |
59 |
19 |
